memyaccountantsandi.com

After our recent adventures in Tyrona, we were well prepared for our next day in the mud. On our last day in Cartegena, we went to visit “Vulcan de Lodo El Totume” – a mud volcano! This 15m mound looks like a miniature volcano and is a phenomenon caused by the pressure of gases emitted by decaying organic matter, or so says lonely planet.

After changing into bikinis we all walked up the specially built stair case and down the ladder into the “crater”. We were helped in by the official “masseurs” (local men of the area) and then there was an optional massage. It was quite strange sitting in a vat of grey mud – if you tried to stand, it was like being suspended in space, no hope of reaching the bottom but it was very relaxing.

After about an hour we all got out and then were sent to the lagoon down the road to wash off. Here the local women flocked to “help” us. We didn’t have much choice in the situation and before we knew it bikinis were being stripped off for washing. A couple of buckets of water over our heads followed as we sat in the cloudy water.

After some fruit and paying off our local helpers with the expected tips, we all headed back to Cartegena with super soft skin!

We travelled from Santa Marta to Cartegena by mini bus, taking about 4 hours. Three of us had arrived the night before and were staying in Media Luna hostel. However when we got there, two of us feeling sick checked into the room to discover one of the shared toilets had no lock and the other wasn´t working – not a good combination! So, the four of us quickly left and moved into a small hotel down the street – a private room with a TV was a bit of a novelty!

Cartegena is a beautiful colonial city with lovely buildings of great character. The old part of town is surrounded by a high wall and full of nice cafes and restaurants. We did find it quite touristy as everyone visits here on their trip to the Caribbean coast and it is hard to get away from being offered to buy things the whole time as you wander round. Australian Fusion on Calle Media Luna, was a good place to eat. We also went to a local fiesta there. they had set up a big stage near the old city gates, lots of music, food and drinks and a sort of fashion parade going on at the same time as the band. Good fun, besides getting sprayed with some kind of flour stuff that apparently is the done thing at these events!

One of the days we took a boat trip to Playa Blanca – having been put off staying overnight there by the reports of deadly sand flies we just did the day trip. Playa Blanca itself is lovely, white sandy beaches and gorgeous blue water. However due to a mixture of our lack of Spanish and the tour seller blatantly lying to us, we only got to stay at the beach for about 2 hours – the swim was worth it though!