Cartagena de Indias has a lot more aspects beside the obvious, also more than the ones I talked about yet. 

Let me show you some other facets of the city.

Some beautiful, some sad, some really hilarious! :-D 

Here's the second part.

I waited a long time until I tried to formulate my impressions and feelings about Cartagena.

It wasn’t love at first sight. It is a rather complicated relationship.

But aren’t those the ones that are the most interesting?

A friend said, he loves Cartagena this much because of its diversity.

And maybe that’s the key. Cartagena has so many aspects; for some you will fall immediately and some will try you. 

But like a good lover Cartagena knows to hide its problems behind a smile and keeps the magic alive.

Setting sail and leaving San Blas with direction Cartagena. Part III of our sailing trip.

24 hours just blue water and blue skies.

And time came to a stop...

For 4 days we will be playing pirate on a sailing vessel built in 1903. This is Part II.

In the afternoon we drop the anchor at one of the many islands of San Blas.

How would you imagine a Caribbean island?

For 4 days we will be playing pirate on a sailing vessel built in 1903.

A recomendation of a colleague and a birthday present for Markus.

We didn't quite know, what to expect having heard a lot of good ("San Blas islands are a dream come true!") and bad things ("The crew was drunk almost all of the time...") about the ships sailing between Panama and Colombia.

Well, we were about to find out! :-P

Italians have their pizza or minestrone to use leftovers, Germans their Eintopf, Colombians their empanada. I don’t think that there are many rules, what and what not to put into an empanada.

As you can find them in Cartagena at almost every corner and with their friendly color they always remind me a bit of the caribbean sun.

Here’s one recipe, again from the schools chef Yenis. 

We especially liked the salsa, really simple and really good! :-P

After a short drive and several stops to pick up the tennis shoes of those people (including us) who didn’t think of them in the first place, we arrive at a dusty parking slot. There are 2 sheds holding a small shop and 2 rooms full of equipment. 

With 10 people from school we enter the room and they tell us some basics: Take off the security cap and latch only in the field, wear your mask at any time in the field, don’t shoot at someone closer than 5 meters, don’t shoot at someone holding his hands up etc.

Next thing: Do we want to wear long pants and sleeves, as it might not hurt that much, if you are hit? 

After a short look at the evil smiling guys in our group all girls nod vigorously...

Good, that they told us upfront, that the volcano Totumo, located in the area of Santa Catalina, is small.

Still, we couldn't help laughing looking at it.

It's more like... well... a hill and it looks a bit captivated by the 3 flights of stairs on its back, leading to the top. The inside of the volcano is filled with mud. They tell you that the mud is good for your skin.

Well, why else should anyone bath in in it ;-)

For 2 weeks we were volunteering on an organic Farm, that produces fruit, vegetables and wine. Here are some stories we relived. Enjoy! :-D

The guest house is being renovated and needs to be ready in 3 days. And there is still so much to do, we cannot imagine how they're gonna make it in time. So we try our best to help. 

Today Markus and I found out, what landscaping fabric is...

About 45 minutes from Cartagena you will find the village of Galerazamba.

From the main road we turn left and drive about 20 minutes over a bumpy road to the sea. On our way we pass a few garbage dumps and a lot of empty and partly broken houses and sheds.

Getting to the center of the little village there is a small church, an empty community place and even more abandoned houses. No one on the streets, its almost a ghost town. The odd hen or cow crosses the road, all of them very thin.

The road stops at a closed gate with a „private property“ sign, the entry to the Salina, a salt production. A few guys are sitting in the shade sharing a soda. 

Cartagena de Indias has a lot of influence from the Creole culture, also in its kitchen which is rather Caribbean. Coconut and Banana (the non-sweet version) is part of almost every dish, typical e.g. is brown or white coconut rice as a side dish, fried banana chips (served with sour creme), fried banana purree or banana in a spicy and sweet salsa. I am quite sure I will have a banana overdose after those 3 months in Cartagena :-D

Thought I share with you a bit of this amazing food. 

There are a lot of buses - called busetas - driving through Cartagena. All very old and beautifully painted in all colors or the rainbow. They are also very cheap - for about 50 cents you can take a bus to almost everywhere in the city.

But there is neither a time-table nor can you find the routes of those buses anywhere. And no, there are also no busstops.