Wed. April 26 2023

Day 6 of 15….Welcome to Cartagena Columbia, in South America, Wow, are we really here?

Arrival: 7 am.—Gangway open 7:30 All Aboard—4:30, Departure 5pm

After Grand Caymen was another cruising day, so now here we are approaching South America. I woke up early to see us enter the harbor of Cartagena Columbia. It was a beautiful morning with the sun coming up.

We chose an excursion in Cartagena. It was a bus trip through the city seeing some of the top sites, traveling along the coast to a little fishing village, La Boquilla. We will board hand hewn mahogany canoes and travel through the swampy mangroves watching for wild life. This excursion will be one of the more exciting of our cruise. I have been wondering, when they have all these excursions at each port, how does everyone get on the right bus or van to their destination. I imagined chaos.

We received instructions to meet at the Aurora Theater at 8am. You check in with your tickets that were delivered to your room. They give you a colored tag and number to stick on your shirt. When your bus is ready, they call your number, and everyone plays follow the leader. You head out to the dock, going through x-ray and scanning Sea Pass Cards as usual. Outside, your bus’s, vans etc, are awaiting you. You board according to number and color. It really worked out quite well.

We boarded our bus ready to begin this exciting day. Our Tour Guide was a young lady named Victoria. She had a very nice loud voice, great English, perfect for her job as well as a side of humor that was fitting. As we traveled into town, it became so so crowded. It became terrible. The traffic didn’t seem to care about anything. I had a passing truck loaded with trash, hit my window. Crazy. It seemed one of the popular sources of travel was the motorcycle, or minibikes. They were in work clothes, business attire, but had no concept of dying. They would zoom up from behind and drive right up between the 2 vehicles traveling side by side. It’s a wonder they weren’t smashed and killed.

We made our way through Cartagena and down the coast to a little fishing village called, La Boquilla. We pulled off the road into a parking lot near a large grouping of trees. After we got out of the bus, we walked down a path to the canoes. Oh Boy, yes, they were definitely hand carved, or homemade, which ever you choose to call it.

They loaded us all into these canoes, 1 on a seat. (Thank Goodness) We were full. They told us to be careful about balancing. No sudden moves. OMG……I could tell. I felt tense as any move Rich made, he leaned one way, I leaned the other. I felt like we would Rollllllll…….But we did stay upright. Vicky was our guide also on the canoes, as the guides couldn’t speak English. There was one man in the back of each canoe to push with a long stick. She told us if we did roll and capsize, don’t worry…….JUST STAND UP…..It was shallow. They pointed out different things they seen in the water as we passed.

This was such a quite beautiful ride. So peaceful. The Mangroves were just tunnels through all the roots. It twisted and turned until you would come up on a small opening. I can see how people could get lost or hid in these. We heard birds, heard the rustling of the trees, and the water splashing as the guides pushed our boats. But it was also HOT and SWEATY that day. When we came out into the lake, we seen a man in the distance. We headed his way and all the boats parked near him like a school class. Actually, that is rather what it was. Vicky told us he was a local fisherman. This is what they do to support themselves and their family. In Colombia, they are allowed to have more than 1 wife. Hence, they obviously have many children. He was going to show us how they throw out a net to catch crabs, fish, or turtle. Whatever is in the water.

After that, of course they passed a tip basket around the boats. It was handed boat to boat. So, I guess everyone has a way to ask for a tip these days. We traveled on in the open lake to the little hole where the tunnel begins again to head back to the dock.

Finally back out of the canoes. Dry also, nobody tipped the boat. I was so happy to get back into the bus and AC. Now we were going to go back into town to another shopping site. We passed many of the walls that were still standing around the city. They were built many many years ago to defend themselves from the pirates raiding their country. Then we stopped at Castillo San Felipe de Barajas. It was built by slave labor, on a hill in the 1500’s at a strategic point to protect them from battles. Around the castle is a nice area of benches and trees and of course little shops of locals selling their trinkets. This is where the bus stopped. Before we got off, Vicki told us. She said, “You know how Mexicans usually barter and beg for a deal? That is nothing. DO NOT look at them, do not ask about an item if you have no intention of buying. Do NOT look them in the eye”. She was so right.

As we were walking, a guy kept coming after Rich to buy a hat. He wouldn’t leave him alone. He followed him all over as Rich walked by the little shops. Finally Rich bought a hat. lol. He was so persistent. I wish I had taken a picture of him. By that time, I was so hot, I was wanting to get back on the bus.

The bus took us back to the ship. We were so hot and tired. They took us instead to a parking lot to drop us off. But we were still aways from the ship. I wasn’t very happy about this. But it turned out it was a Bird and Monkey Aviary. It was so beautiful. The birds and monkeys were free to roam. Of course, it also had a very nice Souvenir shop.

Finally, we left the Aviary. There was a shuttle on the other side that took us to the ship. We were so hot and tired, and……. HUNGARY……Back to the Windjammer Buffet……Of course, we found Conmelia and Shane, they take good care of us. Such wonderful conversations with them. We sat at the back of the ship and watched the beautiful view of Cartagena. As we sailed away, we reflected on the day. All the things we did, the things we seen. We never ever dreamed this could be. It was like we were living a fantasy. What a day of memories. Tomorrow, we have to be up early again. We will be at Colon Panama. We will be getting off the boat and going to an Imax Theater and learning about the Panama Canal. Another Great Day It Will Be….