arepas | Taking Our Time

Feb 26 – Jim cooked us a last breakfast, then we Ubered to the Cartagena airport. An hour and a half later, we were back in Bogotá. Back to long pants and sweatshirts.

We communicated like crazy with our new host, so we knew the name of the building and what it was near. Cabbie got us right to the door!

There was a Moroccan restaurant right near our high rise, so we stuffed ourselves with lentil soup, couscous, falafel, veggies, and tabule.

Feb 27 – We’re in a different part of the city now, not in the historical center. There are high rises all around.

Our plan was to walk back to the Botero museum and pick up a plate for our wall, but, best laid plans… the museum is closed on Tuesday!

Oh well, we walked around the city, saw some more llamas and lots more wall art.

Happy to report that on our very last day in Colombia, we found the Encanto arepas of my dreams. Like sweet cornbread, grilled, stuffed with cheese and topped with butter. Julietta would be proud. A delicious end to our holiday.

A few souvenirs, and we were done.

A big plate from Bogotá, and a small plate from Cartagena

Feb 28 – Up at 5:30 for an Uber to the airport, a 5 hour flight to Atlanta, a four hour layover, then a 90 minute flight home. Our dog Winston was happy to see us, and we are happy to be home.

Feb 10 – Our plane landed around 9pm, and a twenty minute taxi ride got us to the walled city of Cartagena (Car ta HAY na). A last minute text informed us that the apartment we rented had plumbing issues, and offered us an alternate address on a different street. Our taxi driver got us pretty close, and we walked the rest of the way down the jam-packed narrow street, bustling with tourists and music. Once at the door, Jim negotiated the coded lock, then another lock inside the lobby and a third lock at our door. This place is secure! We dropped into bed, exhausted.

Blue skies and palm trees in the morning

Statue of La India Catalina, a chief’s daughter kidnapped and enslaved by the Spaniards in the early 1500s

Cartagena is the port that the Spaniards originally used to ship their gold back to Europe. They built a fortified wall around the city to protect it from pirates (most notably Sir Francis Drake).

An excursion to the wall was our goal for the morning. While the weather in Bogotá was temperate, here it is HOT. At 9am it was 91 degrees with a real-feel of 103. Off we go!

We strolled along the wide top of the wall

A bull ring! We were told bullfighting is no longer practiced here

We are right on the Caribbean Sea, but this is not an area known for its beaches

Statue El Alcatraz (the Gannet), the local bird

After an arroz con pollo lunch (every area has their own version of chicken and rice), we retreated back to our air conditioned room to wait for the cooler temperatures of evening.

The name of our neighborhood is Getsemani, the area where the backpackers and groovy people hang out. It’s a tourist scene with lots of locals touting trinkets and offering tours.

Colorfully clad women are happy to pose with tourists…

…as long as they are adequately compensated. Their smiles are ONLY for the camera

At one point, a trio of young men with a boom box and a microphone followed gringos down the street while making up rap songs about them. Similar to mariachi bands in Mexican restaurants, they count on you to eventually pay them to leave you alone!

Since arriving in Colombia, I have been on a quest to taste an arepa – a delicious native cornflour griddle cake featured in Encanto (where Julietta’s arepas had healing powers). Every place we tried, even when the name of the restaurant had arepas in the title, we struck out. No arepas.