The Couch Surfing community is very small in Cartagena and most of the members are poor students (as one Couch Surfer explained to me) so.... at the beginning of the fifth month of my trip, for the first time I checked into a hotel. I found it in a very famous street called Media Luna, a street with many good priced hotels. Ours is called La Española - it has a good standard and is clean. Two people in a room with 6 (empty at that time) beds pay 6 pounds per night each, after negotiations. It is the best deal we found and with free internet service. However, I will not stay here for a long time. The town is the most beautiful I have seen so far in my trip but very tourist orientated, which I don't like very much. I want to meet as many local people as possible and learn about their lives - I will not achieve it by staying in hotels.
Regarding Colombia as a country, there are so many natural parks... (green spots in the picture). I had no clue about it when I lived in Europe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_parks_of_Colombia
Before I left Santa Marta, I met Jose' again and I asked him why he doesn't use the family car. He said that it was extremely expensive for Colombians to get a driving licence, it costs 160 pounds (450.000 pesos). However, once you have the money, the examiner lets you drive a car for few minutes. No matter how good driver you are, you will get the driving licence.
My pictures from Santa Marta (I am finally up to date with the pictures :)):
Santa Marta
