In less than a day, I’ll be hopping on a jet plane with Sven for a 5-hour JetBlue flight to Cartagena, Colombia — by all online accounts a charming, romantic fisherman’s town with horse-drawn carriages and open air cafes on the northern coast of South America. People have shot me some puzzled looks about our vacation destination, for good reason I guess. I did spend several years in school studying the grisly modus operandi of the FARC, paramilitary, and Cali & Medellin cartels (read: Colombian neckties, kidnappings and other such monstrosities).
But apparently they’ve turned a corner in the last 5 years or so. With firsthand confirmation from Sven’s boss back in December, Cartagena will soon become (if not already) the “It” place for travelers. We decided against making it a beach vacation, since Boca Grande is oft-likened to Miami (blech). So we’re opting to stay in the historic Walled City, also a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Think Istanbul… in the tropical climate of the Caribbean!
Stay tuned for tales and snapshots of the 5-day expedition (arepas, exotic fruits, tortuga eggs and other top culinary delights of Colombia). I already dug up Anthony Bourdain‘s episode of No Reservations in Cartagena:
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