And the Adventure begins…

Well, it’s official- I’ve made it to South America! Woop-woop! I’m currently sitting here in the lobby of my hostel in Cartagena, Colombia, desperately trying to do two simple things- keep cool, and stay awake. Turns out it’s not so simple, on either count… I’m trying to keep cool because it is HOT down here- hot and HUMID- and I’m trying to stay awake because I just completed a seemingly simple 12-hour trip-turned-26-hour ‘Moving Day’ marathon. Ugh- what a nightmare…5 hours of delays, only to have the first leg of my trip cancelled, re-routed through a city in the opposite direction I should’ve been traveling, more lay-overs and sitting around in airports, and an ‘overnight’ flight that was actually less than 5 hours long- didn‘t get any sleep on that one… Needless to say, I’m EXHAUSTED. But, I’m here, and in the end, that’s what matters.

Quick first impressions of Cartagena- see above… Ha! Actually, I haven’t made it very far out of the hostel yet… It took me awhile to cool down and re-hydrate from the previous day’s adventures in traveling, and I’ve just been sitting in a window at the front of the open-air lobby of the hostel, watching people come and go, while the world outside drifts by. I did chase down a fruit vendor when he passed by and caught my eye with his loaded cart- something fresh sounded really good after all the airport and airplane ‘food’ I’ve had over the past 24 hours… Other than that, I’ve seen just a bit of the Old Quarter from the taxi on the drive over from the airport, and it seems Cartagena delivers as advertised- narrow alleys winding here and there, cobblestone streets between colorfully painted colonial buildings, and friendly people milling about everywhere. I plan on heading out to explore later in the afternoon, once things cool off a bit… Maybe find some street food for dinner- now THAT sounds like a delicious adventure…

For more information on traveling through Colombia, click here.

For more on The Backpack Professor’s travels in Colombia, click here.