Our original plan had been to move south leaving Colombia and entering Ecuador as quickly as possible. However, whilst in Bogota we had learnt of the Colombian EasyJet who did flights around the country for $50. So we took the difficult decision to spend more time in Colombia at the expense of Brazil at the end of our trip. After a relaxing morning in Bogota we took a lunchtime flight to Cartagena, billed as a tourist goldmine lying on Colombia´s Caribbean coastline. The walled city of Cartagena itself is a UNESCO World heritage site and the Rough Guide described it as one of the most beautiful cities on the Caribbean.

The allure of all this together with the possibility of visiting Ciudad Perdida (Colombia´s answer to Machu Picchu), scuba diving in Taganga and spending the night in hammocks in Tayrona National Park had driven our decision to fly north.

Getting off the plane we were hit by a wall of heat and we´d be treated to daytime temperatures of around the 30s throughout our time here. We stayed in a dormitory in the pricey but very pretty old town, although preferred the grittier Getemani which was cheaper and where all the backpackers and locals frequented.

There is no real beach in Cartagena city itself so we went on a city tour taking in the numerous churches, convent and the Spanish Inquisition museum. Cartagena was a Spanish port which Sir Francis Drake laid siege to for a year in 1586. The city´s fort is quite impressive and not dissimilar to that in Cape Town.

Gemma had been left disappointed by her mud bath in New Zealand so when she saw that our hostel ran trips to a mud volcano we were going there. It was an entertaining morning, the mud sure was thick, as the pictures capture. We had a good group of 5 other western backpackers with us and it was a good laugh rolling around in the mud together.

The nightlife was tame here, maybe it was low season, or we were out too early in the evening but we did make it to one party, the Luna Media rooftop party where we drank mojitos and danced in the starlight.