Cartagena

Morning in Cartagena was beautiful. The sun was shining like a new penny. But wait I am getting ahead of myself.

We had breakfast ordered for 7:30 and we had a wake-up call set for 7:00. But we were awake at 6:30. That was probably because we got another hour back last night. But whatever the reason we were able to see the city of Cartagena as it came into view. We remembered the light house of course and we were again impressed by its size and how modern it is. Cartagena has a population of 1 million people and unless you know where you are it could be any modern city in the west.

We put our Canadian Flag wind sock out on our balcony so it could be see during the day.

We had our breakfast in our room and then we dressed for the day. We knew it was going to be very hot because it already was very hot. Mainly the humidity was what was unbelievable. It was almost like breathing in steam.

We were welcomed by a fire boat spraying water for us.

As we watched the ship dock we continue to be amazed by the skill of these ship captains. Captain Poggi maneuvered the ship into place with nary a bump. Somehow it is not fair that he can parallel park this huge ship and I can’t parallel park our little Jeep. Then we watched as the long shore men tied her up. A small boat was used to take the lines to the capstans where another worker put them into place and someone on the ship tightened the lines. It was fascinating to watch.

As soon as the ship was secured the buses began to arrive. There was a continuous line of them. Everyone must be going ashore. Because this is a working port passengers are not allowed to walk in the port. Free shuttles are provided to take people into the city.

We went to the Bordeaux Dining room because that was the meeting place. There were several of us with tickets for this Spanish Galleon expedition. We were marched out to our waiting bus and we rode a whole 2 minutes to the waiting ship.

This is a beautiful wooden ship from days gone by. It is beautiful and sturdy. When we arrived we were greeted by singers and dancers. We had to wait a little while because a second bus load of passengers had to arrive. We were underway as soon as the last passengers were on board. The Galleon moved slowly out into the harbor and our guide Roosevelt; spoke about the history of Columbia. He told us about the past and their current situation. He spent a lot of time telling us about the history of the drug wars and the progress that is being made in that area.

The new city is amazing with sky scrapers everywhere. The old city has been restored to its magnificence. They made a striking contrast as we sailed smoothly past. When we reached the head of the harbor we were served cold beverages and snacks. The drink choices were rum and coke, beer, soda and water, all of which were iced cold. They also served small bags of snacks that we really did not recognize. What I choose was very much like the sugar pops cereal that we are familiar with. The round sweet balls were multicolored and were smaller than the sugar pops I remember. They were very sweet so I gave them to Ken. He has chosen something that turned out ot be a waffle shaped thing with a garlic like taste. So Ken ended up eating sweet balls with his beer and I had Garlic with my cold water.

There was a nice breeze most of the time, and we were on the top deck. There was a canapay that allowed for some shade. The chairs were very old in need of a good sanding and a coat of varnish.

On four occasions we were entertained by a group of young dancers and musicians. There was a saxophone and drums and shakers and the music had a distinct African flavor.

The first time they came out they invited passengers to dance with them. I was chosen to dance with one of the young boys. There were 2 couples and each time they danced they wore different brightly colored cotton costumes. They were actually quite good and there energy and their ability to dance vigorously in that heat was truly admirable. None of us could have matched their energy for sure.

The ship returned to the dock and we were bused back to the ship. We were able to find our room because our Canadian Flag windsock was fluttering in the breeze.

It was now a little past one so it was time for lunch. We returned to our quiet, peaceful, and air conditioned stateroom. We called and ordered hot dogs and 15 minutes later we were enjoying our lunch.

Basically we relaxed and enjoyed sail away and before we knew it time had come to change for dinner.

We had another great lunch that included another Norman Love dessert.

 After dinner we checked out our photos and decided not to purchase any. Then we went to the liquor outlet and picked up an order form. We plan to buy some rum and some Frangelico since we are walking off and there is no need to be concerned with weight in our luggage.

We returned to our stateroom and watched the presentation on traversing the Panama Canal. Tonight’s patter has the times for all of the locks so we can plan our day. We will be back and forth from the front of deck eleven and our balcony. I have ordered a breakfast for 8:30 so we will have entered Gatun by then so we can eat on the balcony and watch the rest of that part of the passage.

The last time we did the transit there was a day in Panama City so we were able to take tours of that area the next day. But that is not the case this time.

It will be exciting none the less.

Panama tomorrow!!!