Cartagena

After a week in Peru—and experiencing nearly every climate and season while hiking the Inca Trail—we headed north to Cartagena, Colombia for four days. Like Peru, I knew very little about Colombia, but after the dry, cold air high in the Andes, the warm, tropical humidity of Cartagena was a welcome change.

We had to take three flights to get to Cartagena, and aside from one very tight layover that had us running through the Lima airport Home-Alone-style, we had pretty good travel luck. I was also carrying my Peruvian market bat by this point and Colombian airport security is no joke—they questioned us so many times about how our luggage was handled that I almost started to think that it might actually be filled with heroin. Thankfully, my bat and I made it through various customs checkpoints without incident, but I did learn that I'd probably be the world's worst drug smuggler.

We stayed in the Getsemani neighborhood, located just outside of the old walled city. I didn't realize it when we booked our hotel, but this once crime-riddled area is now considered "cool" and "up-in-coming", or as we started calling it "The Brooklyn of Cartagena." The historic part of Cartagena is very small and walkable, and I definitely recommend staying in—or at least exploring—Getsemani. The area is filled with murals, bars and restaurants and there were some pretty decent-looking hostels if that's your thing. 

Founded in 1533, Cartagena is a port city on the northern Caribbean coast of Colombia. I had heard it compared in style to New Orleans, and I definitely agree with that assessment—even the cemeteries felt similar. Cartagena is a very colorful and joyful place, filled with beautiful hand-painted signs, rainbow-colored stucco buildings and vibrant nightlife. Our militant airport welcome wasn't very indicative of how I felt in Cartagena—I never felt unsafe or wary and generally found people to be very nice and welcoming. 

We mostly just walked around the city and tried (rather unsuccessfully) to keep cool—Cartagena has an average temperature of 88°F year-round, with an average humidity of 90%. It rained periodically while we were there but mostly we were thankful for the cloud cover.

We couldn't not stop into the Palace of the Inquisition museum, which had some interesting examples of torture instruments and even if we couldn't read most of the informational signage, at least the rooms were air-conditioned. We also made a point to visit the Iglesia de Santo Domingo, allegedly the oldest church in Cartagena. In 1552 it was rebuilt in its present location when the original burned down, and a portion of the floor is paved with 19th century tombstones (!!).

I can't speak much about the local cuisine because at this point in our trip I had just begun to eat real food again and was even more cautious than usual in stepping outside of my culinary comfort zone. We had some good tapas but if I'm being totally honest the best meal we ate in Colombia was at a Subway—it tasted exactly like Subway should and it cost the same as it would have in America, which was actually expensive for Colombia but so worth it.

We drank mojitos while watching the sunset at Cafe del Mar; had a less-than-ideal beach day where I threw a tantrum and still got sunburnt despite spending the entire day in the shade; explored the coolest cemetery and saw an unbelievable amount of exposed human remains; walked on the walls; cooled down with fruit from a street vendor and I saw my very first paste-up funeral announcement (which was to take place at the same cemetery we visited!). I do wish that I hadn't been so travel-weary at this point in our trip because Cartagena was a really beautiful place, worthy of more attention than I had left to give. Even so, one of the very best parts about Cartagena was that after 14 days of travel and five flights between two countries, we had a five-hour, direct flight back to New York.

---

Where we stayed: Hotel Casa Pizarro

What we did: Palace of the Inquisition // Iglesia de Santo Domingo // Cementerio de Santa Cruz

Where we ate/drank: Cafe del Mar //  Demente // Caffé Lunático // I Balconi Pizzeria

Cementerio de Santa Cruz

I don't know what was wrong with me, but I didn't research a single cemetery before we left for our recent South America trip. I didn't even realize my egregious error until we were already leaving Cusco. On our bus ride to the beginning of the Inca Trail, I was looking at all of the small towns passing by and it hit me—I bet the cemeteries are great here (a totally normal thought to strike me). Almost as soon as I said it out loud, we actually passed a cemetery and although our bus was speeding along the rickety road, I had just enough time to give it a quick, wistful glance. Later in the day, we passed a smaller cemetery at the beginning of the trail but I was still hoping that we'd find time in our trip to properly explore a burial ground. 

Determined to remedy my nearly cemetery-less vacation, finding one was first on my agenda when we arrived in Cartagena, Colombia. I had expected Cartagena to have a vibe similar to New Orleans, and I just instinctively knew that its cemeteries would be amazing. It didn't take me long to find one—an easy, ten-minute walk from our hotel—and on our first full day it was first on the agenda.

The Cementerio de Santa Cruz is located on Manga, an island just outside of the walled city. I can't find a ton of information on the cemetery, but it's definitely old—probably from around the 1700s—and in disrepair but still very much in use. I had read that it was abandoned, but on the day that we visited there was a security guard sitting just inside of the entrance and several people tending to gravesites.

Most of the stones and vaults are damaged, and I'm not sure if it's a result of weather, time or vandalism (or all three), but the cemetery has definitely seen better days. I even got the sense that maybe older vaults are now being reused for new interments, and many of the niches are broken open and empty. I knew we would probably see some exposed human remains, but I was not prepared for just how many bones we saw. We even saw a few skulls—complete and partial—which was definitely a cemetery first for both of us.

The above-ground tombs and the style of the stones in general definitely reminded me of the cemeteries we visited in New Orleans. There were statues and offerings and tons of brightly colored fake flowers. One stone even had a miniature awning on it to protect all of its flowers and trinkets. I probably say this a lot, but this was definitely one of the best cemeteries I've ever visited—it may not be on anyone's "wonders of the world" list, but it was a trip highlight for sure.