#19: Cartagena, Colombia: Exploring History and A Survival Guide to Guerillas & Dead-Squads
1 Apr 2002
After Bogota, I flew to Cartagena, Colombia’s famous historic city and Caribbean resort in the north. Cartagena, “Pearl of the Caribbean”, has long been a city of legendary fame. It was here that the incredible riches of the New World were shipped to Europe. Pirates (or brave sailors of Her Majesty who were campaigning against the Spanish Empire, if you read English history) and raiders like Sir Francis Drake and Henry Morgan had attacked the city countless times. The Spanish built beautiful mansions and palaces here, and guarded the city with massive ramparts and fortresses. The city was among the earliest to rise up against the Spaniards in the South American struggle for freedom, and Simon Bolivar began one of his campaigns here. Today, the historic centre of Cartagena is protected by UNESCO as World Heritage.
After 4 days of high-society living in Bogota, I traded JC’s fine apartment for a $7,000-per-night room in Casa Vienna, right at the heart of Getsemani, a colourful area traditionally inhabited by freed slaves, artisans and the commoners of old Cartagena. (Don’t be alarmed, the Colombian peso is also denoted as “$”, but and 2,000 of these equal a dollar. Casa Vienna, with its US$3.50 rooms, is the definitive backpacker den in Cartagena.) Here in Cartagena, the white, aristocratic and Andean feel of Bogota gives way to the vibrant black and Caribbean rhythms of Cartagena, with all the colour and exoticness of anything tropical.
Cartagena and the northern coast of Colombia are the local equivalent of the Riviera. Tourism is big business there. Nice restaurants, bars and discos abound, as do lots of young Colombian tourists from Bogota, Medellin and Cali too, if you are looking for holiday romance. Not just the beaches and old cities, but also the famous Tayrona National Park near Santa Marta, which are renowned for their clear waters, ideal for diving, and the amazing wildlife as well as pre-Colombian ruins.
Tour operators and the local tourist office say that the national park is safe. Of course it is, as an interesting local arrangement exists between FARC rebels and rightwing paramilitary, both of whom have camps within the national park, to get some cut of local tourism proceeds. When you join a local tour to Tayrona, your payment enriches both sides of the conflict and you, as well as the million of tourists on the Colombian coast, can have a good time while battles go on not too far away. I doubted that tourists had a good time on Vietnamese beaches 30 years ago. I think the Colombian groups, including the supposedly leftist guerillas, have mastered the art of detachment and modern capitalist principles.
Unfortunately for me, this arrangement does not extend to Aracataca, hometown of the great Colombian writer, Gabriel Garcia Marquez (GGM). I have always wanted to visit Aracataca, which was supposedly GGM’s inspiration of Macondo, the magical town founded by the Buendia family in his great work, One Hundred Years of Solitude (OHYOS).
Unfortunately, everyone tells me I can’t go there because it lies not just in the activity zone of one guerilla group, but two – both FARC and ELN are active there, and the local commanders of these two groups don’t get along well. So, it’s not just the possibility of clashes between the Army and the guerillas, but also clashes between the two guerilla groups. Well, Colonel Aureliano Buendia would understand this, (hey man, he’s a character in GGM’s OHYOS), for hasn’t he fought a crazy 30-year war against the Conservatives, to the point where he forgot what he was fighting for? Not too different from the current conflict…
“For Colonel Aureliano Buendía it meant the limits of atonement. He suddenly found himself suffering from the same indignation that he had felt in his youth over the body of the woman who had been beaten to death because she had been bitten by a rabid dog. He looked at the groups of bystanders in front of the house and with his old stentorian voice, restored by a deep disgust with himself, he unloaded upon them the burden of hate that he could no longer bear in his heart.
“‘One of these days,’ he shouted, ‘I’m going to arm my boys so we can get rid of these shitty gringos!’ During the course of that week, at different places along the coast, his seventeen sons were hunted down like rabbits by invisible criminals who aimed at the center of their crosses of ash.”
– from One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Besides exploring the pretty old houses and narrow streets of Cartagena, I spent much time lazing around with the other nomads of Casa Vienna. In mainstream media, Colombia is a war zone. There are definitely fewer travellers here compared to elsewhere in South America.
Those who do go to Colombia belong to a somewhat different breed. There are some who are more cautious, including your author here, who would fly into Colombia and fly out, so as to avoid getting into trouble with roadblocks and guerillas.
There is another category: those who have no such fear. They travel round the country as though it is Disneyland, and take great delight when they do get into trouble. Quite a few have indeed come across guerillas as well as right-wing paramilitary, and a few have lost the odd camera and some cash. Here’s a summary of what I’ve gathered from other nomads on what to do if your bus gets been stopped at a roadblock:
Find out who has stopped your bus. You are mostly fine if it’s just police or the army. Hopefully you should have your passport and documents with you. Otherwise a night in the prison may be a fine reminder on future road trips round Colombia. Of course, you are in for bigger trouble if you have some drugs with you, or anything that betrays your sympathy for the guerillas. If that is indeed the case, get ready some cash and guts for tough bargaining.
If you are stopped by FARC, ELN or any leftist guerilla groups, get ready to march off the bus with your arms over your head. They wear uniforms rather similar to the Army, except that FARC men have a bigger Colombian coat of arms on their shoulders. I’m not sure what the ELN look like… you might want to ask them if they look like neither the Army or FARC.
After marching off the bus, you will have to face the bus with arms raised, while the guerillas search you for weapons and documentation. Most of the time, there is no real danger, unless you work for a multinational corporation (MNC), the military, or the AUC (or similar rightwing paramilitary). If you work for a MNC, you will probably be kept as a hostage for a big ransom, especially if you work for the big oil companies. They will love you to bits. Don’t worry – you are too valuable to them to come to any harm. If you belong to the military, you might occasionally be shot right away, but chances are you will be held as a hostage for exchange of prisoners with the Army. Good luck to you if you belong to the right-wing paramilitary. You will probably be shot. Learn your prayers in advance just in case.
If you are just an ordinary tourist, sometimes you get a “welcome to Colombia” greeting from the guerillas. Sometimes, they will ask you for a donation like Robin Hood did, since you must be wealthy to travel around. Of course, if you are American, you might be kept as a hostage on account of George W Bush and his Plan Colombia efforts to crush the rebels and their lucrative drug trade. You will probably be safe unless you are shot in a crossfire between the rebels and the military.
I have met quite a few travellers who have met FARC in the countryside and got away scot-free. One even had tea and a nice chat with them.
If you are stopped by the right-wing paramilitary, get ready to lose your money, for many of them are plain robbers. They tend to be in civilian clothes, though some wear uniforms. Same, get ready to march off the bus with your arms raised behind your head.
As a foreigner, you are probably safe, apart from the potential loss of some cash and your camera. Keep them with you so that a friendlier AUC member might ask whether he could have your camera as a present. You might say no and give him some cash instead; that is, if he decides not to take all your cash and camera as well. But that’s better than leaving everything on the bus for them to take.
Of course, some are not robbers, and you are probably OK. Even in that case, get ready to witness the rough handling of your fellow passengers or, in some cases, on-the-spot executions. Of course, these things don’t happen all the time, but do get mentally prepared – I do not mean ready to take pictures of that, unless you are in for some real adventure. If you are found to be a leftwing sympathiser, as many NGO people are presumed by the right-wingers to be so, pray really hard. Always know your prayers in advance. Maybe send an email to your family the day before any roadtrip, so that they might know where to find your remains.
As you can see, it really isn’t that dangerous travelling around Colombia by road, if you are prepared. I hope the above guide will be useful.
Seriously, Colombia is a wonderful country, with friendly people and amazing scenery. Even under current circumstances, it manages to attract a number of rather unusual tourists. I dare bet more tourists come here than Paraguay (peaceful but boring) and Uzbekistan (a beautiful country but unknown). The country can attract many more tourists if peace comes. What a pity! The talented people of Colombia deserve better.
After a wonderful time in Colombia, I flew to Costa Rica. I have decided to skip Panama on this trip because I had been there before.