Cartagena ✈

[Xclay]

Just spent ten great, very warm days in sunny Cartagena, Colombia.

Highly recommend at least three days to see one of the most beautiful cities in South America.  Inside the walls of the Spanish colonial old town are block after block of colorful, elegant houses, along with excellent restaurants and cafes often with live Latin music.

Everywhere you look is another photo-ready, IG-worthy scene. Visit for the sunshine, architecture, food, and culture — but not a Copacabana-type beach or for anything resembling saunas with GPs.

But how was the "scene" or at least my experience of it?

I'm not keen on the hassle of Grindr but, alas, that seems to be a main means of solicitations. One skinny, online guy wanted $180 (US) and called me "cheap" when I politely declined.  At the other extreme was an average-looking guy advertising for 40K pesos ($11).

I did go with six Grindr guys who did not present themselves as escorts, and discovered later that three of the six wanted a "taxi" allowance (typically about 50K pesos or $14). OK, not too bad.

One problem for hookups is finding a room. Nicer hotels are strict and don't want their properties to become known as havens for prostitutes of either sex. To be more active, I should have booked an AirBnB apartment. 

I finally found two sex motels but they were 20-30 minutes away from the old town.
● Motel la Cangreja was slightly closer and fine, but not quite as nice as
● Motel Star Suites. Both seemed like bargains for around $15 for a couple of hours.  

If you know of one closer to old town, please let me know!

One guy whose profile emphasized that he not a "scort" took me to a nearby, small, dirty room in Getsemani (the barrio next to old town) and claimed it cost 150,000 pesos which suddenly dropped to 100,000 pesos when he realized I wasn't buying it. In fact, her rate for the filthy room is 35,000 (I later ascertained). Out of curiosity I paid the 100K ($28) anyway to see where this would go. First, he tried to get me to shower while he would wait on the bed near my phone and wallet. I declined of course. The sex turned our to be so perfunctory that I left after a couple of minutes.

At one point, I made some moves on a tall, handsome Venezuelan working on commission getting passersby into an emerald store. He figured out what I wanted and off we went. He found a taxi driver who know where an hourly motel was (turned out to be Star Suites) and he was surprisingly good in bed and earned his 150K. 

Giving credit to macdaddi for his post a year ago, I'll update two places he cited:

Le Petit (Calle Cabal, Cra. 6 #32-34)
● Late night bar and dance club
● Some working boys, especially from Venezuela
But de facto midnight curfew cut down on the late night action.

Gabanna Club (Calle Cabal, Cra. 6 #32-34)
● Mostly serves the black gay population, but not entirely
Over half were older guys; a few of the younger guys hoped for money.
● Offers upstairs and downstairs darkrooms as well as a bar

Miscellaneous:
Did not experience as much begging as I expected based on previous posts.
Sellers (almost inevitably hats, cigars, sunglasses, necklaces) were numerous but were not too aggressive, IMHO. A smile and "gracias" (not slowing down at all) was usually sufficient, but sometimes "ya lo tengo" (I have it already!) and a shoulder shrug was needed.
 
Nicer hotels will arrange the Covid tester to come to the hotel. I paid $110 with results emailed back within 16 hours.

As earlier posters have noted: The city beaches are small and not particularly clean. I did not take day trips to go to the islands where the beaches are supposedly great.

Reminder: Cartagena is very, very hot. I did not think 90° would be so hot, but the humidity kicked it up to steam bath level 11-3:00.

Edited February 23, 2021 by Xclay
typos

[Latbear4blk]

The Venezuelan diaspora is a tragedy for Venezuela, and a blessing for the rest of South America.

[floridarob]

14 hours ago, Latbear4blk said:

The Venezuelan diaspora is a tragedy for Venezuela, and a blessing for the rest of South America.

One of my best sex last trip to Sao Paulo was from Venezuela....and humble. The ones that have escaped to Mexico are usually stuck up ...

[msclelovr]

I agree. IME Venezuelan men are some of the most handsome men in Latin America.

[Latbear4blk]

Buenos Aires' sex offer is remarkably improved thanks to the Venezuelans. There is even a little hood in BA called "Little Caracas", in Palermo.

[xpaulo]

There's something about the Venezuelans that adds to their hotness, for sure.

[davet]

The Venezuelans were known as a powerhouse in the beauty pageant world. Naturally, a male beauty pageant was organized at some point, filled with flawless products from their beauty-industrial complex, male edition. Before Gustavo Dudamel became the conductor for the LA Philharmonic, he led the Simon Bolivar Orchestra in Venezuela, which has a large contingent of younger musicians. I saw a performance and there were some black-tied stunners in that orchestra.