A great city to finish our time in South America

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When we arrived in Cartagena late one afternoon, it was raining and a big thunder and lightning storm was getting under way. Not the most auspicious start! However, over the next few days we realised that this is just the pattern of weather in this part of the Caribbean - hot and sunny in the mornings and during lunchtime, then at some point in the afternoon the sky clouds over and the rain comes in at high speed. Give it an hour or two and it all calms down again...

So we learned to structure our days around the weather. With the high temperatures in the morning and rain in the afternoon, the majority of our time in Cartagena was spent taking things easy. We were feeling a bit lazy and so when the sun was out we just wandered the streets, taking in the lovely colonial architecture, walking out to and along the city walls, drinking the fresh fruit juices and taking lots of photos. When the rains came we found that we had a choice between visiting museums or going to a coffee shop to read our books. We went for the easy option - our favourite Juan Valdez cafe!

We did manage one museum however, which was both free and air conditioned (the perfect mix). This was the Museo del Oro providing an interesting history of the indigenous people of this part of Colombia. I was particularly impressed by the way the locals had been able to harness the potential of the nearby rivers and created numerous canal and irrigation systems. Unfortunately we didn't make it to any other museums, but I don't think this matters too much as I like to think that Cartagena itself is like a living museum! (hmmm, excuses...)

For a treat we booked ourselves onto a tour to visit the nearby "mud volcano": Lodo el Totumo. This is a rather bizarre 15 metre high cone, which you walk up to via a rickety staircase. Once at the top we clambered into the small "crater" which contained a very thick mud. 45 minutes later we clambered out with perfect skin! Well, not quite but my skin certainly felt good afterwards and it was great fun to lie about in the mineral-rich mud which was almost too thick to walk through. A great experience, especially when it was all over and we got to jump in a nearby lagoon for a wash!

And so, our time in South America is over and Cartagena was the perfect place to finish. But we don't go home quite yet - 2 months in Central America, here we come...

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Comments

[rrruss]

Fun, fun, fun!
You look like you are having so much fun. I guess you'll miss the high altitude walks though. It's hot and sunny here but dressing moderately means I'm not getting a tan! And it's hard work too!!!!