We were last in Cartagena in 1992 on a cruise with our two sons. I imagined it would be changed a bit since then! One of the major changes is that Columbia has  become a popular tourist destination. The presence of the drug cartels have diminished significantly and it is safe once again to travel the country. AMA Waterways has even started a river boat tour of the country.

Rather than booking a land tour with RCCL (as their brochure warned that since most passengers were Spanish speaking it might be difficult getting an English speaking tour guide on their tours),  I went to an old standby, Viator, where I found a private 4 hour tour that would cover the major highlights of the city.

First a bit of history: Cartagena is a major seaport on the northern coast of the Caribbean and served as a vital link in the route to the West Indies. It was founded in 1533 by the Spanish, who used it to ship gold back to Spain and slaves to this region of the world. It remained under Spanish rule for 275 years.  The present  day population of Cartagena is 915,000 and but that makes it only the 5th largest city in Columbia.

We were scheduled to meet our guide at 10 AM at the cruise port which happened to be very nice. To exit it you pass through a series of gardens and aviaries that housed various species of birds. We saw dozens of noisy parrots, some peacocks and even a monkey as we walked to the exit area. It was a bit confusing and I finally resorted to calling the number given to us (thank goodness we had T Mobile service) to talk to our guide and ultimately find our way to him. It was just the two of us, Luis, our guide, and a driver. It was nice not being in a large group. We spent the next 3 plus hours visiting the major highlights in the city.

Our first stop was at the Convento La Popa, located on the tallest hill in the city. Although it is called a convent it was really a monastery, founded by the Augustine Fathers in 1607. People still walk up the steep street to attend mass in the church. Needless to say there are marvelous views of the city from this church.

From there we traveled to the largest fortress ever built by the Spaniards in their colonies, Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas. It is immense! Construction started in 1536 and expanded from 1639 and 1667. African slaves built it under the supervision of the Spaniards. It was further enlarged in 1762. It has a complex series of narrow tunnels that severely hindered any invaders because of their construction. It had become quite warm by this time and Yvonne chose to keep the driver company in the air conditioned vehicle while Luis and I trudged our way to the top. Yvonne said she would look at my pictures! It is an amazing structure and reminded me a bit of the fort in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but this one is much, much bigger.

We next drove into the old town section of Cartagena where we stopped at the Las Bovedas, a series of craft shops where I managed to find a trip memento (or two) before we continued on with a driving tour in the streets of Old Cartagena. This area would definitely be one to explore in a more leisurely manner if we ever returned. We were offered a walking tour of the area but because of the heat & humidity we chose to simply enjoy the views as we drove through the area, stopping occasionally for me to grab a picture or two. By this time it was almost 1:30 and we chose to return to the ship. The tour of the city was very nice. There is a lot of history here and they have done well preserving its cultural heritage.

By this time it was near 2 PM and we were ready to get back to the ship for a late lunch, a shower and brief nap before going to the atrium for some pre-dinner music, a drink and some card playing before going to dinner..

I had made 6:30 reservations at one of the ship’s specialty restaurants, Chops Grill, their steak house. You had to pay a $50/pp price but usually it is worth it as the quality of the food and selection is better, as is the service. Normally it is hard to get early reservations at these specialty restaurants so I had made the reservations before we boarded. When we arrived for our dinner, we found a place empty, which totally surprised me. The staff told me the Spanish prefer to eat very late.  The meal was adequate but not worth the $50 price tag.

Tonight was the first night for a show in the main theater, that will feature ten talented dancers and three singers that make up the ship’s production staff. The theme of the performance was dance in different forms. Needless to say they were good!

Tomorrow we will have a day at sea.