Hola!
As most of you know, for the past three years I’ve taken my mother somewhere for a girls trip. We started out with karaoke and crawfish in New Orleans, then saw the Eiffel Tower in Paris and this year we went to Cartagena.
Why Colombia?
The theme of my travel for this year has been South and Central America. I’ve been trying to use the little bit of Spanish I know, while spending as little as possible on vacation. Cartagena was cheap! For our long weekend I took out what equated to about $125 in USD and ate good the entire time and picked up some things for a few people. In addition to the low costs and Spanish-speaking people, Cartagena bursts with melanin and culture,I simply couldn’t resist booking our trip! Read below for everything we did, saw, and ate, and why you should go!
Day 1
We arrived in Cartagena in the afternoon. We checked in at the GHL Corales de Indias and I immediately laid down for a bit. My mom wanted to check out our hotel and got to witness a wedding! I liked this hotel because of the location. It was in a safe neighborhood, very close to the airport and there were always taxis waiting for us to get us wherever we needed to go. They also had a complimentary shuttle for taking you into the city for sightseeing, super convenient!
It’s been said that you cannot travel to Cartagena without visiting Cafe del Mar so we did just that. It was very enjoyable! Do visit this establishment for incredible sunsets, live music, great food and overall excellent atmosphere. It was a great way to kick off our trip.
My mom and I split the Seafood of the Caribbean; which included shrimp, clams, squid, octopus and fish over coconut rice and potatoes. FIVE STARS!
For the rest of the evening, we walked around to the shops and bought little souvenirs and you guessed it! I went to bed 🙂
Day 2
So by now you all should know I LOVE a lazy beach day so we booked a day at Namaste Beach Club through Viator. Because of what work has been like these past couple of months and my exhaustion, this was much needed, but if you are a beach snob like me, head over to Playa Blanca. I absolutely enjoyed the meal, the relaxation and the foot massage, but I did not get in the water, it didn’t attract me.
The WiFi was also great and the servers were most attentive. I have no regrets with booking this beach day. Again, it was exactly what I needed! But if blue waters are what you crave, keep searching.