Today we were in port in Cartagena (pronounced “CAR ta HEY na”), Colombia. This will be a heavy pic post, since there were so many wonderful views and sites in Cartagena, which is a very photogenic city. And because there are three other photographers contributing to this post, due to my camera battery going dead halfway through our tour visit. So three other photographers offered up their pics to help me fill in the gaps of what I missed with my camera. And I tried sending all of the pics in one post, but it got rejected, so I am splitting my update into Part 1 and Part 2, hoping it will go thru.
Here is the sunrise scene as we coasted into the harbor:
The skyline of the city is quite different from when Krissie was here with her family more than 40 years ago. Pretty much all of these buildings did not exist at that time:
I like the colors of the water in the pic above reflecting the early morning light.
These are some photos I took just outside the port entrance. Krissie with several parrots perching just outside, waiting for their photo op:
We were out here early (before 8a), so this is apparently where the local police force gets their morning assignments:
Noemi (in the salmon colored top, center) and Sergio (to her right) are both fluent Spanish and handled all of the negotiations with the tour operators for our group of 22 who were traveling together:
They were able to get us a price of just $12/pp for the entire tour. What a deal! We ended up paying $15/pp with tip. Easy way to get around Cartagena with a limited amount of time in the port (since we were leaving at 1p for Panama Canal).
A closer look at some of the policemen shows that apparently some are part of a bomb squad:
As we were waiting for our bus, two flamingos walked by on their way to the pond where they hang out:
Gynno (pronounced Gino) was our tour guide for the day. Funny guy and he did a great job. He used to work in New York City as an Aquatics Engineer (dishwasher) at a restaurant:
Our first stop was the high hill of the monestery (La Popa) overlooking Cartagena. Here is a view of our ship:
…and a view of the old city (you can see the city wall near the top of the photo) and the fortress (just below the old city):
Here is a closer up view of the fortress, which we will see up close later in the day:
As we were touring the monestary, there was a cat hiding in one of the clay jars:
The interior courtyard of the monestary:
Outside I had an opportunity to get my picture taken with a sloth:
Yes, he was real and yes, he was really creepy and clingy. I couldn’t wait to give him back to the guy.
There were a series of shops just outside the old city in a building that used to be a dungeon and prison:
This street vendor said he was Bob Marley’s younger brother:
There were several street vendors selling a variety of good, including this one selling mangoes:
So my camera battery died at this point of the tour. Yes, I do have a backup battery, but I forgot to bring it. But I was able to get the camera to take one last pic (after removing the battery and putting it back in), with Krissie saying hello to a monkey:
[Part 2 to follow in a second post]
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