After the hidden beach day, we drove to Cartagena. The beach trip was- surprise, surprise- really long and really hot. But we drove against the ocean for miles and miles, and, true to Cristian’s words, the window was my television.
We passed this stadium and stopped to take pictures, and I think it was so important because it is the headquarters of the Colombian futbol team.
Look, Cartagena!
Because it took so long to get into Cartagena, we “lost” almost an entire day of travel, and so didn’t do anything else during the day. That night, though, we went to the old castle. Some basic history about Cartagena:
Cartagena was founded in 1533 by the Spanish. As it grew it became a very important port city in the Caribbean and was fought over by the English and the Spanish. The castle and walls were built in defense of these territorial conflicts, and the walls were labeled a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1948.
Naturally, we took a ton of pictures. I tried sneaking past the guard and standing on top of the pillars, but I was quickly told no.
This is a picture of our room members. From the left: Jana, myself, Sophie, Bea, Kimi, Rachel, and Zara.
This is Peter.
This is a statue.
More people! Paola, Jana, myself, Kimi, and Solomon.
Bea and John!
Touching a World Heritage Site!
The next day, we drove to the coast. It was a two-hour drive and unbelievably hot and humid. Even Cristian, who’s Colombian, was 50 shades of done.
Driving through the city, you can see the development.
This is a typical Colombian traffic clusterf***k.
We get to this random place after two hours of hot, dusty driving, all wondering what’s at the end of this nearly unbearable ride, and we’re kindly welcomed to this Reception Desk.
So then we hike for a while through dusty, dirty pathways, still wondering where in the world we’re going.
But then, after the ride and the walk, we ended up here. Totally all worth it, without a doubt.
Today with Kristina’s Kindle, we again visit Dalsheim’s Producing Spoilers. It’s a book that explores how peacemaking and conflict resolution processes, rather than eliminating spoilers to these processes, actually fosters such spoilers. It’s based from field experience in Israel and Palestine, which is especially fitting given the current political climate.
Then we had fish for lunch, which I entirely approved of.
After that, we just kind of lounged around- and we didn’t get burnt, either! The water was so warm that someone joked, “This is the warmest shower I’ve had while here!”
After a while a soccer game began, which has become quite common here.
It was on this day that my camera broke, so after this all pictures will be stolen from other people and posts will be amalgamated. 🙂 The next day we went to the old city before heading home. The old city is very reminiscent of Spain and absolutely stunning.
Until later!
-Kris ❤
Traveler at the Edge 
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