Day 11 – Cartagena, Columbia - Jan 13

Day 11 – Cartagena, Columbia (Friday 2012-01-13)

Weather: Sun, Hot and Humid, 30c+

Our tour group visited historic Cartagena, Columbia today with a local guide, Billie, a knowledgeable and honest man. Travelling by motorboat, we visited the fishing village of Bocachica and explored the 18^th century San Fernando Fortress. Shaped like a horseshoe with an enclosed wall at one end, the thick stone fortress allowed the Spaniards to keep enemies at bay. We then continued by boat around several small islands to the remains of two more fortifications of Manzanillo and Santa Cruz of Castillo Grande both very old and well maintained.

By motor coach, we did a city overview tour starting with the Colombian emerald jewelry shops at Pierino Gallo which the women found intensively interesting and the men simply tried to hurry them out of as quickly as possible.

From there, we continued past the old walled city and into the picturesque Old Town with restored Spanish houses from the 18^th century painted gold and coral and including wooden colonial balconies. We finished the walk at Plaza Bolivar with a bronze statute of hero Simon Bolivar in the middle of the city square.

Once outside the walled city, we continued to the San Felipe Fortress built in 1536, which took 121 years to construct on top of a hill and still standing in excellent condition. The tour group had a minor revolt at that stop since we had no lunch and many were tired and cranky. We were among the six out of twenty-five passengers who toured the fort with its deep underground passages lined with cannon ports. Back at our ship, we said goodbye to our local guide, Billy and headed inside in search of food and cold refreshments.