Cartagena, Columbia

 

       After two days at sea, this is the view out my balcony this morning!

Our stop today is Cartagena,Columbia.  After a leisure breakfast we could head out for our two hour included tour of the city.  As with many cities, there is an old and new. Our goal was to see both.  I don’t know what I was expecting…..Romancing the Stone has always shaped my view of Cartagena.  So off we went on the bus tour.  

Our first stop was outside of the Castle San Felipe de Barajas. It was built is 1536. Mighty impressive!

Because this was an overview tour there wasn’t time to walk up the steep walkway to get inside.  We’ll certainly do that on a return trip. It always amazes me when I see such man made structures and realize someone built them before our country was even formed.  Those Spanish explorers and conquerors were quite industrious!

The only downside to the visit was the immense amount of sales pitches we were bombarded with continually. Magnets,hats,sunglasses and pictures with a donkey were just a few!

This lady was not happy when I said buzz off… She wanted me to get a picture with her and Al…for a fee of course..

Next up: OLD CITY

But of course we needed to head to the previous jail constructed in 15something.. conveniently  a shopping area now! Instead we walked the streets of the city and found a way to take in the views from the top of the wall. All old cities frequently built walls around them to protect the citizens. And as is the case, many early cities see no need to continue upkeep on such things and down they come. Fortunately the City ran out of money before too much came down and now the value for tourism and UNESCO status has encouraged the city to keep the remaining walls.  Instead of spending our cash on stuff, we decided to get the views instead.

Everywhere there are beautiful flowers and it is warm…85 degrees and humid.

Our bus continued to take us around the Old City and while we didn’t make a stop, I was able to snap a few pictures.  Both Al and I think the colonial architecture reminded us of New Orleans a lot.  It will be a good idea for us to come back here and spend more time.

After our time in the old city we headed over to the brand new high rise part of the city. Everywhere there are fabulous Condos and buildings. As with every city,the views are what you pay for. The beginning picture says it all.

As with many areas, the dock has several unions who provide services.  Our bus drivers do not belong to the union allowed to drive inside the docks..they can pick us up at our ship but CanNot drop us off at the ship….go figure!! Anyway, the port provides a delightful small shaded area a filled with a small shopping area, a cafe and many exotic birds and animals for you to view as you walk to your ship. Peacocks, parrots, ant eaters and monkeys plus the always delightful flamingos greeted us and  provided shade and entertainment as we walked a short distance to our ship. 

And that’s the end of Cartagena!  We managed to sail away exactly on time and are heading for Colon, Panama tomorrow. We will be visiting the Embera` Indian tribe. This will include getting in a dug out canoe to get to the village….It will also include masks continually as they are a tribe that has little exposure to the world. Looking very forward to the event.

For those wondering, I have struggled daily with motion sickness. This morning while docked it was quite a relief to finally feel normal again…..lets hope I get my sea legs soon!