November 18th – 20th 2019
One of my best friends from Denmark recently got married in Colombia and being the “local” he is, he decided to plan his own Bachelors party, on a catamaran in the waters of Cartagena. Due to a riding school the previous weekend in Bogota, I showed up early and had plenty of time to get to know the city and play with my Fuji. What I learned about Cartagena is that it probably used to be a charming colonial city, but as so many other popular places around the world, the local authorities evidently failed in controlling local vendors. You literally could not walk in the city center, the marine or on the popular beaches without being offered everything from candy and beers to sex and drugs. It’s a frustrating interference to be stopped, whistled or yelled at non-stop and at least to me, it totally kills the joy of visiting a new place. I suppose that as long as the authorities let this shitshow go on, I surely can’t recommend Cartagena and if you know me, you’d know I appreciate places like Isla Grande 100 times more, where people smile at you, wanna talk and share.
Isla Grande, on the other hand…. Isla Grande means “big island” and is located close to Cartagena. I went out there for what I thought was just going to be a half day trip but the vibe sucked me in and I had to stay for the night and catch next days one and only boat back to the mainland. I didn’t bring anything except my camera and a bit of cash and these were the photos I managed to get before heading back to Cartagena. I intentionally edited some of them black & white as well as in colours to see what I liked the most, I guess it’s 50/50 😃
