Cartagena's Old Town is a very interesting & beautiful walled city, and along with the nearby massive fortress is a UN Heritage site. The more we're here, the more we like it. We like the price of a beer, about 2,000 pesos or $1.00, the price of a meal for under $10.00, cab rides for $2.50. We love the people who openly display friendship, passions and affections, are very family oriented, love their music & love to dance. In fact music (often too loud)& dancing is everywhere you turn. There's a lot of wealth along with the impoverished, but it is hard to imagine Cartagena strictly as a 3rd world city. Cartegena is safe, easily as safe as any other large city. Rumor has it that the cartels come to Cartagena with their families for vacations and there's an unwritten rule that no harm comes here. That & the fact that there seems to be 4 police/soldiers/security guards on every corner with helicopters and stealth looking patrol boats in the air and water gives you a great feeling of security.
Ahhh... the women - we have never seen so many well endowed and beautiful women... and so proud. Rumor has it that upon graduation, (15 yrs. old) the standard practice is to become enhanced...artificially. Oh how proud madre & padre are now! Oh, and did we mention their music? A typical evening starts off at 11:00 with the music peaking around 2 a.m. and carrying on until 5 in the morning. They do like to party! If you can't beat 'em, join 'em; our best is 2 a.m. One more thing - at the private marina we are currently at, the guard who stops to chat is holding an AK 47! Yes, we feel safe, just need to stay on the right side.
In our books though, if Cartegena has a negative, it is the dirt, in the water and the air. Our boat is filthy, it is time to move on.
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