Cartagena de Indias, Colombia
It took me 33 years to come to Colombia. A trip I have been wanting to take for at least 13 years now. We jumped at the opportunity of celebrating our friends Romina & Alejandro’s Wedding in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.
Hopefully a million people will read this and discover a Colombia that the cartel shows on Netflix does not show and that you will never discover until you conquer your anxieties and decide to discover paradise. Let’s start.
Cartagena de Indias (Puerto Hormiga Culture, Pre-Columbian Culture) in the department of Bolívar in the north east of Colombia is strategically located in the caribbean sea to delight for at least the last 500 years since the time of colonization and even before that when the Puerto Hormiga culture was established in the region 4,000 years BC.
We recommend taking JetBlue as our friends and acquaintances who took Avianca got surprised with a sudden stopover in Bogotá.
Upon arrival
Make sure you arrive with around 200 USD in cash so you can exchange that for pesos colombianos upon arrival. There are no ATMs in the terminal and you will need the change.
Many travel sites and blogs will tell you that Uber is a common medium of transportation. However, I will tell you that they are in constant conflict with the Taxi association in this city as they are safe but not completely legal ( meaning that the can work, however they can get stopped by the police and get charge with a fee) all of this will your ride, ain’t no time for that Drama! Instead we decided to take an “authorized taxi” right on the terminal (ask a security guard for those, security guards are your best friends!).
Taxi Drivers are very friendly in Cartagena, they will even offer guide service which will be around 60 USD a day! Which in our case it was totally worth it because we are traveling with our daughter Stella. I will also recommend this type of service if you want to save yourself some time to travel to and from a lot of the tourist attractions that are outside of “La Ciudad Amurallada” like:
Islas del Rosario ( We went to Bendita Beach, but Barú is a must)
Cerro de la Popa (Visit the Frailes Agustinos Recoletos Monastery)
Fortificación the San Felipe ( For a glimpse of the history, to all my history lovers!)
Boca Grande (City & Shopping district)
El Laguito
Santa Marta
Barranquilla
Parque Natural Tayrona
Aviario Nacional
And the list...goes on!
If you send me a message I can connect you with our guide Alvaro! He is amazing!
Safety
Let me start telling you that as a latin american women myself I have real awareness and context of what being cautious when travelling in South America. That being said, Cartagena is the safest city I have visited south of the US border! I was skeptical about it...because...you know ( Cartel shows in TV) but was gladly surprised to discard all of this unnecessary anxiety. If you come visit, you will be safe, and happy getting to know the most beautiful and welcoming people!
Traveling with Children
I started lacarishina.net while being a young mom, and I have been traveling with my daughter Stella since she was 9 months old. For all my millenial parents out there, I hear you and will like to address all your concerns in this forum. I highly recommend this city for families. It is a short flight from most of the eastern US main cities. Colombia is an affordable destination for groups and families and the best, are you ready?!!...When you reserve an hotel, at least within La Ciudad Amurallada, you can let them know you will be needing to hire a nanny, and they will offer this service for you! You will need this for sure! It is very hard not to succumb to the dancing clubs and amazing bars in this city. Besides it’s so romantic...magical realism is accurate to describe it.
I am writing during the middle of my stay in Cartagena...I will have more updates of the rest of our trip in my next post. Will love to hear from you and all your questions…
Love,
Andrea