3 August Cartagena, Columbia

Have just docked in Cartagena, it is 10.30 am and VERY hot out there!!!!! After breakfast I went to a lecture on this port and it was most interesting.  Sadly, I knew so little about some of these countries and must admit I expected Cartagena to look a bit like Puntarenas in Costa Rica from the ship but what I see is a huge city with hundreds of high rise buildings so it will be interesting to see how the tour goes later on.

The city of Cartagena, known in the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias, is a major port founded in 1533, located on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region. It was strategically located between the Magdalena and Sinú rivers and became the main port for trade between Spain and its overseas empire, establishing its importance by the early 1540s. During the colonial era it was a key port for the export of Peruvian silver to Spain and for the import of African slaves. It was defensible against pirate attacks in the Caribbean. It is the capital of the Bolívar Department, and had a population 1.2 million people.  It is the fifth-largest city in Colombia and the second largest in the region, after Barranquilla. The urban area of Cartagena is also the fifth-largest urban area in the country. Economic activities include the maritime and petrochemicals industries, as well as tourism. The city was founded on June 1, 1533, and named after Cartagena, Spain, which in turn was named after Carthage in Tunisia. Settlement in the region around Cartagena Bay by various indigenous people dates back to 4000 BC.

The tour today was call 'Highlights and shopping' so we began by having a 10 minute stop at the fort, then onto the Old Town for a walk to the Square.  The architecture is amazing, very colonial and clean and the gardens beautiful.  Bright bougainvillea was everywhere.  From there we visited another area with 2 churches, one a cathedral, but both closed for repairs.  Went to the Emerald factory, the pieces on display were something else but they didn't even have a bargain basement for most of us who just took a few dollars!!!!!  George did a different excursion, his took him to the Gold Museum as well.  

We were meant to sail at 4 pm but it is now close to 5 and we're still here!