Finally we had found the heat. While we were still back in Colorado in mid-November, watching record-breaking snows blanket town, we dreamed of the tropics. Hot and humid, sweltering, even. The kind of heat that turns your beer bottle into a river of condensation and makes you drink it down in just a couple hearty swigs. Shirt-stuck-to-your-back heat. We found it in Cartagena – mid 90’s with a humidity to match. Its old town fronts the sea, surrounded by a 16th century stone wall which contains cobblestone streets, colorful colonial buildings and leafy plazas. One can’t help think of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean while strolling through it. From the airport we taxied to our hostel, dropped our bags and were grateful for the air conditioned room that awaited us. We would not linger long inside as we had a quest – Cartagena is known for it’s ceviche, and we were hungry for lime-soaked seafood, and a bottle, or two, of beer dripping with condensation.

La Cevicheria was our first stop. The problem was there were so many choices. Fish? Shrimp? Octopus? The traditional style with onion, cilantro and lime. Perhaps with green mango, or corn and avocado, or something with a bite of fresh chili? We settled on a mixto, with all three seafoods, dressed with coconut milk, lime, onion and cilantro. Sitting outside at a table under an umbrella we watched as vendors hawked their wares (‘Sunglasses?’ ‘Um, you can see I’m wearing a pair, right?) and ladies, dressed in brightly colored skirts and tops, offered fruit from the baskets sitting atop their heads.

After that first afternoon we learned a lesson: hit the streets early after breakfast, grab some fresh fruit from a street vendor before returning to the air-conditioned comfort of our room by noon, then head back out to catch sunset from the city walls and find a dinner spot for the evening.

After three days of sticky heat, tourist-clogged streets and the never-ending press of touts (“Cigars? No? Cocaine?”) we were ready for some quiet island time. Fortunately, just a two hour boat ride west of Cartagena lay the San Bernardo Islands, a group of ten white sand-ringed islets basking in clear turquoise waters under the Caribbean sun. We booked a four-night stay at Hotel Punta Norte on the largest of the islands, Isla Tintipan, and set off by speedboat from Cartagena’s harbor. Upon arrival at its modest dock, Isla Tintipan seemed to be everything we had hoped for. There was a small beach, a few palm trees, a single kayak, an impressive number of hammocks and colorful rocking chairs for a five room thatch-roofed ‘hotel’, and what turned out to be, to our delight, a friendly pup named Juan, one fabulous cook and a plethora of fresh seafood on its menu. Also, no internet, or electricity for that matter, and nothing much to do besides try out each of the hammocks, devour the paperbacks we had brought along and sample just about all of the delights coming from their kitchen.

It was four glorious days of sun, snoozing and seafood. One evening, Carlos, the owner, suggested we do the ‘plankton’ tour. “It’s swimming with the stars” he said. Intrigued, we accepted his invitation. About an hour after sunset we jumped into the lancha, or small outboard boat, and sped across the bay to the entrance to the island’s interior lagoon. The cloudless night sky was filled with stars and the water was pitch black. Following the lead of the boatman, we jumped into the inky water with mask and snorkel and were immediately surrounded by flashing lights trailing from our hands and feet. Each movement of our limbs ignited the bioluminescence in the water. Diving under the surface we couldn’t see through the flashing light covering our masks. After getting our fill of the light show beneath the water, we floated on our backs, gazing at the other stars above us until our boat driver roused us from our reverie and brought us back on board for the return trip to the hotel. After four days, with great reluctance, we left our little piece of paradise and returned to the big city – but just for one night. The next day we would head east from Cartagena for more Caribbean beach time.