On final day in Cartagena is a beach day. We had met a nice US State Dept officer staying at the Santa Clara w/ her girlfriend and their recommendation was stay away from La Boquilla & BocaGrande beaches.   We are headed to Playa Blanca on Baru Island.   We head to the take our "launcha" booked the prior day at the pier. The first window I'd walked up to ( TwoLines) offered 35,000 COP per person RT to Baru Island - Playa Blanca.    Seemed fair $ 19 f...

Lyn  uses her birthday SpaFinder certificates to book the family treatment at Santa Clara's Le Spa.   We set a group Hamman, Body Exfoliation, Tea Ceremony, and Massage Thursday afternoon. I protest moderately and then agree to join the girls for a package with minimum of (5).  Start day w/ my early bird - Jen to tour the city and book our Baru Island trip for Friday at the docks. Here's where I load up on Cartagena city pics.   We hit a bakery...

Sorry...couldn't resist Mel Brooks' "History of the World" comedy hook. Jen and I start the day with a jog. I take her through the Getsamani neighborhood I've run each morning. The humidity really gets to her at 7 a.m. and we walk much of the way back.    We get back, take a dip in the pool and Katie/Jen/I walk to the Juan Valdez Cafe.    Generation gap ...the girls don't know who Juan Valdez is and ask if this is Starbucks Colombia.  ...

The Santa Clara Sofitel is know for it El Coro Lounge. We stop in for some martinis, wine, frozen concoctions in hopes we bump into the novelist & screenwriter Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Love in the Time of Cholera, Of Love and other Demons) lives next to the Santa Clara and frequents El Coro.  Very cool spot to hang out w/ low sofas, candle lights in a monastery meets Havanna club vibe. Lyn says don't try the Lychee martini..I like it. The bartender perm...

Two sun days at the pool and we need a tour. Pay two cabs $70 total for a day's rent to take us Castilla De San Felipe and La Popa.   These are outside the city walls and we were cautioned not to walk there.   The hottest, muggiest day of our trip.   Warning: If claustrophobic, faint from humidity, scared of dark, wet places, the Castilla San Felipe will be a quick tour for your $10 entrance  Lyn and KT choose to stay up top, but Jen, Ash, and I ...