Today our port of call was Cartagena, Columbia. Cartagena is located off the northern coast of South America and lies 640 kilometers northwest of Bogota, the country’s capital.

Its’ history dates back almost 6000 years. The oldest ceramics discovered in the Americas were discovered in the Port of Cartagena, dating back to 4000 BC. Artifacts dating from 3200 to 1000 BC show that the port was a centre of organized societies. Later on, the Port of Cartagena became a major port for Europeans moving to the New World with all their possessions. The port was not only a port for trade of precious metals, but also for slaves, who were taken to work as cane cutters, build roads and buildings and work in the mines.

Today, it is the busiest port on the Caribbean Sea used to import and export tobacco, fertilizers, cosmetics, leather goods and textiles with the main exports being petroleum, manufactured goods, coffee and coal.

The six of us debarked the ship, after a long wait, with the intent of catching a hop-on-hop-off bus to visit the city sites. With directions in hand, we set off to purchase our tickets at the gas station across from the port entrance.

The Colombian port authority has created a beautiful port experience for visitors. As we left the ship there were flowers lining the pier and a fascinating bird and animal reserve that we walked through. We decided to save our exploration of this area for our return to the ship.

To get to the gas station we had to make our way through many persistent tour guides and taxi drivers with many polite “no gracias” and cross the craziest intersection I have ever seen. Once we got there no-one at the gas station new what we were asking so, Manuel, the taxi driver that followed us, became our lucky driver. Gary and Pam decided to head back to the port entrance to take a guided tour.

Manuel dropped us off at the entrance to the Old City and arranged to pick us up a few hours later

Inside the walled city we strolled through the narrow, busy streets and walked on the wall. It was very hot so we stopped a few times in small parks to rest and found a small gelateria, that took American cash, for a gelato.

Manuel picked us up and returned us to the port with a short tour through the back streets decorated with flowers, flags and umbrellas.

Once back at the terminal we toured the aviary and were able to see many different birds. some of which I am still trying to identify.