Colombia Photography travel

Cartagena de Indias

by peterpecksen
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Before arriving in Cartagena I had read that it was a photographers dream. It did not disappoint. The city is spectacular. Of course this is balanced by the fact that it is a hugely popular tourist destination and, as such, comes with the truly endless supply of hawkers and vendors trying to sell you stuff. A firm but polite “No gracias” usually does the trick.

Torre del Reloj
The Torre del Reloj, or Clock Tower looks over the main entrance to the Walled City. The plaza directly in front provides an intimidating gauntlet of vendors to work your way through before entering the city.

Founded in 1533, Cartagena served as the Spanish port for the exporting of silver back to Spain and the importing of African slaves to the overseas Spanish empire.

Cartagena Rooftops
The dome of San Pedro Claver Church can be seen from many spots in the walled city. This is looking back from a portion of the exterior wall.
Doors of Cartagena
One of the most enchanting parts of walking around the old town is the doorways. The size and adornments spoke to the status of the owner within the community. As well, the length of the second floor balcony was an indication of wealth.
Doors of Cartagena
The small man doors set within the larger gates occasionally give you a brief glimpse of the beauty inside.
Doors of Cartagena
The doors all tell some type of story. But no matter what, they all provided beautiful texture and colours to soak in.
Waiting Patiently
A trip to the wall at sunset is pretty well obligatory when you are in Cartagena. Patience and Photoshop are the keys to getting the photos you want.
Iglesia de San Pedro Claver
The Church of San Pedro Claver is a great stop for nighttime photography. Also, a great place to get a quality cocktail while you enjoy the people watching.
San Pedro Claver Plaza
The San Pedro Claver Plaza is also a great place to enjoy a variety of metal sculptures of people going about everyday life.
Time for a shave
Another of the sculptures in the plaza.
Colour and Texture
One of the things I most enjoyed about Cartagena was the mixture of rich colours and textures. No matter where you turned there was a wonderful mixture.
Torre del Reloj
If you are a history buff or simply like new and different places, the Walled City of Cartagena should be on your bucket list.

We had 3 full days in Cartagena and were able to take in everything we wanted to see. We stayed in a lovely little boutique hotel in the Getsemani neighbourhood, just outside the walled city. From there we were able to check out several excellent little restaurants and were a short walk to the main attractions.

If you want to see more images of our time in Cartagena come check out my instagram page where I am posting several more of them. @peterpecksen

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About peterpecksen

Welcome to our travel blog. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to say, "I'm out of here?" Well we did, and in 2013 we made it a reality. We sold or gave away all of our possessions other than what fit in our luggage and we set off on an endless adventure. Part of our goal is to share our experiences with others and hopefully provide some information, motivation, or just a moments escape. The general idea was to look for a place that would be ideal to settle down in. However in the meantime it is about experiencing life in different countries amongst different cultures and learning how to understand and appreciate each other. A large part of our time is spent housesitting which provides an excellent opportunity to experience more of the "normal" neighbourhoods as opposed to the tourist locales. Though we make sure to enjoy those as well. So through plenty of photographs and a running commentary come and share with us our life on the road.

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1 comment on “Cartagena de Indias”

  1. Ricki Douglas
    October 21, 2019

    “I need to get to Cartagena!!!” – Kathleen Turner repeats endlessly in “Romancing the Stone”…

    Reply

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