Cartagena Days 12 - 14


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South America » Colombia » Cartagena
December 1st 2010
Published: December 1st 2010
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After we had spent some time at the beach to recharge and get some clothes clean we moved West round the coast to Cartagena on the bus, it took 5 hours. The roads were flooded in part so it would normally be a quicker journey. Cartagena is a very old town (founded 1533) and historically was one of the most important ports in South America for slaves and technology coming in and gold and minerals returning to Spain. The original and important part of the old town was surrounded by a wall to protect it (after Francis Drake held the city to ransom in 1586) and has been very well preserved as a result and is now a UNESCO world heritage site. With time limited there we had a guide for the day, driving round the city in the morning and a walking tour of the old town in the afternoon. There are several interesting old forts and battlements to look at and one very big fort that was designed to protect the city from attack from the land. Our guide was very knowledgeable and told us lots about how the city had grown and its history. The first independence movement in Colombia began here with the overthrow of the Spanish for 4 years at the beginning of the 19th Century before the Spanish retook the city killing everyone involved in the revolution. It was a really interesting day and we felt that although we hadn’t spent long in Cartagena we had seen everything in the city including the new bits that have sprung up and an interesting inquisition museum.

We were staying in a very nice hotel right in the middle of the old city and managed to find places to eat different food to what we have become used to (meat, plantain, beans, chips & rice for every meal). It’s a lovely old town to wander round at night finding nice little bars to stop at, a little like Seville & Havana combined. It rained torrentially in the middle of the day and the roads turned to rivers for about an hour. Some entrepreneurial Cartagena residents put up make shift bridges using ladders and planks of wood across the roads and charge people money to walk across them, it was either that or get very wet legs and feet.

We were up very early to head back to Minca in time to meet up with Robert again and get transport to the Pro Aves El Dorado lodge about an hour and a half along a very bad road from Minca. It is the flagship Pro Aves lodge and reserve.



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