November 13 - - Cartagena de las Indias, Colombia

After three days at sea (which seemed to fly by!) we docked in Cartagena early in the morning on Wednesday.  I’ve been here before a long time ago so I didn’t plan on taking a ship’s excursion.  Two friends and I had planned to get a cab to go into town to  see the old city and to shop, just a clue – Colombia is famous for its emeralds.

This is a lovely city.  It was founded by the Spanish in 1533 and named after the Spanish city of Cartagena. A little interesting linguistic note is that the original Cartagena in southern Spain was named after Carthage in North Africa because it was founded around 227 BC by a Carthaginian general. The city lies on the Caribbean coast of the South American continent and close to the Isthmus of Panama.  Because of its location it was an important and strategic port for the importation of slaves and the exportation of silver, gold, and other products coming from the New World. The city was sacked and burned several times  by pirates, privateers and enemies of Spain, including Sir Francis Drake.  As a result of the attacks the King of Spain commissioned fortifications to be built and they were finally completed in the 1650’s.  At one time the city was protected by 29 stone forts and walls that were 16 miles long and in places 40 feet high and 50 feet wide. The principal fortress is the Castillo of San Felipe de Barajas which after its completion was the largest one constructed by Spain in the Americas.

The fortress system and city have a little interesting historical connection to Virginia.  In 1741 the English under the leadership of Edward Vernon laid siege to Cartagena.  The English had a large armada of ships and more than 25,000 troops, including 2000 American colonial infantry.  Among those was Lawrence Washington, George Washington’s half-brother.  When Lawrence inherited some family property in Virginia along the Potomac he named the house there after his commander, hence the name Mount Vernon.  George kept the name when he inherited the property.  The siege and attack were unsuccessful despite vastly outnumbering the Spanish.  The defender was Don Blas de Lezo whose statue is at the foot of the castle.  He is still considered a hero here.

Cartagena is a city of contrasts.  With a population of about 1.2 million it’s the fifth largest city in Colombia.  On one side of the bay are modern high-rise buildings and on the other is the charming and very Spanish old city with typical colonial architecture.  The streets are narrow and many of the houses have their stucco painted in bright colors.  There are wrought iron balconies with flower boxes with cascades of bright blossoms and the entrances are massive carved wooden doors.  The old city is a UNESCO World Heritage site.  It is easy to imagine that you’re in a city in Andalucia in Spain.

To get out of the port terminal area we had to pass through a small zoo.  We only walked through the area with lots of birds.  There were many parrots, flamingos and peacocks all roaming and flying around, and making lots of noise, with no enclosures to keep them there.  There is no reason for them to leave because there were food bowls full of ears of corn, papaya and watermelon everywhere.  They were well-fed birds.

A pair of happy flamingos

Isn't this guy gorgeous?

I couldn't persuade this guy to spread his feathers

I did zoom in on his tail feathers.  Look at those colors.

We hired a taxi driver named Teo to give us a little tour of the old city and to take us to a place where we could look at emeralds.  I sat in the front seat with Teo so I could practice my Spanish.  He spoke English better than I did his language, but I had fun remembering words I had forgotten.  I think if I stayed here for a while I would regain proficiency.  

Our first stop was a stop at the Castillo San Felipe.  We walked around the little park area at the foot of the fort.  To get to the top we would have had to walk up a series of ramps and steps which none of us wanted to do. I’m sure we would have had a great view, but between the hike and the heat and humidity, it wasn’t on our to-do list.  Next we drove into the old city.  Teo stopped at a little arcade in the shadow of the old wall.  There were several souvenir shops in the arcade, but the gem (literally) was a shop that sold emeralds.  We spent a lot of time there and we all found a memento of our visit to Cartagena.

Castillo San Felipe

Three amigas with Don Blas

After we’d taken care of business Teo took us on a slow tour through the old city.  As I mentioned the streets are very narrow and there’s an interesting design feature. Many of the streets are built with curves which allowed the resident defenders to hear their enemy coming through the city before they were visible, thus giving them time to prepare defenses street by street.  The exteriors of the old colonial buildings must be maintained but inside the owners can do whatever they like.  Teo told us something interesting about a way that the government incentivizes owners to keep some of the lovely old colonial homes.  As the older generations die some of the younger ones want to sell the properties and move to the high-rise condos which offer lots of amenities.  The government won’t tax the inherited property if they keep it and continue to use it for residential purposes in its colonial style, but  if the heirs decide they want to sell and get the money, they have to pay big inheritance taxes.  That’s a good way to maintain the character of the old city.

Old Cartagena

A peek into one of the courtyards these colonial buildings have

One of the many little plazas

Finally, it was time for Teo to take us back to the ship.  (We were also wilting from the heat and humidity – or at least I was.)  He was a great driver/guide and I got his name and contact information in case I come back here some time.

Last night we sailed later than we were originally scheduled to leave – no idea why.  We don’t have all that far to go because our next stop is the Panama Canal and we have a time slot for Friday morning.  There was a sailaway party on deck and I went and danced a little. For dinner my friends and I went to fried chicken night in the Colonnade, the casual venue.  We sat outside because it was a nice night and cooler than earlier in the day. Two of us made it to the show which was a second performance of the Australian-Japanese rock violinist.  I liked him better this time.  Then I have to admit I went down to the Club for a little while, but I was yawning so much I had to call it an early night.  I’m blaming it on the heat not age.

The skyline as we slowly sailed away

An almost full moon over Cartagena

Tomorrow is  a sea day so I’ll have plenty of time to rest if they don’t schedule too many fun things.  Of course, there’s the most important event of all – noon Trivia.