March 29, 2013
After sailing overnight from Colon, we arrived in
Cartagena, Colombia the next morning. I suspect that there were people on the ship who were quaking in their boots (those who wore boots) at the thought of spending a day in Colombia, but the city is very nice and we encountered very little drug violence.
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| At the port in Cartagena. They do a bit of shipping there. |
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| A view of the Cerra de Popa from the ship. |
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| Central Cartagena |
We had booked a tour of the city along with several Cruise Critic members with a local tour company. Since I made the arrangements with the company, I got my own bus, as shown below.
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| My 15 minutes of fame |
We started with a drive through some upper middle class neighborhoods and then went up to the top of La Cerra de Popa, which is a large hill overlooking the city. At the top of La Cerra de Popa is the convent of Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria, which has nice views over the city.
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| Nicer housing on the way to the hill |
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| View of downtown and the resort area from the top of La Cerra de Popa |
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| Another view from La Cerra de Popa. In the foreground is Castillo San Felipe de Barajas. |
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| A view of a slightly less upscale part of town from La Cerra de Popa |
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| Inside Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria |
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| In the courtyard of Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria |
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| Back down at the bottom of the hill |
After coming down the hill, we spent a few minutes at
Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, which is the largest fortress in the Western Hemisphere, and dates from 1536.
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| Castillo San Felipe de Barajas |
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| View of downtown Cartagena from Castillo San Felipe de Barajas |
The next (and most important) stop was the colonial city of Cartagena, which is (along with the fort) a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This section of the city is completely surrounded by walls and was built during the colonial era. The next several pictures are all from the colonial city.
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| Las Bovedas was part of a prison that was built in 1792. It's now a bunch of souvenir shops. |
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| Back street in colonial Cartagena |
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| Another street in colonial Cartagena |
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| Still another street in colonial Cartagena |
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| A colonial church |
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| Iglesia de San Pedro Claver |
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| Square in front of Iglesia de San Pedro Claver |
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| Museum of Iglesia de San Pedro Claver |
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| Inside Iglesia de San Pedro Claver |
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| Inside Iglesia de San Pedro Claver |
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| Hotel Charleston |
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| Along the city wall |
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| Along the city wall |
After our tour of the colonial area, we headed toward the resort area of Boca Grande (that's right--"big mouth")
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| Along the beach in Boca Grande |
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| A small shopping plaza in Boca Grande |
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| Condos and hotels in Boca Grande |
Before going back to the ship, we went through some of the upper class residential areas of Cartagena.
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| Some local transportation |
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| A church along the outside wall of the colonial area |
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| Some early 20th century buildings |
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| More early 20th century architecture |
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| Another view of Castillo San Felipe de Barajas |
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| Some middle class housing |
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| Back at the port. Yes, those are tires. |
Finally we made it back to the ship. As the ship left the harbor, we got some great views of Boca Grande.
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| Boca Grande |
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| Sunset on the ship as we depart Cartagena |
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| One last view of Cartagena |
After departing Cartagena, we had two days at sea before arriving in Ft. Lauderdale.
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| And so our voyage ends...... |
