AN AFTERNOON IN COLUMBIA: On March 19 we sailed into the harbour of Cartegena de In
dies. Cartegena is the second largest city in Columbia (about one million) and was built as a walled city/fortress in the 1500's following 3 raids by Sir Francis Drake. Cartegena was the city from which the Spanish shipped their gold and also ran their slave trade. As such it was frequently attacked by pirates, including Drake, who was little more than a pirate himself.
Today the walled city remains but modern high rises are all around the thick and well-preserved fortifications. The city is surrounded by the sea and is both beautiful and clean. It appears to be relatively prosperous according to Mr. Rum's economic index (no. of new cars/no. of old cars x no. of BMWs/no. of Kias).
As we had not booked a tour and as it was very, very hot we negotiated a taxi to take us on a tour of the city. We saw tourist sites, drove through parts of the new city and then our taxi driver walked with us through the old city. This 3 hour venture, including tip, cost $ 65. The traffic is horrendous and Columbian drivers make Parisian drivers seem like wimps. I am uncertain how our driver managed to stay out of accidents, what with Betty squealing loudly and frequently from the back seat.
WINE WITH DINNER: I mentioned in an earlier posting that I had bartered for wine to drink on the cruise. Although I am still going to hold that full story for a future WineWhine I can say that the ship's cellar has many of my bottles to be fetched each night at dinner. As Betty has tended not to drink much for the past several days I am having a bit of a consumption challenge. However, I have not given up hope that I can drink all this stuff by the end of the cruise.
ORANJESTAD, ARUBA: We are spending the day in Aruba, a "Dutch" island that can best be described as a tourist trap. We have been walking by scores of junk and other sourvenir stores, interspersed with very high end designer stores. However, most of these stores are closed as it is Sunday. This is despite the fact that two cruise ships are docked and 100's of tourists are walking up and down desperate to unload the weight of disposable money from their pockets. On the other hand, there are quite a few panhandlers who are offering to help with the problem. This is definitely a spot to miss if you are in the southern Carribean.
dies. Cartegena is the second largest city in Columbia (about one million) and was built as a walled city/fortress in the 1500's following 3 raids by Sir Francis Drake. Cartegena was the city from which the Spanish shipped their gold and also ran their slave trade. As such it was frequently attacked by pirates, including Drake, who was little more than a pirate himself.Today the walled city remains but modern high rises are all around the thick and well-preserved fortifications. The city is surrounded by the sea and is both beautiful and clean. It appears to be relatively prosperous according to Mr. Rum's economic index (no. of new cars/no. of old cars x no. of BMWs/no. of Kias).
As we had not booked a tour and as it was very, very hot we negotiated a taxi to take us on a tour of the city. We saw tourist sites, drove through parts of the new city and then our taxi driver walked with us through the old city. This 3 hour venture, including tip, cost $ 65. The traffic is horrendous and Columbian drivers make Parisian drivers seem like wimps. I am uncertain how our driver managed to stay out of accidents, what with Betty squealing loudly and frequently from the back seat.
WINE WITH DINNER: I mentioned in an earlier posting that I had bartered for wine to drink on the cruise. Although I am still going to hold that full story for a future WineWhine I can say that the ship's cellar has many of my bottles to be fetched each night at dinner. As Betty has tended not to drink much for the past several days I am having a bit of a consumption challenge. However, I have not given up hope that I can drink all this stuff by the end of the cruise.
ORANJESTAD, ARUBA: We are spending the day in Aruba, a "Dutch" island that can best be described as a tourist trap. We have been walking by scores of junk and other sourvenir stores, interspersed with very high end designer stores. However, most of these stores are closed as it is Sunday. This is despite the fact that two cruise ships are docked and 100's of tourists are walking up and down desperate to unload the weight of disposable money from their pockets. On the other hand, there are quite a few panhandlers who are offering to help with the problem. This is definitely a spot to miss if you are in the southern Carribean.
No comments:
Post a Comment