Cartegena

A change of scenery it is!

Cartegena is so different from Bogota. First the weather- it is hot here and steamy. Oh- and the hottest part of the day is 11am-1pm....so different from the US.

We haven't seen a raindrop.

There is a greater variety of people- we're hearing a lot of English.

Breakfast... ah glorious breakfast! At our hotel in Bogota, our choices are eggs (scrambled or fried), cereal (3 varieties) and toast. Here...oh my. So much choice. I haven't had an egg yet. Don't get me wrong, I like eggs. I also enjoy variety. Interestingly, they also serve soup and chicken. And fruit...so much fruit!

Yesterday we went to town. The taxi driver offered to show us around (for a price). We went to an emerald museum and to a monastery on top of a hill.

Rock mined with emeralds

Chapel in the monastery

He took us around the city inside the walls. We saw a few squares and the outside of the castle walls.

Castillo de San Felipe

Inside the city walls

Narrow streets and cool architecture

A city square with a church and cool metal statues depicting scenes.

This taxi driver was a very good tour guide and very intent that we see everything. By this time we were hungry and had one grumpy kid, so it was time to stop. He seemed surprised but...oh well.

We're planning to tackle the castle today.

The  pool here is awesome! We mostly stay in the shallower side (there are about 4 sections to the pools) because Karen gets nervous in deeper water. She loves it, but uncomfortable in the deeper areas. Even in the shallow end, she prefers to have a ring on.

The good life!

Enjoying the good life!

Soon, you'll be able to see the face under that towel!

The first day we walked down to the beach. We were warned that the beaches are nothing special in Cartegena, and they are right. The beach attached to the hotel is small. The bigger issue is the sand. It's not really like sand- there really isn't a way to play with it. It's very dense and compact. Hard to describe. They have sand toys we can borrow, but I don't think it would do any good.

The pool has a slide- Joel loves it! I went down with Karen once and she was clear afterwards...not again! I think swim lessons are in the near future for her.

Karen is a relatively fearless girl. Flying to Cartegena was her first. Instead of nervous or upset, she had a look of complete thrill on her face upon take off. You should see her on play structures nad monkey bars...whoa! The water though...I think she just needs more experience and confidence.

The hotel has a kids game room with puzzles, drawing, ping pong, etc. They also have outdoor tennis courts- we went last night after dinner. Yeah, we're not good. We had fun though.

We just got the news...the Procuraduria has signed! Now, just waiting on the judge.

Time to get out and enjoy Cartegena!