Day 7 - Tues 26th Mar 2024
Participants: Tam & Kev
Up at 7.15 am and Tam is already on the balcony. This is our first port day and we have just arrived in Cartagena in Columbia.
Tam took this photo while I was still sound asleep.
We have
arranged a food tour of the old town through Gran Columbia Tours.
Using the Roll Call thread on Cruisecritic we have roped in 8
more people and this has reduced the price to a ridiculous $30
per person. Believe me, this turned out to be the bargain of the
century.
The Cruisecritic forums are invaluable as a source of information
on just about any cruise in the world and the roll call thread
for your individual cruise puts you into contact with other
people who want to discuss the forthcoming trip as well as
arrange private tours. These are always considerably cheaper than
the ships tours and usually more intimate as well.
We get a coffee
from Cafe Al Bacio and meet up with our tour group outside Vines.
We are enjoying our day with Bob and Carolyn, Evelyn and Fern, Al
and Rose. Mary is also coming, but her husband Chuck couldn't
make it, so 9 of us set out to enjoy the food and drink in
Cartagena.
We disembark and it's a short walk through the port to a small
area called Port Oasis Eco Park. Here there are a number of
animals and birds, especially parrots. We look briefly as we walk
through as we can spend more time here on our return.
After a brief
delay due to us trying to find the exit and meet up with Jhon
(our guide for the day) we are into our air conditioned bus and
on our way with Fernando doing the driving. It takes a little
while as the traffic is heavy and Jhon explains that Cartagena is
the 5th biggest city in Columbia with one million people living
there.
We are dropped off in the old walled city and begin our walking
tour. Our first stop is at a small restaurant called Donde Magola
where we have arepa conhuevo butifarra - a long name for a sort
of fried cheese fritter with spicy tomato dip and a passion fruit
drink.
Our tour group.
I'm not sure whether the passion fruit drink is happy or sad. Or maybe just having a crafty cigarette.
As we walk
through the city Jhon tells us lots about the history and culture
of the place and is a very informative and friendly guide. He
calls us Super Group making sure we are all together and happy.
Our next stop is a street vendor that is flattening plantains,
dipping them in garlic sauce and deep frying them. This is then
served with a large slice of cheese on top. The cheese is feta
like and quite salty. The two things together are very nice.
Here's the man flattening the plantains.
It's a fairly hefty chunk of chesse, but it was so nice I ate it all.
We walk on through to a market area where Jhon buys some sweets for us all to try. They are made with Dulche De Leche and coconut.
A brief visit to a pretty little church before we find ourselves at a cart selling fresh fruit where we try a varied selection.
The modern city can be seen in the background.
The next stop is a roadside truck where we have a shrimp cocktail and a Kola Roman fizzy drink. The soda is a bit sweet, but Tam absolutely loves the shrimp.
Next is a walk through a small park where we see small monkeys scampering about in the trees. As we leave the park Jhon points out the very thing that Tam has been desperate to see - a sloth. He (or she) is perfectly happy staring down at us as we all gather round to see such an amazing creature. Unfortunately we didn't get a decent photo.
Our intrepid tour guide. Let's face it, you woudn't lose him in a crowd in that shirt.
Our tour continues through the art district where there are many lovely murals and pieces of wall art as well as some beautifully decorated streets with small shops selling artwork.
Much of the street art is about female empowerment.
The next part of the tour is very welcome indeed. In a small square Jhon takes us to a shop where he buys us all an ice cold beer. Absolutely just the right thing on such a hot day.
Oh boy did that ice cold beer taste good.
Back in the square Mary wants her photo taken with the palenqueras. These are ladies in bright costumes with bowls of fruit on their heads. They are descendants of slaves brought over by the Spanish who escaped and founded their own colony in San Basilio de Palenque about 30 miles from Cartagena. They make their money by charging a few dollars to have your photo taken with them.
The tour is
just about over now and we walk back to the bus for our return to
the port. We say farewell to Jhon and tip him well as its been an
amazing tour. All the food and drink was included in the $30 per
head price - remarkable value for money. Our tour group have also
been excellent companions, so friendly and chatty.
Cartagena definitely exceeded our expectations. The old city is
very pretty in places and having such an amazing tour guide
helped us to appreciate the history.
We are dropped off by the Eco Park and we take a more leisurely walk through the area. There are loads of parrots and they make one hell of a racket when they decide to start squawking together. They are not captive and can fly away whenever they want, but the copious amounts of food lying around suggest that they know where there bread is buttered. Or in this case their fruit.
This little chap was there too, so Tam got her sloth photo after all.
Back to the ship where we are met with a cold towel and iced water - very much appreciated in the heat. It's an early sailaway so Tam and I grab a beer and enjoy it from the balcony. It's actually quite pretty from our side of the ship as we can see the old and new parts of the city.
After showering we go to the Wheelhouse Bar for a drink before heading next door to the Salty Dog Gastro Pub. This is another additional cost restaurant, but it's a la carte and you pay for whatever you have. The pretzel bread sticks with cheese dip to start are complimentary and we enjoy these before I have the braised short ribs. My dessert is Chocolate Bourbon Pudding. We both enjoy this meal. It's not too costly and sitting at high tables is fun.
Tam's probably got a mouthful of breadstick at this point.
Oh yeah, forgot this course. It was a mushroomy salad base with a breadcrumbed egg on top. It was actually very nice.
Tam had the braised rib poutine.
This was Tam's dessert. Coffee mousse with hot doughnuts. She loved it.
Our last call of the night is to the theatre to watch the singer. He's not really our cup of tes, so we return to the stateroom at 8.30 pm to watch a bit of TV before turning in. It's an early start tomorrow as we're going through the Panama Canal.