So, where was I… aha! After being stamped in to Colombia everyone went their own ways with assurances to meet up that day or the next for a get together. Me and Nick hadn't booked a hostel though we knew which one we were hoping for. As luck had it Liam and Dave were staying there too so we all shared a taxi in. The 'Chill Out Backpackers' was full but their other place, the 'Chilled House' - inventive, yes- had a couple of dorm beds available so we grabbed them. It wasn't even mid day yet and was stinking hot and very humid. After dumping the backpacks and having a quick shower the two of us started wandering around exploring the city. We bumped into Liam and Dave who were having a bit of a lunch, and organized to catch up with them later that afternoon at the other hostel- there was a UK Premiership football/soccer game they wanted to catch and apparently there was a sports bar in town which had the best chance of showing it. We wandered on.

At a tourist info kiosk in the Clock Tower Square we grabbed a map and some gossip from the dude at the counter and kept on wandering. Eventually we got hungry and wandered into a small restaurant which looked pretty good. After around 20 minutes of "Yes, be with you soon" we left and went to another eatery nearby. No sooner had we sat there and there were drinks in front of us and the food order had been taken- talk about efficient! Grand total for lunch and cold drinks was only a few pounds, so sweet as.

After lunch we caught up with the lads again and along with a trusty note with the sports bar address and Liam's smart phone (which had maps involved) we went to find a football match. Arriving at the place on the notepaper, there was nothing there. The location of the same bar on the phone was slightly different so we tried there too…same thing. Employing some useful Spanish I asked a gent on the street if he either knew the bar, or if there happened to be an Irish Pub or somesuch nearby which would be showing the game…he sadly didn't, but we did find out that there was perhaps another café/bar which may be showing it. On the way to that bar we passed the original one we had been looking for- shut down and up for sale, b*****! The other place was only just barely open and they didn't have the channel which was playing the game… I had my computer with me and the bar had internet so we found it playing online and watched for a while before giving up and heading back to the hostels.

Our hostel was great in Cartagena- showers were ice cold (a good thing in crazy hot head and humidity), they had lemonade fresh made every day for you to grab, and the kitchen was fine. There were a couple of supermarkets just a few blocks away so while we were there we had some fab home cooking most days, yum. As far as sightseeing went, it was lovely- there was an old fort in part of the city which had been built centuries ago against pirates and other nasties. There were tunnels leading under the building as well so nice and cool against the sun. There was also a fairly large mall with air conditioning that we visited, it had a cinema and the latest Jason Bourne movie was starting in 20 minutes so we managed to catch that one, happy days.

Dave and Liam had gone to a mud volcano about an hour away and said it was hilarious so we decided to give it a whirl. Officially it's not a volcano but rather a vent to the centre of the earth and the top 500metres or so was this thick gooey clay-like mud which was reputed to be healing, cleansing, soothing and just fun. The mud is so thick you cannot sink- me and Nick took turns trying to push each other under and only succeeded once. The van takes about an hour to get there, you all head up the path to the top where locals are waiting, step down the ladder and get slushed. There is one guy who stays at the ladder and helps you get in and lying down on top of the mud, then he slides you over to someone else who rubs it in everywhere, then you just sit/stand/lie down/whatever you are capable of doing for half an hour or so. Eventually someone tells you all to get out, you climb up another set of steps and try to sluice as much mud off as you can before slipping and sliding down the hill again towards the lake where the ladies of the village are waiting with basins to wash you off. The mud was just plain gooey- it gets everywhere including inside your togs (bathing suit to you non-Kiwis) and one poor girl who had worn a strapless top bikini just had to hold it up the whole time and it kept slipping down, whoops. The lake water was nice and warm though and it was pretty relaxing having the water dumped over you- reminded me a bit of the hammams in Fez I went to when we were in Morocco in May. The rest of that day was so refreshing, and apart from ears, hair, eyes and nose full of mud for the next week, both of us felt clean and not sweaty for ages.

Our plans for getting out of Cartagena were simple- head down to Bogota for a few days then fly into Leticia which is the Amazon border for Colombia, Peru and Brazil. The only way into Leticia was by boat or fly, and as we would be taking the boat at a later stage, flying was the way. Getting from Cartagena to Bogota was a giggle- we could take a bus for over 20 hours, or spend about US$2 each more, and fly there taking less than 2 hours. No contest. We'd decided to leave Cartagena in a couple days time so spent the last little bit in the city trying to organize malaria tablets.

Ha, gotta love medical licensing and registration. Back in the UK the travel clinic nurse had run us through the different types of anti malarials- the main two we were thinking about were doxycyclin, which as the main pro is cheap, however you need to take it every day you're in a malaria area, plus every day for 4 weeks after. The better option was the Malarone- once a day while you're in the area, then 3-4 days afterwards. Con was it was quite a lot more expensive. As we wouldn't be in the Amazon area for months we had decided to wait and just get the medicine here in South America before we got to the jungle area.

So a couple days before flying to Bogota we went to a large pharmacy with the two names. The pharmacist had never heard of Malarone or its pharmaceutical name but he did have Doxycyclin. He kept telling us we needed to take it twice a day and once he told us the cost, it would have been well over US$100 for the tablets. We said we'd think about it, then went back to the hostel to do a bit more research in case we'd missed something… After a couple of lemonades Nick came in giggling- no wonder the pharmacist had been confused. Malarone had never been approved or licensed for sale in Central or South America as a malaria preventative, although weirdly it could sometimes be used for treatment. Also, turns out Doxycyclin isn't known as an anti malarial either, rather it is used for treatment of certain nasty STDs. Ha! We decided we'd give it a miss in Cartagena and wait until Bogota and definitely get something there.

So with sad but very sweaty hearts we packed up the backpacks, headed to the airport, and checked in for the flight to Bogota.

So far the hostel internet still seems to be working, so will get this and the photos up now. Then it's nearly midnight so possibly bed time.