PapaMarshall

WC006 – 12/27/2022 – Cartagena, Colombia

Location Check: N 10º 24′ 11.98″ – W 075º 31′ 55.35″

We woke up this morning, not rocking and rolling. Strange. We docked sometime around 6:00.

Skyline of “New Cartagena”

We celebrated our calm state by: Cheryl – on the treadmill, Randy – on the quarter-mile promenade deck. Then it was time to cool down (it’s 80º but with a bright sun, humidity, and no breeze), shower, breakfast on the terrace and get ready for our 9:40 tour of the city.

We boarded a bus and our guide talked us into the old town with stops at the old fort (San Filipe):

San Filipe Fort

It was built during the 17th century to repel land attacks. Shortly after its founding the city became a major transport hub for riches being sent back to Spain. Therefore it was a major target for pirates and privateers. In addition to the fort the city was surrounded by 11 km of walls and over 20 mini-forts.

Following the fort we moved to a typical Spanish marketplace and had time to wander and buy.

Actually it was originally the jail and the cells have been converted into shops

Back on the bus we were driven thru several neighborhoods on the way to the new town.

Not everywhere looked this nice but there were several very inviting streets tucked in among the major routes.

The new town was all glass and concrete and skyscrapers – not really what you want to try to take a picture of from a bus.

Eventually we made it back to the dock. However, when we got back to the port our busses dropped us outside. We “had to” walk thru a small zoo to get to the ship.

  • We saw a pair of Giant Anteaters – gettin’ frisky
  • We saw monkeys playing in the trees
  • We spotted an iguana
  • There were black swans
  • There were Red Macaws

Blue Macaw Man!
Eventually we made it back to our ship…

…here we grabbed some lunch before retiring to the Theatre for a lecture on the history of the Panama Canal – along with a review of flora and fauna we might see during our crossing. During this lecture the ship left Cartagena on our way to Colon Panama.

Then it was back to the stateroom to rest, read, BLOG, and such before the 4:30 port talk on Colon and Panama City.

The 6:30 lecture was on Commercialization of the Moon, followed by dinner and 8:00 Bruce’s Brain Busters. We scored 8 out of 21 – dismal but about middle of the pack.

Then it was back to the room to plan our day tomorrow, fill out a vaccine survey, do a bit of reading, and work on photos for Day 3 (12/24, Swimming with the dolphins).

NOTE: Dolphin photos have been added to Day 003. Feel free to go back and check them out.

Sleep well everyone. We’ll see you tomorrow. R

6 Comments

    1. Word is that we are “near our capacity” (930 passengers). It’s interesting to us to learn how many people we speak with are only traveling as far as Los Angeles. Once there these people will deboard (disboard? unboard? Where’s George Carlin when you need him?) and will be replaced by people who will continue on to London with the rest of us.

  2. Cartagena, Columbia is different than what I expected. I did get most of my information from watching Miami Vice in the 80’s….

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