It
was more than a little confusing – we knew we were docked at 6 am, but didn’t
know if we were cleared to go ashore. We were supposed to meet our tour 45
minutes after docking. When we realized that we could go ashore, we rushed
through breakfast and dashed off. Although we were late, one other person was
about a half hour later, and 3 from our tour never made it at all before the 8
am departure. Our guide was Ben Torres,
a very knowledgeable local who also helps out in schools in poorer areas,
teaching history and literature. It was a very interesting tour of Cartagena –
starting with the fortifications and with explanations of the history of
Colombia, Cartagena, the Conquistadors, slavery and eventual independence under
Simon Bolivar.
We toured a couple of small museums, reflecting a rather different view of history than we learned in school, and one explaining the emerald mining and processing. We resisted buying more emeralds, though that was tough. They’re beautiful, and far less costly here than at home. Cartagena is a very large city, divided into neighbourhoods that are identified by socio- economic levels 1 – 6. Higher levels subsidize the utilities of the lower ones. It was hot and humid, even though this is the dry season, considered much more comfortable than the wet season. After lots of walking on small streets and alleys, we were tired and hungry and hot. Back on ship, we went directly to lunch, followed by showers and naps. After a quick zoom with Rosemarie, Bill and Bruce, we went to dinner, requesting a shared table. It was fun meeting 6 new people and chatting. One couple lives in Dundas (we were surprised to discover that we’re nearly neighbours), another in Scotland and the others were sisters from Florida and Texas who get together on cruises twice a year. Then Larry headed off to a comedy show while I relaxed in our room.
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