Bocagrande as seen from La Manga<\/p><\/div>\n

The sea is supposed to be clean, however, it is difficult to tell when the bottom is black and invisible. Clean or not, it doesn’t look very inviting.\u00a0 I’ve spent three long months in Cartagena but went into the sea only once. It was 30 seconds long in-and-out procedure. Yet\u00a0I love beaches and warm sea. But not the one in Bocagrande.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What surprises me the most is that there are tourists paying money to stay in fancy hotels along the beach, there are none on the beach though. I am guessing they are there exclusively for the view and the breeze.<\/p>\n

La Boquilla\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

La Boquilla is the second beach in Cartagena, on the other side of town not too far from the airport. It is marketed as (upcoming) luxurious (mostly) residential area on the beautiful beach. Hmm… the beach is much much larger than the one in Bocagrande, however, it is definitely not much better. Even though the sand looks less dirty it is still dirty and also very compact making the beach look more like a dirt road than a beautiful soft sandy beach.<\/p>\n

Slideshow with more images all the way down<\/em><\/p>\n

La Manga<\/h2>\n

La Manga is an upscale residential neighborhood not more than a 20-minute walk from the Walled City. The upscale of La Manga is not really comparable with the upscale of Western neighborhoods but it is as good as it gets in Colombia. I stayed in a lovely colonial house for 1, 5 months and really enjoyed it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is a quiet and secure small island with many beautiful colonial houses. There are also few condominiums. If you are in Cartagena for a longer haul La Manga is the place to stay especially if you like to live in a house. Bocagrande could be another alternative if you prefer to stay in a breezy apartment.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/td>\n

<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Summa Summarum<\/h2>\n Being number one tourist world destination of 2018 as well as being the most visited city and number one tourist attraction in the country comes with a price tag. Or two. Both visitors and locals pay today for that privilege.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cartagena has not only become the most expensive city in Colombia which almost emptied the Walled City from its inhabitants but due to the crowds visiting the city, both regular tourists and the day trippers arriving on ships, it is also invaded by pushy touts who make the life of visitors rather difficult. To say the least.<\/p>\n Police daily radio appeal to let the visitors be, have no effect at all. The ‘business’ goes as usual. Cartagena is still a very poor country and the locals take every opportunity they get to make extra money.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cartagena is hot and humid. Very hot and very humid. After long steamy hours exploring\u00a0the Walled City, there is nothing more satisfying (at least for me) than an evening stroll on the beach, a dip in the sea, a well-chilled drink, a bite to eat, breathtaking sunset.<\/p>\n Dream on.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, the beach is practically inaccessible to visitors. What a shame. \u00a0<\/p>\n All that glitters is not gold<\/strong><\/h5>\n <\/strong><\/h5>\n Don’t get me wrong. Cartagena or rather the Walled City is lovely and undoubtedly worth a visit but is it really all that<\/em>? Not sure. Part of the hype (imho) is related to the fact that Cartagena is a relatively new destination.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n I am very glad I came. I truly am. But the truth of the matter is that sometimes picturesque\u00a0pictures are more\u00a0picturesque than reality and that 16 million colors are perceived\u00a0uniquely by each individual.\u00a0 Images tend to be more saturated than reality. (Even my Bocagrande images don’t mirror the reality).\u00a0<\/p>\n There is a small expat community in Cartagena. They are though not as active as expats in Medellin. I cannot see myself living in Cartagena. Too hot, too humid, the worst beach in the world. But above all the constant harassment by touts\u00a0and scammers\u00a0do not qualify the city as a retirement paradise destination. Far from it. So, I’ll keep looking.\u00a0<\/p>\n p.s. I just happened to come across yet another\u00a0picture that keeps my head spinning – Rainbow Mountains in Peru.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Walled City of Cartagena – slideshow<\/h3>\n <\/div>\n \n The streets and murals of Getsemani – slideshow<\/h3>\n <\/div>\n \n Bocagrande – slideshow<\/h3>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Inexplicable yet so fascinating how easily we can change the course of our lives (or at least our itinerary) when given the opportunity or when something pokes our interest, stimulates our senses, is aesthetically appealing or releases the free flow of emotions that make our pulse rise and the heart\u2026<\/p>\n Continue reading<\/span><\/i><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"The #magic city - #Cartagena\r\n#travelblog #travelphotography","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[365,171],"tags":[376,367,299,378,383,382,320,377],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n