02 APRIL 2012

 

Met up with Ginny last night for a drink before dinner. She had bravely ventured out on her own to a local shopping area and I'm pleased to say that she seems a bit better now. We had a chat about the trips in Cartagena and Grand Cayman and decided to book something for us to do together.

We selected a deluxe tour of the old town of Cartagena and the fortress. I have also managed to persuade her that a couple of hours horse riding in the surf along the beach would be a great idea in Grand Cayman with a spot of retail therapy after – if we can walk OK! It was obviously meant to be, as we got the last two places.

We docked quite late in Cartagena as we were having breakfast at the blunt end in a lovely warm temperature with a balmy breeze. This is my first time in South America. Cartagena is a really interesting city. The modern parts are very modern, quite elegant high rise blocks, nearly all of them a startling white, which when set off against the blue sea and sky gives the impression of a clean, diverse city. Unfortunately the only place for the cruises to dock is at the container port!

Our tour was one of the first to leave the ship and we managed to secure the front seats of the bus. Big mistake, we should have been blindfolded! The traffic goes where it wants to, through the narrowest gaps and the bigger your vehicle the easier you can bulldoze your way through the sea of yellow taxis and street vendors. Our driver knew the width of his bus down to the last layer of paint. Ginny got a couple of fits of the vapours as we squeezed through the traffic, some of the roads we went on looked suspiciously like footpaths.

Unfortunately he wasn’t quite so knowledgeable about the length of his bus.

We were just leaving a shopping area which had taken root in the old fortress dungeons, where the arsenal was kept, back in the pirate days of Cartagena. He started to reverse the bus and suddenly jammed on his brakes. Next thing there were some very irate street vendors, taxi drivers and locals banging on the sides of the bus. The driver was hanging out of his window mouthing off in Spanish, lots of arm waving and clearly unhappy people. I had visions of us all being carted off to spend the rest of our lives rotting in a Colombian prison! In the end the driver just gave them all a dismissive wave, wound the window up, locked the door and off we went! I’m not sure if we had run over someone, crushed a car or what!

We visited the fortress which appears to have been the first thing that was built in the area. It has had quite a colourful past and has been occupied by nearly all the major land grabbing countries, England, Spain, France, even Germany and Belgium. It’s a bit of a hike up to the top, especially in the heat and humidity of Colombia and flip flops but once there it commands a magnificent view over the town.


From there we had the shopping/running-over-one-of-the-locals incident. During the shopping part Ginny decided she would like to buy a bag. Our guide had told us to look at the price and offer half. Simples!!

The first price was $50 so we walk only to be called back 'Lady, Lady I make you a special offer!’

‘Oh yeah’ says Ginny, ‘How much then?’

‘For you lovely lady - $45!’

‘Nah’ says Ginny ‘I was thinking more like about $20?’

The guy then took the bag over to another assistant and asked her and the stupid woman said ‘$85’!!

Sooo not on the same page!!

We then went to the old town which is very pretty – old houses, obviously, mostly with balconies overhanging the street festooned in bougainvillea of all shades of pinks and purples. Most of the houses were shops or businesses downstairs and accommodation above.

 

 We met an old man leading his donkey about for the tourists to take photos. She was called Rosie and she was absolutely beautiful, covered in colourful flowers.

 
 
 Another way of travelling around the old town was by horse drawn carriages. I was quite pleased to see that the horses were generally in quite good nick. We were taken into a kind of museum of the Spanish Inquisition – yuk, what a horrible lot they were, it must have taken a very twisted mind to think up these instruments of torture. Hard to believe that one human being could do that to another person.


Then we were in a monastery. There was a plaque on the wall in Spanish explaining how Petro Claver had become a priest and looked after the black slaves and helped them gain their freedom. I was quite surprised that I could understand and translate it with very little effort! My old Latin teacher would have been proud of me! One of the guides then told us the whole thing in English and I was very cocky to find that I’d translated it correctly. The church was dedicated to him. The creepiest thing of all was that was this man’s body was still intact, if a little mummified and kept in a glass case under the altar! Eeeeeuuuuwwwww!

The street sellers got on my nerves today. Bags, tablecloths, ‘silver’ jewellery guaranteed to leave a black mark on your neck, fake Rolexes (at only $10 I don’t expect they were real, do you?), hats, genuine Colombian pearl necklaces, stamps and coins, even cigarettes and cigars. All dead hookey!!



Finally we were taken to some upmarket shops – all emeralds and diamonds. We didn’t bother and trotted off on a tat hunt! It was here that I had my photo taken with a really handsome chap. He had the most amazing smile and dark eyes. I think I’m in love!!



Disregard the woman next to me. I paid $2 to have a photo taken with Mr Handsome and she suddenly appeared at my side and then demanded $1 for being in my photo. Bloody Cheek! I told her to b***** off which she did with very little argument. Tried the local Aguila beer. Yum! It went down a treat.

Considering I was not that keen on this port when I read the itinerary, I thought it was quite enchanting and I would recommend a visit to the old town especially.

Oh yes and once more I am proud to say I have found some truly hideous tat with Cartagena written on the side. Oh please don’t let it break on the way home! I think the swan’s neck fashioned out of a cupboard hook is particularly classy but I shall keep you in suspense and not attach a photo!