Perros and Plazas of Cartagena

During the last month of staying in Cartagena (we were there 3 months) we rented a room at Casa Valdez, a hostel-like place only a block from Plaza Trinidad. We had scored the upstairs room with the only balcony/window at the place by the second week and though the water didn’t work in the sink we  called it home. The hostel technically came with a pretty decent communal kitchen but John and I were already so unaccustomed to cooking that it might have taken a half a day to recognize what it was.

Untouched Kitchen

It had most of the utencils needed

Nice Design

The truth is that we had grown accustomed to eating the ‘typical’ food of the city at as local a price as we could get them. There was not many meals that we could make that would be as good or as cheap as a Chorri Perro (giant hot-dog with crushed potato-chips, four different sauces, and melted cheese) or bbq chicken and vegetables on a stick, or even a plate of beef steak and potatoes from the street vendors at our local plaza (square).  The truth be told we were quite happy to save our money by going out to eat everyday. We tried street vendors, local lunch dinners, and on a special occasion we even splurged on a five-star night out. Today I’ll take you on a mini culinary tour of the city of Cartagena.

Read more

Oildown in the Jungle

It’s not what you may be imagining. Oildown happens to be the national dish of Grenada. Last Friday John and I went on one of best adventures since we got to Grenada and our lunch that day was an Oildown deep in the jungle by the river. Let me tell you what happened. A few days before a friend of ours was organizing a “tour” of the island for when his girlfriend flew in. We signed up immediately. Though I have gone on a personal guided tour, and we both created our own tour with the buses, a chance to romp around the island with a group of friends our age just sounded too good to pass up on. At around ten that morning Ian and his girlfriend Lauren came by our boat to pick us up. Ian has been living in the Caribbean for a while with his family and had met Lauren at a sailing regatta in St. Maarten a few months back. We went to another boat and picked up Alex, our ever cheerful and fun “local” cruiser friend and Ian’s little brother Jim. At the docks we met up with a lovely English couple who have been here about the same time as us on their boat fixing it up to head up north, Eddy and Meredith. With Andrew and Sheldon as our “official” driver/guide (these guys are a regular over at Hog Island) this ragtag group were ready to head out. Though we were expecting a van Sheldon showed up with his five seater truck. Thus with an even ten people split between the front and the cab we headed off towards a river off of Grenville.

Read more