Buenos noches from Cartagena!

Ever since I saw Romancing the Stone (aged about 7 - is that really appropriate viewing for a 7 year old?) I have wanted to come here. I'm staying in a lovely hostel, Media Luna, in a beautiful converted colonial building in the crumbling old quarter of the city. It looks like a film set here, palm trees line the streets and there are towering modern hotels next to stunning old theatres and museums. I'm really excited about spending Easter here... Easter is a big event in Colombia so there's a lot going on.

I'm sharing a room with an American girl, Natalie, and Joanna who is Colombian but lives in New York - we've just been for a delicious pizza together and tomorrow we're planning on going exploring on bicycles. Some friends from Santa Marta are in town too so I'm going to meet up with them. Expect lots of photos over the next few days! There's a mud volcano to visit here, a boat trio you can do around some Caribbean islands, lots of cultural stuff... I am going to be a busy girl, especially considering I've spent the last week pretty much lying by the pool, on the beach, in the park... still, my tan is back so it was time well spent!

This morning I had a Spanish lesson at The Dreamer, so now I can practice with my new Colombian room-mate! After a month in Brazil it's taken me a while to stop attempting to speak Portuguese, but I managed to have a good chat with the bus driver on the way here so it must be going in.

Had a bit of a nightmare this morning, as my North Face waterproof went missing from the laundry - sob! It was pink too. Good job I'm not in Bogota. Anyway it fell off the back of a lorry in Vietnam so it's not like it was expensive, and the hostel gave me some money to replace it, but quite where I'm going to find a waterproof jacket on the Caribbean coast is beyond me. Maybe it just won't rain when I'm doing the Inca Trail.. maybe..

x