< Back To This Issue's Index >< Return To Previous Page >

Cartagena Has A Modern Section, A Colonial Section and An Elegantly Stylish Section Depending on your taste, Cartagena has a neighborhood  for every taste, including a fine marina where one could anchor a yacht.  Most tourists end up getting routed to Boca Grande, a beachfront peninsula that gradually becomes the El Laguito Peninsula. This area has the most modern construction, including many modern hotels.  A fine apartment can be had in this neighborhood for around $50,000 which is a bargain considering the quality of the buildings, the view and the neighborhood.  My friend Jacques was living in just such an apartment, similar to the one in the photos below.  Living in one of these apartments would be more than acceptable.

The author in the City of Cartagena -  'Blending in' is imperative if you are to go unnoticed in a foreign country.  Try to learn the local dances....

My friend Jacques was living in an apartment just like this on Boca Grande Peninsula.  The price on this type of  apartment was $50,000 full price.  The rent was $500 per month. Ocean & bay view.

Cartagena Viejo - The Walled City 

The most exciting location in Cartagena, in my opinion, is Cartagena Viejo, the old colonial section where 300 year old buildings with three foot walls can be purchased for bargain prices. ..

With narrow streets designed for a world where horses, and not cars, were the norm, Cartagena Viejo is a fine reminder of another age.  On the American continent there is no older city.  In the late 1500's the city became by far the largest and safest Spanish fortress in the new world. Cartagena's history is filled with numerous tales of pirates and sieges. Legendary figures such as Sir Francis Drake, Henry Morgan, William Vernon and Jean-Baptiste Ducasse attacked and besieged the city between the sixteenth and the nineteenth centuries.  The spirit and bravery of its people allowed Cartagena to endure the attacks of the enemy and earned Cartagena the well deserved fame of Heroic City. It was also the first Colombia territory to declare its independence from Spain. Some of its historic constructions, convents and narrow streets have been recreated in the magic realism novels of Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Márquez. Cartagena is nowadays the most touristic location in Colombia. Its people are well known for being the most cheerful and happy in the country. Its romantic balconies, sea and streets make it the favorite place for honeymooners and lovers.  Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, Cartagena Viejo has all the ingredients for an extraordinary place to live: a colonial city enclosed within stone fortifications, cultural riches, modern and luxurious hotels, beautiful beaches, restaurants for all tastes, exciting excursions and an animated nightlife.  Expatriates from around the world have purchased and renovated some of the cities older homes -  I asked about prices and heard prices ranging from $45,000 and up for an older building.  There are miles of streets with old colonial houses and buildings.  In some cases renovation would be required, and in other cases the renovation has already been done.  I met and talked to a lot of Italian expats in Cartagena Viejo; many of whom have opened restaurants, chic shops, cyber-cafes, galleries, and boutiques. The place is already happening, ...even so, I met few Americans.  To buy and renovate a 300 year old house with an interior patio garden would be a labor of love the result of which would be a house that would be a work of art, a pleasure to live in, and a joy forever.

House On The Island of Manga

Another fine neighborhood is the Island of Manga which is connected to Cartagena Viejo by bridge. A neighborhood which in addition to some fine colonial houses has some houses which are more modern. (i.e. Less than one hundred years old, see example to the left.) Manga also has a spectacular yacht club, fine restaurants and quiet tree covered streets.  The pace is less hectic in Manga than it is in the walled section.  Real estate prices here tend to be a bit higher than within Cartagena Viejo, possibly because many of the city's wealthier residents live in Manga.  But don't be discouraged, there are sections of Manga which are slightly tarnished, with older slightly run down houses that would command a lower price tag.  Manga's tree lined streets are a pleasure to walk through, with open-air fruit stands, corner markets and bakeries giving a pleasant sense of community to the area.  If I couldn't find what I wanted in Cartagena Viejo I would certainly pick Manga as a very good alternative.  While it doesn't have the excitement of Cartagena Viejo, it also doesn't have the negatives such as loud music at 2 in the morning or throngs of tourists like the older city often does.

.
Summing It Up

This article is far from exhaustive and I know that.  It is impossible to put an entire city into an article, or even into a book.  My goal has been, as it often is, to put the flavor and ambiance of a place into words that may reach across to the reader. 

What have I left out?  Enough to fill an encyclopedia.  For instance, there is also a long beach which stretches along the coast to the north-east of the city.  That beach is very Caribbean and would be a choice place to live. I've included a photo of this area on the next page with the resources.

Would Cartagena Be A Good Place To Lay Low?

If I were going to pick a place to lay low, I'd pick somewhere off the beaten track.  Cartagena is certainly off the beaten track.  Its yacht basin means that you can enter and leave the country via boat, plus there are multitude of small harbors near to Cartagena, plus Cartagena is close to Venezuela in case one wants to fade into another county. 

Freighters enter and leave Cartagena on a daily basis.  Freighter travel is an excellent means of low profile travel.  Most freighters will give you a ride for a price. 

The negatives?  Colombia's 35 year civil war has made entry and exit to and from Colombia a body-search affair.  They aren't looking for fugitives, nor for those folks who are simply trying to lay low; they are looking for FARC - The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People´s Army.  Something that need not concern us, unless politics & violence is our game. 

Colombian Second Passport 

Also, it is important to note that is easy to get a second passport in Colombia.  Colombia is a major source of 'second passports,' of the far from legal type.  In Colombia it is a common practice to use the birth certificate of someone who is deceased to create a second passport.  These passports are usually available for $5,000 to $15,000.  Use caution in the purchasing of such a document.  Do not contact the author nor this website for information on the purchase of such a passport; we don't have them , we don't recommend them and we won't direct anyone to a source for such a document. 

If you do pursue such a dangerous route, note that it is imperative to speak Español when you are traveling on a false travel document that is from a nation whose national language is Español.  A Colombian Passport is not a great travel document, but it may get you through a bad situation in an emergency.  Of course it could also get you into a worst situation than the one you are already in. 
.

We have a page of resources based on this article on the next page. Take a look at it.  There is also some information there on Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, all of which were also mentioned in this article.  This article is not meant to be a Blueprint on how to disappear, it is only meant to offer some information that is not readily available anywhere else, and to point out some mindless and dangerous discrepancies that are currently being pandered as professional knowledge on disappearing.  Professional knowledge on disappearing is seldom dispensed by those who are not on the lam, and never dispensed by those who are.  If you get to Cartagena, I may be somewhere else.  ...then again, I may be there, watching you.

See You In Cartagena...

Resources On This Article Are On The Next Page: Click Here - 
. .

< Back To This Issue's Index > < Send A Letter To The Editor  >