Capturing Cartagena in Photos
Cartagena, Colombia is a city of many facets from the ancient stone wall built by the Spanish to defend the old city from pirates and brigands
to the quaint and picturesque colonial architecture of the historic old town.
Scattered across the city are parks, museums, restaurants and churches.
The old monastery, the highest point in Cartagena at the top of El Cerro de La Popa overlooks the Castillo, an intimidating fortress which protected Spain’s ill-gotten riches and safeguarded the city. 
Tourists flock to the tony hotels, restaurants and high-rises that line the fine sand beaches of the harbor in Bocagrande
and spill over to the more local neighborhoods like Getsemani
or Avenida Santander (where we lived) alongside the Caribbean ocean.
One doesn’t need to look too far to find statues and sculptures in public spaces
or street art upon building walls.
Streets are filled with all manner of vehicles from taxis and buses to carts pulled by horses and donkeys or horse-drawn carriages.
And lacking all other resources, sometimes carts are propelled by people.
The residents of Cartagena are friendly, welcoming and quick to smile as well as to share a friendly word and point one in the right direction. One gentleman, posed proudly for us after showing us around a museum. 
However, there aren’t too-many freebies in this tourist driven economy and the more colorful characters ask for change in exchange for photos.
And at the end of the day lovers find a quiet moment in the niches of the old wall to watch the late afternoon fade into night and the sunset reflected in the sea.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Cartagena is an amazing city and we greatly enjoyed our time here as we celebrated our third Christmas as retired nomads and welcomed in 2015. Some places take a piece of your heart and we’ll leave a little of us behind as we move on to the Netherlands Antilles.
By Anita and Richard
No Particular Place To Go 
Your photos are so enticing,I am seriously thinking of Cartegena as my next spot. Thanks a bunch. Has anyone mentioned that your blog would make a great travel book? If I were a publisher, I would sign you on.
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Thanks, Maida for all your kind words (blush! blush!) There’s a lot about Cartagena that you would love especially the history and the artchitectue in the old city. It’s beautiful!
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Not what I was expecting, the city is spotless and so colorful. It looks like a great walking city.
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Even though we’d researched Cartagena before our visit we were still surprised at how beautiful the city is as well as how pedestrian friendly. Tourism is a big part of the city’s economy and it’s very apparent that the residents of Cartagena take great pride in their gem of a city.
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Lovely journey and visit through your brilliant photos.
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Thanks for stopping by our blog and we’re so glad you liked our pictures. Cartagena makes it very easy to find great photo opportunities!
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What a nice, flavorful pictorial tour of Cartagena!
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Thanks, Carole. We’re so glad you enjoyed a virtual tour with us of this very picturesque city!
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The love you have for Cartagena shines through in every photo. Moving on can be filled with such bittersweet emotions. You’ve inspired others to visit, though, so that’s part of what you leave in a place.
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We enjoyed our time in Cartagena and, you’re right, leaving a place we’ve grown to love can be a little hard. However, as all travelers know, there are so many new places to explore that we’re more than ready for the next adventure and a new place to capture our hearts!
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Your photos are lovely!! You really captured the spirit of Cartagena!!
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Thanks, Marilyn. Cartagena is so picturesque and photogenic that we carried a camera everywhere and kept our eyes open for picture taking opportunities.
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Great photos! (Like the smiling young couple in the wall) We’d like to visit Cartagena some day :-).
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While we were taking our late afternoon walks we noticed that the niches in the ancient stone walls that surround the old city (originally meant for the cannons) often had couples sitting together taking advantage of the privacy or waiting for the sunsets over the Caribbean. Quite romantic!
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What amazing photography! You’ve really put Cartagena on my radar. Love the colorful place and culture!
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We’re happy that our posts and pictures have resulted in you deciding to add Cartagena to your places to see list. It really is a magnificent city and well worth a visit!
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Your photos are absolutely delightful, Anita and Richard! So colourful and vibrant. I am interested in travelling to Colombia, but fearful of the crimes against tourists. One of my friends (who was actually born in Colombia) was kidnapped while visiting a couple of years ago. And she got out of it OK, but says it does happen relatively frequently. Wishing you safe travels!
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While we like off the beaten path locations we’re far from adventurous travelers and always check the US State Department’s advisories as well as other websites to get a sense of what’s going on. Cartagena has a good tourist infrastructure and we felt safe while we were there. Colombia is working hard to improve its tourism appeal as well as increase its safety profile. We’d love to visit Colombia again and see some of its other historic locations.
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Wow! Simply wow! Loved these photos and it made me want to drop everything and head there! A great post~
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So glad you enjoyed our photos and that they’ve inspired an interest in you to visit this amazing city. You won’t be disappointed!
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Lovely photos. Cartagena does remind me a lot of Spain, in the colours and style of the buildings. I can see why you enjoyed your time there so much.
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Thanks. We love the colonial architecture and narrow streets as well as the vibrant colors and tropical touches of bougainvillea everywhere. If Spain is anything like this, we can’t wait!
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What a sweet, vicarious stroll through the city. I’m glad you showed the waterfront with its modern high rises. So many destinations aren’t all antiquated streets – which can surprise visitors.
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Cartagena, like most cities, has gone through many evolutions and its unique neighborhoods show its many facets. While it’s known for the old walled city, the working class neighborhood of Getsemani and the area we lived in alongside the Avenida Santander were also interesting as were as the high rises in Bocagrande.
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I love all the colors and lively streets and architecture, what a wonderful mix of very old, new and remodeled.
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We have to agree with you, Noel that the riot of colors and colonial architecture are some of the reasons we fell in love with Cartagena. It was fun to explore its different neighborhoods and we were surprised several times by unexpected discoveries.
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Great photos of Cartagena. Made me kind of sad to say goodbye to it too. I can see why it captured a piece of your heart.
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Thanks for the compliment, Donna. We are so glad that you enjoyed our posts about Cartagena and felt like a virtual traveler who was a little sad to leave this city, too!
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Loved the fruit vendor gal. She looks like quite a character! Super pics.
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The traditional dress of Colombia is eye-catching, isn’t it? The fruit vendors wore these colorful dresses with pride and aplomb as well as brilliant smiles!
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Great photos, which brought back memories of our visit to Cartagena some years ago! Thanks.
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We’re glad that you enjoyed the pics and it’s wonderful that we could take you down memory lane and your past visit to this amazing city with our photos.
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Well, you made me want to fly to Cartagena soon. Such a beautiful city. We thought about planning a short trip the first of March, but the airline tickets are still high. Safe travels to Netherlands Antilles.
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We’re so glad that we helped to pique your interest in Cartagena and are glad that you’re planning a visit. There are so many things to see and learn in this amazing city and we’re sure you’ll have a great time.
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Thanks so much for the lovely journey. Your photographic talents travel with you. I plan to put this spot on my list of possibilities due to your descriptions and photos.
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Cartagena really is a beautiful city and we’re happy that we had a chance to share our photos with you, Maida, and that you’re thinking of visiting this historic site.
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Beautiful pictures. Though we were only in Cartagena for a few hours, I remember a lot of the places in your photographs. I do remember it being VERY HOT when we were there. Good memories.
Suzi
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You’re right about Cartagena being hot! We tried to time our excursions in the early morning or late afternoon and find shade or wear hats when we were out. What amazed me was seeing the residents wearing heavy jeans or even sweaters, completely oblivious to the heat!
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Lovely shots! I remember walking in many of these places~
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So glad you enjoyed the photos, Cindy, and that they brought back memories of strolling through the streets of this lovely city.
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Nice pictures!! I just did sign in!
See you Wednesday for a beautiful walk on the north coats of Curacao 😊
Greets Tonny
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Greets to you, Tonny. So happy you enjoyed the photos. Of course, now we’re busy taking photos of your amazing island of Curacao and come Wednesday, I’m looking forward to seeing new vistas on our hike!
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