Cartegena: A Charming Change in Itinerary

On our second day aboard, the captain announced over the loud speaker that we would have an early change of itinerary. That evening we received the letter under the door confirming the news, "Last week, there were incidents of drug-related violence in Santa Marta, Columbia. All transportation and business was paralyzed for more than two days and dozens of gang members were arrested. As the safety and security of our passengers and crew is our priority, we have made the decision to cancel our call in Santa Marta. In its place we will add a call to Cartegena."

Two years ago when we visited Cartegena, we had taken a ship's tour called the "Best of Cartegena" so we had seen it all--the giant San Felipe de Barajas Fortress, the walled Old City (both named a UNESCO World Heritage Site), the Inquisition Palace, the San Pedro Claver church built in 1730 that was named after the Catholic priest who was the Patron Saint of Slaves for baptizing more than 300,000 of them and Las Bovedas, the former dungeons that are now homes to boutiques and tourist shops. Because our visit would end at 12:30 p.m. so we could keep the same time for the ship's transit of the Panama Canal the next day, we signed up for a ship's tour recommended by Deborah, our port lecturer, that offered a part-guided, part-on-your-own tour of the Old City. She thought that the nicest way to learn about the Old City was to wander around and take photographs of the colorful atmosphere and ornate architecture. After we had committed to the tour, we learned that a group of people in Cruise Critic were going into town on their own. Thanks to the skillful negotiations of Noemi, who speaks fluent Spanish, they commandeered an entire bus for 22 people at $12 each that took them to almost all of the places listed plus the Conventa de La Popa monastery built on the foundation of an Indian temple that sits on top the highest point in Cartegena. They even bargained for emerald jewelry. What a deal!

However, our tour was great, thanks to our guide David, who pronounced his name Da-Ved. He told us that Cartegena experiences two seasons, rainy and dry with January being in the dry season, and two temperatures, hot and hotter with today being hot. No one ever perspires on David's tours but instead pours out "holy water." This city with 1,200,000 inhabitants has 11 percent unemployment so the vendors are very aggressive. More than 30 percent of the population does not make the minimum wage and are classified as the poor living in poverty. David recommended that we negotiate a price of about 1/2 what a vendor originally asks. He also warned us to avoid the guides who would tell us that their services were free and then inform us that we owe them $40 at the end of the free tour. If we needed directions, we should ask a police officer. On the motorbikes that are often used as taxis, it is best to ask for service with no air conditioning because the air conditioning is 100 miles per hour. To keep track of us, he gave us name badges with "My name is David."

When we stopped at the fortress for a photo opportunity, David told us that the main reason it was built in 1533 was to protect the gold, silver and emeralds that were found in Peru and brought to Cartegena for storage before being shipped to Europe. The origin of the name of the
bay, which then became the name of the city, is its similarity to Cartegena Bay in Spain. The complete name of the city is Cartagena de Indias because the settlers assumed that they were in India rather than a new continent.

The Old Town, a completely walled city with its original wall, has only 12 traffic lights but the drivers seemed to ignore them thinking they must be Christmas decorations of red and green. David's traffic lesson for us was to look to the right, look to the left and then go for it! Also, if we wanted to purchase any fruit, we should be sure that the vendors peeled it in front of us or the fruit may have been peeled yesterday. Because the churches were the tallest buildings in the city, they had lookout towers to help guard the city. The sundials on the buildings are extremely accurate when the sun is shining.

The major square in the city is named after Simon Bolivar, the George Washington of South America. His dream of giving liberty to all the countries of South America unfortunately died after his death at the age of 47, at which point he had liberated five countries. The history of Cartegena is divided into three periods: Spanish Domination; Liberation that occurred twice on November 11, 1811, and October 10, 1821, in between which the residents paid dearly with the death of 6,000 people and most of the survivors emigrating to other other countries where they died rather than surrendered; and the Republic.

The two things that Cartegena wants to forget are the Inquisition and slavery. In the Museum of the Inquisition are replicas of the instruments of torture because the citizens wanted to rid the city of those two tarnishing marks. However, that knowledge did not stop us from touring the museum again. The Inquisition was established by the Catholics who executed people whom they thought were suspicious and accused them of witchcraft. If a person weighed more than 70 kilos, he or she had the devil inside. If a person weighed fewer than 40 kilos, he or she was a witch who was light enough to fly. Potential witches and warlocks also were asked 33 interrogation questions. We put Punxsutawney Phil on the scales and were certain that he weighed less than 40. We also took many photographs of him with instruments of torture. I had Ken stand behind the guillotine and said that I would yell, "Cut," and then take his picture. He refused to put his head in it. In the beautiful courtyard with a variety of trees behind the museum was the La Horca for hanging. We also admired the painting by Ernesto Recuirco of Ken in a former life as an executioner.

We walked back the street to the wall of the city where Ken climbed the stairs so he could view the ocean. Because the first step was so steep, I decided to look through one of the holes in the wall and was rewarded with a nice view of the beach. Then we walked back to the cathedral to meet our fellow passengers and negotiated with a vendor who had approached me when we started our self-guided tour for several necklaces of what he promised was black coral and genuine, uncut, semi-precious stones. He told me to remember him by his cap with a Canadian maple leaf. If a vendor tells you to find him or her on your way back, don't worry because that vendor will find you! We cannot guarantee that the black coral is not glass beads and the pearls are not plastic but the necklaces do make nice gifts for friends.

Our bus took us back to the ship through the new town, where 85 percent of the population lives. It is a modern city with skyscrapers and shiny new office buildings. We learned from our fellow passengers who had not visited Cartegena is many years that they remembered it as a dirty, back-woods town that was rather scary and were surprised how the new mayor had cleaned it up. David explained that the wrought-iron fences in front of many homes were not to keep the burglars out but were for decoration.

That afternoon, the Pacific Princess hosted a meet-and-greet with a champagne toast for all passengers returning from the 2011 World Cruise. We are 44 or 45 strong. It was great to get together with everyone again. The party was crashed by a woman whom none of us knew who was on the 2008 World Cruise and thought the invitation was for everyone who had ever gone around the world. We feel very lucky to be back on board for a third trip around the world!