cartagena

Fans of Gabriel Garcia Marquez will be able to imagine Cartagena—the crumbling, colonial mansions, the stories of love lost and found, and the intertwining mosaic of family stories going back centuries, all set against the backdrop of the sparkling Caribbean Sea. However, this still doesn’t prepare you for the magic and charm of the old city when you arrive for the first time. Its houses, painted in every pastel shade, with their immaculate balconies from which bougainvillea hang down to the street below, the scent of the flowers filling the air mingled with the salty sea breeze and its old mansions with their fortified studded doors. Simply walking around the old town, you find your mind drifting away, carefree and relaxed, and it’s easy to forget there’s a modern world out there. The mix of colours, the heat, the smiling faces, and the gentle music in the background all conspire to take you back to Sir Francis Drake’s day.