Sunday, 7 December 2014 (Part I)
At Sea — CARIBBEAN Sea
Temps: Hi 86F (30C) / Lo 77F (25C)
Distance to Colón, Panama: 270 NM (311 miles / 500 km)
I’m on the veranda, enjoying the slight breeze as Infinity slowly makes its way to our next port of call. I can’t say that it is cool or refreshing out here — the humidity is too high for that — but it is better than it was in the city today.
Up at 6:00a, we found the ship sailing along the coast of Colombia. Mui hurried up to deck 12 forward to test the GoPro’s time-lapse feature as Infinity began its approach to Cartagena — or more accurately, to Cartagena de Indias [Cartagena of the Indies]. While he was busy with his new toy, I headed to the Oceanview Café, picked up a few things from the buffet, and returned to our aft veranda where the views and the pelicans flying about entertained me while I had my breakfast.
Left: The statue of the Virgin Carmen, Cartagena’s patron saint of navigators,
welcomes incoming vessels that pass her on the approach to the port.
Right: This is not the first pelican we’ve seen today; it won’t be the last either.
The Bocagrande [Big Mouth] skyline leaves no doubt that this is the modern section of the city.
Here comes the tugboat to make sure Infinity doesn’t bump into anything!
The ship was tied up at the industrial dock by 8:00a. We waited for the passengers crowding the gangway to dissipate a bit before disembarking the ship. As in most industrial ports, there was shuttle service to the passenger terminal. We hopped on the one that was just about to leave and within a few short minutes we were taking photos of the obliging animals in the gardens around the terminal.
Flamingos, iguanas, and macaws greet us at the passenger terminal.
Our first visit to Cartagena was in December 2007. Having had the port cancelled on a cruise in 2002 due to unrest, it was our second time trying to visit there. The second time was the charm. As most first-time visitors to this colorful city do, on that occasion we focused our attention on the walled city and Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas … both of which are UNESCO world heritage sites. We had hired a private guide for a walking tour of the colonial city and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. (We didn’t spend much time inside the walled city this time, so for those interested, photos from that trip are here.)
At the port gate, we had no trouble finding the taxis that were waiting to whisk us to our desired destination. From my research, I knew that the blue-shirts offered transport services, while the white-shirts offered tours. The price was set at pretty much $20 point-to-point — unless we wanted to join a small group for a tour. We didn’t, so we agreed to $40 from the ship to our first stop, with a 1-hour wait; and a subsequent drop-off at Puerta del Reloj [Clock Gate], the main and most picturesque entrance through the fortified walls surrounding the Old City. (As a side note: we paid $10 for the ride from the Clock Tower back to the ship — but we took one of the un-official cabs … that is, the driver didn’t have a blue shirt.)
Our first stop on this hot and very humid day was El Convento Nuestra Señora de la Candeleria, popularly known as Convento de la Popa [the Popa Convent]. We knew there was an entrance fee, and that it would be more expensive to use US dollars instead of local currency. The difference in the fee, however, was not worth seeking out an ATM to get Colombian pesos, so we paid the $5/person admission and began exploring the grounds, and the church and museum.
The story goes that an Augustinian monk who was fasting in the desert saw the Virgin Mary in a dream. She told him to go to the tallest point in Cartagena and build a monastery. And that’s how the convent came to be founded on Cerro de la Popa [Popa Hill] in 1607, with the city 492 feet (150m) below it. The name translates as Convent of the Stern — apparently because the shape of the hill resembles the stern of a ship.
Panorama of the sprawling city view from Convento de La Popa.
Can you see Infinity where it is docked at the industrial port? NO? …
… here’s a closer look at our ship nestled amongst cargo containers.
With several ship’s tours as well as independents like us visiting the site, it was fairly crowded at the monastery. Exercising a little patience, we managed to see what there was to see. And in the small world category, we ran into Brenda and Barry, who were touring Cartagena with their tablemates.
Next, the cabbie drove us to Puerta del Reloj [Clock Gate] for our visit to La Ciudad Vieja [Old City]. Familiar with the layout of the walled city from our walking tour in 2007, we entered through the gate, turned left, and wound our way around to the plaza overlooked by Iglesia de San Pedro Claver [Church of St Peter Claver]. On our previous visit, there was a service in progress, so we had not gone into the church; this time we took a few minutes to peek inside.
In 1888, the Republican-style clock was added to the main gate that leads inside the walled city.
Iglesia de San Pedro Claver was built at the beginning of the 17th century by Jesuits.
San Pedro Claver was a 16th century monk who ministered to the slaves brought
to Cartagena from Africa. His remains are in a casket beneath the high altar.
[Look closely and you’ll see his skeleton … head to the left.]
Stepping back out to the plaza, we continued our meandering stroll, stopping here and there when something caught our eye. I tried to limit the shutter clicking since I had so many photographs from our previous visit, but it wasn’t easy. This colorful city just begs to be photographed — even when the light is rather blah.
Sculptures representing Cartagenans going about their daily lives
are displayed around Plaza de San Pedro Claver.
Color is everywhere in Cartagena — from the walls of buildings …
… to the flowers on balconies …
… to the wares sold on narrow street corners.
Our next stop was the walls surrounding the city. Even though there was no sign of the forecasted rain, the heat and humidity had been steadily rising throughout the morning and it was starting to get uncomfortably sticky. Hoping to find a cooling breeze, we walked up the ramp to the top of the walls. What little breeze we found was insufficient to mitigate the steamy heat. The one café on top of the wall was closed — which was the case for most of the establishments everywhere around the city … we’re guessing because it was Sunday. Anyway, we were prepared with a few snacks in Mui’s backpack, so we found a table and some chairs overlooking the bay and sat down to feed our tummies and give our feet a break.
I’m always charmed by these garitas … the guard towers on colonial Spanish fortifications.
By the time we were finished eating our snacks, I was running out of steam — don’t care for humid, hot temps one bit. So, even though it was only 1:00p, we made our way back to Puerta del Reloj, negotiated a fare with a cabbie, and returned to the port.
At the Juan Valdez Café at the cruise ship terminal, we purchased wi-fi access ($3/hour), and settled down to check emails and Facebook, and download the software Mui needs to process his GoPro time-lapse footage. The internet started out pretty fast, but as the number of returning passengers increased, the speed dropped proportionally, so in the end the download wasn’t successful. But at least we got to check in with friends and family, sip cold beverages in the shade, and enjoy the critters running around the garden and in the walk-in aviary. Of course where there are animals, my shutter finger can’t sit still. But I’ll leave those photos for another post and just share a teaser here.
A scarlet macaw and a red-green macaw share a corn cob.
Back on the ship after a while, a badly needed shower did wonders to revive me. So much so that after we watched the sailaway from our veranda, I was willing to go to the Captain’s Club Cocktail Hour with Mui for a glass of wine before dinner.
Convento de la Popa
A charming last glimpse of the old city’s landmarks.
See if you can find Iglesia de San Pedro Claver in this photograph.
[Hint: look for the twin towers of the church.]
Castillo Grande is one of the modern neighborhoods of Cartagena …
and our last real glimpse of the sprawling city.
Hot and sticky though it was, we had a nice day in Cartagena. Remember that shower that was forecasted with 80% certainty for today? It never did happen. Nary a drop fell on us. An 80% chance for thunderstorms and precipitation is in the forecast for tomorrow’s port of call. We’ll see if the prediction holds true this time ;-) Keeping fingers crossed it doesn’t, but do you think we’ll get lucky a second time?
