The extraordinary city of Cartagena beckons
A few weeks after returning from the USA, Uncle Richard paid us a visit (Pete’s brother) and we decided to leverage the time we had with him to travel overland to Cartagena. Later in the season as we continue our travels west, we will stop there with the boat, but this was too good an opportunity to miss!
We (briefly) considered renting a car, but given the AirBnB we were heading to was in the old, walled part of the city, we decided that trying to find somewhere safe to park was going to be an issue. Instead, we booked spaces on the local Marsol company bus, which ran large minibus style, air conditioned buses every hour between Santa Marta and Cartagena, for $17 US per person. The journey took 5 and a half hours, and we were very impressed! Colombia doesn’t really have any sort of a rail network. After a variety of false starts, corruption and the fact that there are some really high mountain ranges in the way, there are only a few hundred miles of track that ever got laid, and Medellin is the only city to now have a Metro so far. Buses and planes have taken over as affordable, regular services instead. So the bus it was, and it was great to travel overland along the coast, briefly diverting up into the hills at one point due to a road closure, which succeeded in giving us spectacular views across to the sea….
Many of the houses we passed were those of fisherman, on stilts, over water, as the enormous Magdalena river basin reached the end of its journey. The Magdalena River is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward for about 950 miles through the western half of the country. Boats can travel through much of its lower reaches, in spite of the shifting sand bars at the mouth of its delta, at the downstream base of its rapids. It starts in the central ranges of the Colombian Andes and it flows through the Magdalena River Valley. Its drainage basin covers a surface of 105,000 sq mi, which is 24% of the country's area and where 66% of its population lives (quick plug for a simply beautiful book about it, Magdalena, river of Dreams by Wade Davis that I just finished!).
Upon arrival in Cartagena, we were simply thrilled with the AirBnb we had chosen. Very much in the style of a Moroccan riad, with a central courtyard wth a much needed pool and seating/ kitchen areas, with closed off, air conditioned bedrooms it was beautifully restored and we felt very lucky to be staying in such a central part of the city. The vibrant blue of the walls upstairs reminded Pete and I of the Jardin Majorelle (the Yves Saint Laurent Gardens) in Marrakesh.
This is where the drone comes into its own - having got permission via the software to fly it (safety feature as the airport is a few miles away). Very clever piece of kit!
Cartagena has been one of the highlights of our travels through Colombia. From the moment we stepped into the walled Old Town, it felt like we were in a living museum—one filled with color, culture, and centuries of layered history. Cartagena is just beautiful; and it’s a place where you can feel the past through every cobblestone street and crumbling fort wall. A little history for those who don’t know its turbulent past………
The city was founded in 1533 by Spanish conquistador Pedro de Heredia, and it quickly became a crucial port for the Spanish Empire. Cartagena was the gateway for exporting gold and silver, and sadly, it was also one of the largest slave ports in the Americas. That part of history still shapes the city’s culture today, especially in its rich Afro-Caribbean traditions, food, and music.
The drone flying over the city walls of Cartagena
Because it was so valuable, Cartagena was constantly under attack by pirates. The most famous was Sir Francis Drake, to the British known as a ‘privateer’ - someone who had a government license (a "letter of marque") to attack enemy ships, making it legal piracy in a time of war - to the Spanish he was considered a real pirate (they called him "El Draque") because he raided their ships and settlements across the Americas. The Spanish spent over 200 years building thick walls and enormous stone forts, which still stand today. As well as Drake, Cartagena was attacked by numerous French ‘Privateers’. The biggest was then by the British privateer Vernon, who led a massive British fleet (over 180 ships and 27,000 men) in the Battle of Cartagena de Indias. He was eventually defeated by the Spanish. Cartagena has a proud legacy of resistance - it was also one of the first cities in Colombia to declare independence from Spain in 1811. Bolivar’s presence was again very strongly felt here.
Love this feature of the Insta360 - Annabelle is swinging it around her head on a special string to create this video!
Everywhere we explored in the Old city of Cartagena there were door knockers - and we found out that they carry deep historical significance that reflects the city’s past. In colonial times, the shape and size of a door knocker indicated the wealth and social rank of the homeowner:
Lions: Symbolized military power or nobility—often used by high-ranking officers or aristocrats.
Fish or sea creatures: Represented merchants or naval professions, fitting for a port city.
Hands: Often used to signify the home of a preacher, religious devotion or hospitality.
Lizards or reptiles: Might symbolize protection, strength, or links to royalty or high society.
The bigger the knocker, the higher the status of the family. Some that we passed were massive and ornate, showing wealth and influence.
The doors themselves were also a thing of beauty. Colombians, as we found across many of the Caribbean islands, are not afraid of color and the houses and streets of Cartagena were no exception! You could genuinely take a thousand photos trying to capture the colors of the streets here and never be bored!
All this was before we discovered the Getsemani district just outside the city walls, which had a much more artistic vibe to it……. and some more stunning murals. There were streets with artists working in the shade on really unique paintings, many taking inspiration from Afro-Caribbean roots, and musicians like Shakira (who is Colombian by birth and has a home here).
We ate some stunning food in Cartagena; the city had a much more international feel and there were more tourists around (as cruise ships often stop here) so it meant prices were higher, but our host recommended some Colombian restaurants near to us where we ate some amazing seafood. We spent a lot of our time wandering the streets and getting lost, our favorite way to travel. There were some great museums here, beautiful parks dedicated to Bolivar and the artist Botega, but the favorite for the kids was the Naval Museum where they had a hands on section to go play in a submarine, a helicopter and take control of a ship.
Oh, and Annabelle found a pretty cool bookstore/ cafe that had a whole selection of Gabriel Garcia Marquez (the famous author from Colombia) who came from here, has a stunning house overlooking the city walls, and was a neighbor and friend to Shakira we were told!
A fabulous trip to Cartagena all round…….
