Clothes, money and more..Colombian Girls dig em all

Clothing:
Cartagena is a tourist city and is very casual. Bathing suits, shorts and T shirts along the beach during the day, jeans or Docker type pants with casual shirts or polo/golf type shirts at night are quite appropriate. There are a few restaurants I happened to visit, that had never been mentioned before, where the dress is a little more upscale so Dockers and a nice button down collar type of shirt would be appropriate. You do not need to bring your entire wardrobe as there are several lavanderias close by that provide same day service. You will need a pair of beach shoes as some sections of the beach are rocky and the sand can be HOT! A good pair of sneakers, flip flops or slip on leather shoes will suffice for other areas. Even though the cabs are very cheap (usually $2.00-$3.00 US to most places) you will still find yourself walking to many of your destinations....most are that close.
Climate:
It is always hot and humid during the days in Cartagena but not any more so than any other Central American or Caribbean locale. Many days there is a cooling breeze off the water and always a breeze at night that makes it very comfortable. Expect to sweat a lot (like being in a steam room) during June, July and August. Also, plan to drink a lot of water, no matter what time of year you visit.

Money Planning:
CTG is one of those places where almost any budget can be accommodated. I met one young medical student who was going to be there for a month and had found an Apt. for $800 for the entire month. He was on a very tight budget, as most college students are, but he was finding it quite easy to stretch his limited funds for ample food, drink and mongering.

I read many reports from various web sites and get the general impression that one can do rather well on $100-$200 per day after accommodations (that includes food, drink, transportation and 2-3 girls per day). Many of the hotels provide a free breakfast included in their rates (always ask when making reservations) and many restaurants serve quite good food, sandwiches and other selections for $3-5 US including drinks. One Chica and I had a very nice dinner (she had a Chorrizo sausage and I had baby beef, salad, fries, I had 2 beers and she had a fruit drink). The bill? $14.50 US! Your mileage may vary (YMMV for future reference). Again, taxis are cheap by US standards. Usually around $2.00-$3.00 or $3,000-$4,000 CP s (many drivers said 4K minimum but many rides were $3KCPs' whenever I had a local with me). I actually rented a taxi for over 2 hours to take pictures of the casas, the old city, the street markets and other places of interest rarely mentioned in other reports. It cost me a whopping $25,000 CP's or less than $12.00 US.

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