Cartagena. December 3rd - 6th, 2010

We are relaxed and enjoying our trip once again. After the torrential rains of the past few days, even the weather has improved and the days are warm and sunny. We walk around old town and get some great photographs. We sit at sidewalk cafes and people watch. We walk Winston on the beach across the street from the parking and get some fabulous sunsets. The parking lot is at the west entrance to the walled city and across from the beach. On Saturday, the manager comes over and asks us how long we are staying. "Until Monday", we tell him. He took our entrance card, which he said was costing us too much money and gave us a better 24 hour rate. $18.00 per day with electricity. Perfect. The lot is gated, fenced and guarded. Also, on the other side of the fence from where we are parked is a monument guarded by the military. They also keep an eye on the RV when we leave it. We try a different restaurant each night and even found one that had sushi, which was the best we had eaten since leaving the States. The people are delightful and the town is really pretty. After the stress of the past couple of weeks, we are now ready to drive and complete our circle around South America. From Cartagena, we will head east following the Caribbean into Venezuela then onto Brazil, Argentina, around Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia to Chile, Peru and Ecuador before returning to Colombia in the west where we will visit Cali, Bogata and Medellin. We are excited at the adventures to come. But first, we must stop in the port city of Barranquilla. We need to fix our air conditioner in the vehicle which has mysteriously stopped working and get the generator serviced. It "hiccups" now and again. Monday we will drive to Barranquilla.