Day Fourty-Four: I'm On A Boat, Part III

 

I emerge from my slumber at 10:10am after my alarm has been buzzing for 10 minutes.  The other girls got up early to have a full day in Cartagena.  It is Meghan and Julia's last day in Colombia.  They are flying back to New York this evening.

I have been off the grid for a week so I spend some time catching up on emails over breakfast before joining the girls in the afternoon.

I am walking around the old city and it feels like I've been here before.  I could be in Italy, Spain or one of the Greek islands.  The plazas, narrow streets, vendors and cafes make Cartagena feel very European.  I need to remind myself that I'm in Colombia.  The old city also reminds me of the french quarter in New Orleans, with art being sold on the streets, horse drawn carriages and balconies with flowers and greenery hanging from them.

The wall was built around the city to protect it from the Spanish.

As the girls shop for jewelry, I am on the phone with American Express canceling my flight from Bogota to Cartagena, which I booked before we decided to change our plans and go to Cartagena first.  Because I booked the flight along with my other flights from Cartagena to Panama City and Panama City back to New York, I am unable to cancel only one leg of the trip.  I clearly won't be able to make my flight from Bogota to Cartagena so I need to cancel the entire string of flights and receive airline credit.  I no longer have a flight home.  The uncertainty of where I am going next is exciting.

A painting that I bought. I plan to hang it above my couch.

It's a little after 5pm and its time for Meghan and Julia to head to the airport.  Alanna and I say goodbye to them and wish them a safe trip.

We are planning to meet Lolo for dinner at La Vitrola, but at 6:30 I receive a text from Lolo about a different plan.  He is picking us up at 8:30 sharp.  "Be ready, and eat before, we are going in a boat," he says.

A boat!  Don't ask questions when invited on a boat.  Just go.

It's 8:30. Javier, the bell man, knocks on our door and informs us that Señor Lolo is waiting for us downstairs.

We climb into a silver Toyota 4Runner. Everyone here has this car.  People drive SUVs because the roads are so bad.

I sit next to Rolo, Lolo's friend, in the back.  Manolo is driving.  Manolo and Rolo live in Cartagena.  Manolo is in the palm oil business. Rolo owns real estate and has other various businesses.

Lolo explains that taking a boat out in the evening is a very rare opportunity.  It isn't typically permitted, but the boat we are going on belongs to Al Fonzo and he owns the port.

The PortWe arrive at the dock, where we meet Al Fonzo and Melissa, who greet us with champaign.

Al fonzo is a gracious host.  He makes sure our glasses are always full.

Lolo, me and MelisaaAl Fonzo's catamaran is beautiful.  We are sitting in the front of the boat and Rolo tells me about Cartagena outside of the historic walled city.  There are many tall buildings and what appears to be an impressive skyline, but all of the buildings are dark.  Some only have one floor with light ons, others are completely dark.   Rolo explains that they are apartment buildings, which are used as vacation homes.   He lives in an apartment in this part of the city.  "Locals don't live in old city because there is no parking," he tells me.

Rolo with his fanWe pass the convention center.  It is a beautiful venue where there are many weddings.  It was once a very unsafe and dirty part of town. I learn that Cartagena was not always the way it is now.  "Fifteen years ago, you would never go to the old city.  Inside the wall it was very dangerous.  Only homeless people and squatters lived there," Rolo explains.  Colombia has reinvented itself since the days of Pablo Escobar.  I am surprised and impressed by how developed the country is.

When I told my friends and family that I was going to Colombia, many of them expressed concerns about safety. In the US, there is still a negative stigma about Colombia because of it's history as a drug capital. Things have really change here in the last two decades however. Compared to it's neighbors, Colombia is relatively safe and prospering.  If I were in Mexico, the concern would be warranted.

"This is something you could only do with the locals," Rolo explains of our boat ride.  "Tourists don't get to see this Cartagena. The best way to see a place is to go with the locals."  It's true.  See more pictures.