9-34

"9-34" ~ Cartagena, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Victoria

"Victoria" ~ Cartagena, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Capturar la Bandera

"Capturar la Bandera" ~ Cartagena, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Hace Calor en Cartagena

It had been reported that Cartagena was the most beautiful city in all of South America. However, when the bus rumbled in from Tolu I had to confirm I was in the right place. There was nothing beautiful at all about the city I was arriving in. Not only was it not beautiful, it was the dirtiest city I'd seen in Colombia to date.

Fortunately, the bus terminal is a good 45 minutes outside of the city & as the local bus rattled on closer to the walled city I could see much promise. Or, so I thought.

The driver motioned that the chaotic intersection we were at was my stop. Not exactly sure where I was going & a bit apprehensive about diving into the boiling mix of dust, pedestrians, metal & blaring horns... I froze still for a moment to get my focus & then just dove in off the bus & out into the mayhem. The driver had pointed in a vague direction somewhere beyond the worst of the sonic mess, so I just kept moving in that general direction until I was free from most of the vehicular traffic.

The people in this general area did not look like you'd want to linger too terribly long, so I just asked the first shirtless Caribbean character who made eye contact with me where the street was I was looking for. He looked thrilled I'd engaged in conversation with him as if he'd landed a fresh catch. As he jumped up & moved closer to me, I just kept moving while talking in case I'd need to flee in a hurry. Something didn't feel right & then an older man appeared from one of the tiendas & shoved the Caribbean character backwards and quickly moved between us. He pointed toward the next corner & yelled out, "The street you are looking for is there! Don't stop & keep moving quickly!" as he once again pushed the first fellow back as if to protect me. Whoa! I thought this was supposed to be the safest city in Colombia?!

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La Casa de Los Duendes

"La Casa de Los Duendes" ~ Cartagena, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Aire Acondicionado

"Aire Acondicionado" ~ Cartagena, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Sea Muse

"Sea Muse" ~ Cartagena, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Trading the City for Wild Paradise

The city textures for a bit of tropical bliss. The Caribbean cities are fun to make images in if you can keep the sweat out of your eyes & keep aware of who's behind you.

Heading to Taganga which is reported to be a place plagued by local muggings & backpacker drug culture ghettos, but I'm told it's the easiest place to jump off into Tayona National Park. How bad could it be? We'll find out soon enough!

Bienvenido

"Bienvenido" ~ Tayrona, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Caballo Blanco

"Caballo Blanco" ~ Tayrona, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Tea Cups

"Tea Cups" ~ Tayrona, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Descanso

"Descanso" ~ Tayrona, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Crane

"Crane" ~ Tayrona, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Cabo San Juan

"Cabo San Juan" ~ Tayrona, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Selva

"Selva" ~ Tayrona, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Piscina

"Piscina" ~ Tayrona, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

Los Ninos

"Los Ninos" ~ Tayrona, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

This is what the jungle of Tayona sounds like at twilight.

Horse With No Name

"Horse With No Name" ~ Tayrona, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

"No Pasa Nada" ~ Tayrona, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

"No Pasa Nada" ~ Tayrona, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt

El Camino

"El Camino" ~ Tayrona, Colombia (c) 2012 Skip Hunt