Cartagena

Yes I must agree with everyone who told me Cartagena Old city was beautiful, it truly is, I loved it, the history, the lovely old architecture, the colors in the city, it’s breathtakingly beautiful.  I loved the fabulous old buildings, the fun atmosphere, the wonderful restaurants. The wall surrounding the city where you can walk, take a drink at a chic bar or a meal at a fun restaurant, it's all fun.

 As for the little I saw of the rest of Cartagena I found it to be somewhat chaotic, streets filled with  garbage, more street vendors than stores, selling God only knows what, we didn’t stop to ask.  Maybe it was just the small amount of the city that I saw, I'm sure there is more to Cartagena, I just didn't have the opportunity to explore as much as I would have liked.

 The harbor didn't impress me, no matter where you drop anchor the speedboats will get you.  They seem to take delight in seeing how much they can rock the boats as they tear past at full speed creating huge wakes.  We had water coming in through the portholes from some of the wakes, Daniela's bed was soaked, and my galley flooded.  At first I thought it was just where we were anchored, but having watched the speedboats as they weaved in and out between the anchored boats, it was so obvious they were deliberately rocking them. 

They start around 8am each morning, then it’s constant rocking until around 6pm, some of the speedboats came so close I thought they were going to hit us, it was quite scary.  There is no doubt that they do it deliberately, and if their aim is to scare off the tourist’s then they are successful, at least in my case as I would not wish to return to this anchorage.  

I would however return to the Rosario islands, they were so beautiful, but even there everyone told us of the high crime rate, and that you must lock everything up, especially the dinghy’s, they will disappear in a heartbeat if left unattended.  It’s very sad that such an incredibly beautiful part of the world is so tainted by bad behavior and dishonesty.