22 - Cartagena

On January 2nd mom and I took a short plane ride from Bogotá to the popular coastal city Cartagena. Cartagena was founded in 1533 and soon became the main Spanish port on the Caribbean coast. The treasure that the Spanish stole from the indigenous people was stored in Cartagena and as such it became a main target for pirates. In response to the pirate attacks the Spaniards built elaborate walls circling the city and a chain of forts.


Here's a picture of one of the forts - Castillo San Felipe

The fort was filled with a maze of tunnels for quick evacuation. I had lots of fun trying to find my way around the tunnels.

One day we went with my mom's friend, Jaya and her husband, Benny on a boat to their friends' island vacation home. Here are a few pictures of their place.



I didn't pull these pictures off a 5 star hotel's website. This is really what it looked like. It was beautiful.


Here I am hanging out by the pool.

Mom and Jaya on the boat on the way back from the island.


We watched a beautiful sunset on the boat ride home.


One night mom and I took a chiva (see photo above) tour around the city. Our chiva was packed with about 25 people, a party guide, a bus driver, and a three man band playing music the entire time.

On the chiva ride they passed out buckets of ice, bottles of rom, and bottles of soda so everyone could make their own drinks. We drove around the city and the band played and everyone sang and danced.

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There was a dance off between the front and the back of the bus and every row nominated someone to be in the competition. Of course I was picked from my row, and my newly acquired dancing skills helped lead my team to victory. Mom was impressed.


The next night we went to an art exhibition and Miss Colombia was there checking out the art. I took a picture with her and got her phone number for my brother, so he can ask her out. You're welcome Mike :)

Yesterday mom and I took a boat to Islas de Rosario which are a bunch of beautiful islands about 45 minutes off the coast of Cartagena.

The water there was beautiful!

We also went to an aquarium on one of the islands. It was really cool because all the tanks were built right into the ocean.


They had a great dolphin show.


They even had a shark show! They trained the sharks to come up on the floating dock.

Well I had a great two weeks with my mom. We celebrated Christmas in Bogota, brought in the New Year in Girardot, and danced together on a bus in Cartagena. Sadly she's leaving me tonight to go back to LA. I'm going to miss her lots and lots. Thanks for an incredible two weeks Mom and we'll be together again in no time!