Cartagena Reports

[Tom 33]

Cartagena is very seasonal. High season is very different from low season. There is no average. One night there could be a military ship in port with many guys checking out LDV. The next night could have 4 guys all night. For this reason it is difficult to compare CTG to anything.

I don't shop much at LDV anymore. But, if you want to compare 9's and higher in Bocagrande versus San Jose, I'll take Bocagrande. Bocagrande also wins in safety and restaurants.

But I do live in Laguito and have more chicas than I can handle.

Try Loco Gringo for sports, food, Internet, and chicas. I spend a lot of time at the outside tables there. The girls parade by for your approval. And several working girls live in apartments above the restaurant.

[Gonzo]

I concur with Sun Devil, I was also there during the World Cup, and the ratio was outstanding. And now there's a football tournament in CTG, but I don't think this would account for USA gringos, who are not super-crazy over soccer.

I was told about the swarms of Europeans in LDV, and they were noticably absent in June. Timing is everything.

If anyones knows anything about CTG, LDV is the last place to find bargains (or the reasonable prices), which are available.

[Larrymoe]

I was in Cartagena a couple weeks ago and there were very few males in LDV. This boom I am reading about is probably a short term thing. Cartagena is far from what it use to be. It makes no sense that the girls are asking for more money when there are less guys. What the hell happened to all the new girls that use to come to LDV? They must be somewhere? But where? The girls in LDV now have all been there for years and are totally jaded. 200,000 for an hour? Or more? In Medellin where many are from they would be working in a brothel getting paid 15,000 an hour. Maybe they just think they need that one loser, once a week, who gives them the money they ask for? And otherwise walk home alone. Pathetic.

[Tiny 12]

I feel like the guy in the Fedex commercial who didn't waive his hand the right way. His boss says the same thing about 30 seconds later and gets all the credit. You guys were jumping all over me a few months ago for saying San Jose was a better mongering destination for a non-Spanish speaker, and for saying the Blue Marlin had more 9's and 10's than LDV.

[Sun Devil]

I hope Big John open his place really soon. That is what I missed when I was in CTG--a place where you can hang out, watch sports, drink coffee, eat food, and catch a chica all in one place. I did find a 24/7 internet cafe below LDV where you can catch sports, have coffee, eat food, and surf the internet.

As for LDV being full, when I was there during the World Cup tournament last June , there were about 4 to 5 guys and about 50 girls milling around. Cartagena is host to a sporting event, the 20th Central American and Caribbean Games.

That is why there are a bunch of guys down there right now. The girl who I hooked up with last June pointed this out to me when we passed a stadium on our way to a big mall somewhere in the interior of the city.

[Npaul1]

I met John, owner of the Del Rey in Cartagena. He bought a block of property on the oceanfront in Laguito. He owns the art gallery and a restaurant building and a couple closed buildings. He has more money to invest than he knows what to do with. He is a nice guy and comes from Costa Rica on his Catamarand.

[MJG Dogs]

Beav;

sadly to say the opening of a Del rey South in Cartagena, may happen sooner than later. that fat stupid drunk John, is buying up a lot of property in CTG..

The thought of all the fat drunks from the Del Rey invading CTG, is enough to make my puke. Who wants the fat fools with the Miami Hurricanes jerseys running around. NO thanks................ Maybe the colombian military and police would crack on them......

You Del Rey Season ticket Holders--- Please stay in san jose.

[Jelly Donut]

I was in LDV Sunday night and there were WAY more gringos than chicas.

Do you have an idea of where the gringos were coming from? I mean, were the college kids on vacation or older guys? It's seems like they are having some sort of Central American and Caribbean sporting event in CTG the past couple of weeks, right?

On the supply side, I've been chatting with a pro who I met in LDV last winter. Based on the internet addresses off her email she spent most of the spring in her home town, away from the coast and tourists. I thought that was interesting.

But it looks like she returned right around time these games started in Cartagena. She's been very busy since getting to CTG. In the spring she was a decent correspondent, but now she seems to be spending more time working. :)

[Beavis]

Well Surfer when you come to Colombia you can visit me near our favorite beach. This is the reason we won't be moving to Cartagena. Just wait until they open the Blue Marlin South, makes me want to puke!

I guess we can thank our favorite ball massager for the real estate boom, lol.

[Hit n Run]

Agreed Zippy. Hard to believe I'm saying it, but CR is a better value now for short vacations. LDV - average night 50 girls, way too many guys, 35+. Top shelf has only 5 girls, and just the 8.5 range. All want 200K for short time, some say per hour. I've had a few lesser tier 6s who I was merely chatting up, out of nowhere bark out 150k and yell no negotiation!! These are girls I wouldn't barfine at any price. Very bad attitudes throughout. I sit outside with a beer and watch them storm out and go home without a customer all night, before ever dropping the price. Its almost a waste of time to even go in there now. La Trip is good, but there's only 3 or 4 cute ones...great attitudes, but 7s at most. The CTG value has left the building, and is not worth the entire day long hassle leaving the country to get back to the US to save little money.

For you CR and DR short trips guys, CR is only say $20 more a night per chica, the convenience of location makes up for the pro attitude. There's far more selection, plus, there's always at least a dozen way better looking girls than what you'll find in CTG.

This change has no effect on extended stay mongers with a black book of girlfriends, and other cities to visit, but newbies should take note.

[Npaul1]

Alot of girls with tatoos, just for the money. a couple years ago the girls were more non-pros.

[Surfer]

Zippy:

IMHO Cartagena has become better for real estate speculation (45% annual appreciation is bandied about) than mongering. Your observations confirm the sad state of LDV and how preciptious its decline has been. What a change from just 2 or 3 years ago. Hope you'll show Nextrip places outside Laguito so he gets a better sense of Colombianas (though he got some good ones in Medellin last time).

This change is happening in Medellin now too (though not quite to the xtreme as in CTG). Even in Cali, the novelty factor (of being a gringo)is wearing off. Gotta get further and further away from the famous cities to find las Colombianas verdaderas.

[Zippy]

I was in LDV Sunday night and there were WAY more gringos than chicas. It was a very sad state of affairs. The other 2 nights I´ve been there in the last few weeks the girl/guy ratios were poor, chica attitudes (in general) were terrible, and I personally talked to several newbie Cartagena mongers fresh from places like the DR and Costa Rica who were happily paying 250,000 COP for toda la noche. I just listened in disbelief as they bragged about how smart they were because they negotiated the fees down from 500,000 COP.

I´ve been mostly avoiding LDV this trip since any chica OF QUALITY (and I emphasize "of quality" because throughout LDV´s existance you can always bank on the fact that on any given night 20-50% of the chicas will be way past their prime, overweight, or just plain fea) will try to get 150-200 COP short-time (or more for toda la noche). You can possibly get the "lower end of the spectrum" chicas for the low prices but I wouldn´t do them for free so it is irrevelent information for me.

In a few short years, LDV went from a quality mongering establishment to where it is now- WAY overrated! You get little value for the money you spend there.

So what is the alternative if you are looking for a freelancer-type disco bar in Cartagena? While Cartagena is only a mediocre mongering destination, your best bet is to get out of the gringo cocoon of Laguito and hit La Trippelitera en La Ciudad Vieja. During this trip, the chicas were overall cuter at La Trip, their attitudes were about 1000% better, you´ll usually find a more favorable chica/gringo ratio and you should be able to negotiate the 100,000 toda la noche rate. I´ve had several nice experiences there this trip. There is a 10,000 (about USD $4) exit fee if you leave with one of the chicas (although I found it easy to talk your way out of paying the fee if your Spanish is strong enough).

[Tom 33]

The raids are normal. In Feb. of 2003 the police came in followed by TV cameras rolling. All the girls were checked for ID. No guys were asked for anything.

Pricing does vary with demand, but my guess is that the 80-100K was for short-time.

[TheShadow2]

Otown51,
Can you give us more details on the prices you're quoting for LDV? If accurate, that is quite a development. It's been a while since anyone reported an LDV girl going anywhere for 80,000, or 100,000 for TLN.
Is this an average, or was it just one chica one time?
I've had a regular girl my last 4 trips or so, but from all the reports here of rising prices, this is very interesting...