Celebrating 50 in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia

As you know I turned 50 last November. Kyla, one of my soul sisters, will turn 50 this month. We first met in Sarajevo, Bosnia, in the summer of 2019. Then we enjoyed two amazing weeks together in Dalyan, Türkiye, in the summer of 2022. For our third face-to-face meet-up we decided to travel to a new destination together, and celebrate turning 50 years old in between her birthday and mine.

After much deliberation and discussion we agreed on the following criteria: (a) it needed to be a beach holiday (Kyla lives in Canada); and (b) we wanted a destination that would be a NEW country for both of us. After cross referencing our lists, we settled on traveling to Colombia–Cartagena de Indias to be specific. To maximize our time together we met up in Houston, Texas–staying a night or two at my brother’s place on each side of Cartagena–and then flew to and from Cartagena, Colombia, together. A new country AND a new continent for us both (minus Kyla’s brief trip to Curacao–which is technically also South America).

We spent one full week in Cartagena. While we did spend time on a couple of beaches, it was not the beach place we had imagined. While there were public beaches, we visited during the “cool season” and most days were windy and the public beaches we had access to did not have any protection (therefore lots of waves). We opted to spend a day at a private beach club that was a short boat ride from the main harbor and that offered protection from the wind and waves. We did swim and we did enjoy the day–especially considering it was the day after our unfortunate event (read on to find that out). 

While we were disappointed on the beach front, the Old Walled City was amazing. We stayed in an airBnB within its walls and we were most happy with our accommodation. We walked everywhere and while in the walls felt fairly safe and secure.

We began our holiday with a free walking tour of the city to get orientated to our surroundings. While it was “cool season” for the Colombians, I can say it was hot and steamy for me! I have never been a fan of tropical climates.

A brief overview of our itinerary/agenda for the week:

• • • Tuesday–Arrival, check-in to accommodation, walk the Walled City and have dinner;
    • Wednesday–Free walking tour of the Old City; traditional food for lunch; met up with Luis & Marta (more on that later);
    • Thursday–All day boat trip to explore the islands/beaches; dinner with Luis & Marta in their apartment;
    • Friday–Shopping the Old Walled City; afternoon walking tour of the Gethsemane neighborhood; made appointments at a Tattoo parlor for Monday; dinner at restaurant recommended by Luis;
    • Saturday–Return to Gethesemane to explore on our own; Sunset cruise to celebrate our 50 birthdays;
    • Sunday–Day trip to private beach club;
    • Monday–Tattoos!, watch sunset from the wall;
    • Tuesday–watch sunrise from the wall, transport to the airport, and home to USA

One of the highlights from our trip was having the chance to meet with the uncle of a former colleague. During my first few years in Izmir I worked with a woman, Alejandra, who is Colombian (she has since moved on from ACI, but we remain in contact). I met Alejandra’s mother, Gloria, when she visited Izmir. Shortly after arriving to Cartagena and posting to Instagram and Facebook, I received a Facebook messenger message from Gloria telling me that her brother, Luis, was in Cartagena and was awaiting my call (she gave the phone number). We thought, why not?

And I’m so glad we did! We met Luis, his wife Marta, and two friends that evening for a drink at a nearby establishment. They were kind and invited us to their apartment the following evening for dinner. We knew we had a boat trip and said we’d message the following day once we saw how we felt. As the boat trip disappointed us, we decided we would accept the offer for dinner with them.

After returning from the sea, we showered, changed, and caught a taxi. Luis and his wife helped explain to our driver where to go. It was a 20-25 minute drive north from where we stayed in the Old City. We enjoyed an amazing night together–drinking wine, eating delicious cheeses, followed by a traditional Colombian dinner made earlier by their maid. We spent four hours together talking about so many things, and it helped us recover from our disappointing day trip. We will forever be grateful for their hospitality. Luis and Marta sent us home with leftovers as they would leave the following morning to return to Medellin (their full time home, the apartment in Cartagena is for holidays/getaways).

Kyla and I had done our homework on visiting Colombia. We knew that pick-pocketing and theft were common and therefore we both wore cross-body bags. We never took our phones out in public unless the other was on the lookout and we were not in a crowded or congested area. We drank wine and beer at home which we purchased at the grocery store. We had draft beers at the the Clock Tower pub–but could visibly watch them being poured. We didn’t drink cocktails/mixed drinks and we did not explore the night life. We were there to experience the city, food, people, and culture–but also to spend quality time together. We weren’t traveling to meet men, visit dance clubs, or any of the things that we might have done in our younger years.

While the rest of our time in Colombia was filled with beautiful sights, delicious foods, and so many lovely conversations shared together, we did have one sad and shocking experience. It happened on Saturday night after our sunset cruise. We had spent a lot of time trying to select the perfect way to celebrate turning 50 together. We opted for only a 2 hour sunset cruise, just long enough for a couple of drinks and time to take great pictures of the sun setting over the Caribbean Sea. We had planned to return to the Old City and have dinner somewhere with live music. But that did not happen.

In short here is what happened: We boarded our boat on time. We were the only non-Spanish speakers. The boat wasn’t crowded and we were seated at a table for four, but it was just us two. Great–it was our private celebration anyway. Our ticket included the two hour boat ride and rum drinks only (beer, wine, or other drinks could be purchased separately). We had a couple of drinks and enjoyed the roll out to sea. We both remember taking pictures of the sun as it began to set. But then both of our memories go black. Neither of us remember disembarking from the boat.

The cruise was supposed to run for two hours, putting us back in the harbor around 19.00. But we estimate our memories went black around 18.30 or 18.45.

Kyla became cognizant/lucid prior to me. When she did, we were in a cab speeding down a highway. She had enough sense to get us home to our airBnB. I “came to” after we were inside the airBnB. I have no memory of the taxi. This would have been around 10.30 or 11 PM. We both lost 3.5 to 5 hours of memory. We have no snapshots of people or places. Nothing. And it was clear we had been robbed. Between the two of us they got my iPhone 12, 100 USD, a small amount of pesos, my Solis wifi hotspot, one of my silver rings, and a credit card from each of us. Thankfully we still had our passports. The robbers were smart enough to leave us with the paperwork necessary to exit their country.

We will never know for sure what happened or how it happened. Our working theory/narrative based on what we know about ourselves and the known events of the night is as follows. We believe we were drugged on the boat by either our server and/or the bartender. We believe they were in cahoots with someone who collected us from the harbor after we disembarked from the boat and that they robbed us and then put us in a taxi.

We believe, after communicating with others who have traveled extensively in South America that we were drugged with something called scopolamine, also known as Devil’s Breath. Being drugged is the only narrative that makes sense considering the facts and the timing of things. We did have a couple of drinks on the cruise, but it was not on empty stomachs and we are not new to drinking. Our memories go black at the exact same moment–which is spooky–and return close to one another. Neither of us has a memory or snapshot of anyone or any place we were during that time period.

We were certainly traumatized by the event. That said, we were gentle and supportive with one another and worked through the aftermath together. We did not report it to the authorities–we had no details to share that could help locate the perpetrators. However, we did decide to write to the tour company and share our experience. We expressed our sadness to them and shared what we knew to be true. Our final reply from them was as follows:

We will never know if what they wrote is true, or not. But it did provide us with closure on the event. Lessons were learned and we will both be yet more vigilant in future travels. We left the country with our physical selves intact and only the loss of some material possessions and cash. We both have decided that we are done with travel to Central and South America. We will stick to Europe and the Mediterranean region. Our next plan is to meet in the summer 2025–Kyla returning to Dalyan, and the two of us going to Malta for the first time!

Also as part of our 50th celebration together, we opted to get tattoos while in Cartagena. We went to Ink Lovers Tattoo Studio, one of the highest rated parlors in the city. We settled on a theme for our tattoos–but opted for customization to suit our individual preferences. We spent half a day in the studio–the first 2-3 hours spent to finalize the designs. It only took about 30 minutes each to get inked. Then we went back to the Clock Pub for a beer and a burger to celebrate. 

To wrap up with something colorful and beautiful, allow me to take you to the Gethsemane neighborhood of Cartagena. We did a walking tour of this neighborhood on Friday afternoon and returned on Saturday morning to explore on our own. Our guide was one of the best I have ever encountered. He was personable, funny, and FUN.

This neighborhood, during the Colonial time period, was where the African slaves resided. As time passed on it became a more mixed neighborhood housing many freed slaves who also were artisans. However, it played an important part in Cartagena’s fight for independence from Spain. You can read more about its history here. In recent years it has become a popular place for tourists and locals alike. I’ll leave you with a slide show of all the pictures I took in the neighborhood!