Cartagena - Feliz Ano Nuevo

The clock tower is the entrance to the Old town of Cartagena

New Year's Eve in Cartagena is a slow run up. We headed out into the backpacker area of Getsemani around 6pm for an early dinner and to give ourselves adequate lubrication time for the festivities. The streets were so quiet as we wandered the lanes surrounding Plaza de la Trinidad and we had to question whether we even had the correct night.

Last dinner of 2014

In true Colombian style the party starts late. After dinner, we met up with some friends we had made the night before and found the crowds gathering by the clock tower - the main entrance to the old town of Cartagena - and along the magnificent adjoining city walls. 

A mass of old and young, women, men and children, locals and out of town-ers, all who had brought their own food, drink, chairs and in some cases what looked like the kitchen table - had gathered to create a massive street party picnic. We got hold of a couple of bottles of Aguadiente,- the local 'fire water' - and shot glasses and as we edged closer to midnight we would have a periodical 'Salud.'   

Fireworks at midnight

The count down for New Years was very haphazard without any central clock on display. Coupled with the growing fuzziness from the liquor, no one knew precisely when we actually passed into the New Year. It turned out that we were based right near the lauch pad of the fireworks which signalled the start of 2015. It was no Sydney Harbour Bridge or London Eye display but the heart palpitations gained from the fact that there was no safety zone surrounding the launch area and sparks seemed to be going in all directions, more than made up the for the somewhat underwhelming show.  

Drinking Aguadiente near the city wall

Afterwards people started to gently drift away from the walls and we feared that the night was over and we would have to make our way back home - a decidedly un-Colombian outcome. However, fear not, we found the pressing mass inside the walls of the old town taking part in what would be a night and morning long party that would rage and tumble from one gorgeous cobblestone street to another.

Cartagena's old town, constructed by the Spanish during the colonisation of the country and now a UNESCO world heritage site is wonderfully beautiful and rivals anything in Spain I have seen certainly. And they really know how to enjoy themselves. Whole families and groups of friends - sometimes in the hundreds - dressed in their most elegant attire were lined up throughout the narrow roads on long tables, Champagne was flowing and everyone was eagerly chatting to one another or dancing to the huge stereo systems blasting out music ranging from salsa to dubstep.

Feliz Ano Nuevo 2015

Loads of the squares were turned into concert venues with dancing girls, salsa bands, djs, turntables, even Carlos Vives - Colombia's own Meatloaf, middle aged, open shirted. tanned and permed, the apple of every Colombian lady's eye - performed. A throng watched as the video relayed the action from the main concert area (which you needed tickets to get into). We hung around and had a sing along to his most famous recent hit 'Volvi a Nacer' with thousands of other revellers. We ended up seeing in the first morning of 2015 looking out at the ocean at the trendy 'Cafe del Mar' up on the city walls.

The beautiful streets of Cartagena's old town

The city walls in the daytime