Cartagena Por la Noche
At night Cartagena is lit up by old fashioned lanterns along the narrow cobblestone streets in the old city (walled city, historic district). The horsed carriages are only allowed to do business after 4 p.m., and they take up as much space as the cars and taxis filtering through the small crowded streets. Afro-Colombian dancers start to perform in the plazas wearing the 'traditional' green, yellow, and red costumes right around dusk. Some restaurants don't even open until 6 or 7 p.m. Cartagena comes alive at night.
Plaza Santo Domingo
One of my favorite plazas! This is where I spent most of my Valentines night talking with the friendly waiters, listening to drums and guitars, drinking beer, thinking about Gabriel Garcia Marquez and the many ways this city inspired him in two of his novels.
Plaza de las Coches
Another one of my favorite plazas. The plaza is right on the border of the walled city and all the carriages line up at night waiting for tourists. There's a few bars or discotecas located behind the horses too. The street I usually take to the plaza is lined with professional vagabonds who selling jewelry for travel money. I've always loved seeing people do that. Every time I see them out there I feel like I've located my clan. Although my obligations in Austin means I'm forever displaced.
Shipwreck Diving
But first! Some beautiful underwater captures:
The very dangerous Stone Fish. Can everyone see it? It's easy to pick out the fin but the eye is a little harder to focus on. I only noticed it because of its fin. The Stone Fish is one of the more dangerous fish in the sea. Apparently they carry deadly venom in their fins and if it punctures you it can kill you. Luckily, they're not aggressive.
I don't know the official name, but its a flat fish we call "Sol" or a type of flatfish flounder. Another tricky catch that our fantastic dive guide Carlos pointed out. Its little eye balls are visible if you can pick them out.
My first kiss from a pucker fish!
=)
(Now the shipwreck, mis amigos)
Cannonball. Carlos handed me the cannonball and I immediately sank. Hand first, of course. It was a heavy little corroded beast of a cannonball.
Top of the Ship
One of my favorite plazas! This is where I spent most of my Valentines night talking with the friendly waiters, listening to drums and guitars, drinking beer, thinking about Gabriel Garcia Marquez and the many ways this city inspired him in two of his novels.
Another one of my favorite plazas. The plaza is right on the border of the walled city and all the carriages line up at night waiting for tourists. There's a few bars or discotecas located behind the horses too. The street I usually take to the plaza is lined with professional vagabonds who selling jewelry for travel money. I've always loved seeing people do that. Every time I see them out there I feel like I've located my clan. Although my obligations in Austin means I'm forever displaced.
Shipwreck Diving
But first! Some beautiful underwater captures:
=)
(Now the shipwreck, mis amigos)
Inside the deeper corridors of the ship there was a room with a pocket of air left in it. We surfaced for a bit just for fun. The air smelled of rust.
I tried to take a few photographs while we swam through the sunken hallways but there was so much sediment in the water from the corrosion of the ship and it was so dark the pictures always came out black or murky. We swam down the into the lower decks, into a room, through a hallway and out the side of the ship.
Beside the ship I suppose someone dropped a huge weight as a memorial of some sort. (Photo to the left) I don't know who the person is, but it seems they were a scuba diver as well.
Three days left in Cartagena... not too pleased about leaving the city. I'm just now making friends and getting to know the city. Ah well! So it goes. More soon.
Warm Regards!
- Kelly
good pictures, I sure had a good time with you here minus a few stressful nights....
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