Clammy in Cartagena

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Finally we arrived somewhere hot and, wow, Cartagena is hot and steamy. We have been using “AccuWeather” for our weather forecasts. I like this site because it provides a lot of information such as the current temperature and what it feels like, taking into account wind chill or humidity. In towns further south we got used to the AccuWeather temperature adjusting for the wind chill factor so it was a surprise to read the temperature in Cartagena as 33 degrees but with the humidity adjustment, “feels like 45 degrees”! Man it felt hot; even the locals were complaining!

The other difference we noticed was there were more black people – much more than in Bogata. The stronger African/Caribbean cultural influence gives Cartagena a wonderful Caribbean feel.

We stayed in a small hostel in Getsemani which is an easy walk from the old walled city. Our room was air-conditioned, but the common areas were not. Unfortunately the wifi would not work in our room which meant we had to sit in the stifling hot air of the common areas in order to access the internet.

Locally we could buy a lunch comprising soup, meat meal and drink for around NZ$7 or an equally economical dinner. Restaurants in the old city were much more expensive and catered more for the tourist market.

We took the “Hop on, Hop off” bus but we would not recommend it; it was too hot and exposed upstairs, there was a limited view from downstairs, many of the audio jacks did not work, and the buses did not run frequently enough.

I visited Castillo San Felipe de Barajas which has a good view over the inner city area. It was hot and sweaty walking around the castle in the searing heat, but it was one of the things I just had to do. In contrast, I had a swim at a beach on the coastal side in the peninsular where the water was delightfully warm and refreshing.

The old city walls are substantial and lined with cannons along the water front. We enjoyed a romantic cocktail here on our last night as the sun set with a cool breeze blowing in from the sea.

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