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We have made our way to the northernmost tip of South America, the Peninsula Guajira, but I am still absorbing everything on this wild and sandy part of the country.
So for now, let me tell you about Cartagena, the Colombian Caribbean pride. Cartagena is a shock to the senses. Cartagena likes to party. Prostitution is legal in Colombia, but rarely regulated. So there is a lot of underage sexual exploitation. This is obvious by just walking around the city center and seeing the teenage faces of many of the women offering services. In even a former Miss Cartagena was arrested for bringing minors as young as 12 years old!
Mostly though, the city and the government turn a blind eye to all of this. And so do most tourists, except the ones looking for it, which are plenty. The place we were staying had a strange rule for visitors: they were only allowed from midnight to 5 am. We were perplexed at first, and once we ran into a few too many unsavory tenants, we understood. The city likes to party in other ways too.
In Getsemani, a colorful neighborhood close to the center but outside of its inner wall, locals sell you cocktails from their living room windows. Its narrow alleyways are packed with plastic chairs and street art. Getsemani has always been the neighborhood of the people, and since its inception one of the poorest sectors in Cartagena. That is, until around a decade ago when international tourism set its sights on the neighborhood and foreigners started buying and remodeling properties.
