Cartagena, Colombia
Wow, what a great city!
We arrived in Cartagena yesterday afternoon, after a 4 hour bus ride from Santa Marta. We all went out for supper, then had an evening walking tour through some of the old walled city. The initial impression was one of an extremely vibrant and energetic night life. The streets were alive with sidewalk cafes spreading out into every inch of the various plazas. Lots of choices for food and drink, but a little on the expensive side compared to what we have seen in Colombia up till now.
Today, in the light of day, the old city is pretty subdued. Lots of people, locals and tourists, walking through the narrow streets, shopping, relaxing over coffee or cocktails, or just sitting around soaking up the laid-back atmosphere. There are a couple of cruise ships in the harbour right now, which were probably responsible for the surprising number of tourists meandering around.
Susanne and I took a short hike outside of the walled city, to the Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas, a Spanish fortress built to protect the original city against the nasty British and French pirates, sometimes more successfully than others. This was a truly impressive structure. We were able to take a tour at our own pace, using the convenient portable audio devices - very cool!
Great views of the city from the top of the castle. It is too bad we really only have one day here - this city needs a lot more time to get a handle on it. Sadly, we don't even have enough time to check out the marinas and other facilities for us yachties - maybe next time...
The high rent district
This evening, 9 of our fellow travellers will be leaving us, and 8 new people are scheduled to join us for the final week. A joint group supper is planned for this evening. Tomorrow we should be off on a flight to the city of Medellin.
{GMST}10|25.392|N|75|32.658|W|Cartagena, Colombia|Cartagena, Colombia{GEND}
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