Day 4: Cartagena, Columbia

We’re not big fans of doing tours through the cruise line, with big groups, having to cater to the slowest pace, not in control of when you’re “done”, and straining to hear the guide over a bunch of yapping. However, with the ports we are visiting on this cruise- and the time the tours take - we opted to tough it out with ship excursions to guarantee we were back in time and for safety reasons.

Yesterday was our first port stop in Cartagena, and our tour was called Quintessential Cartagena- a walking tour of some of the city’s most famous areas. Sounds tame, right? Dear reader, it was not 😂😳

We got off the ship and boarded a bus with 30ish of our fellow sailors and headed for Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, the largest fort in South America. Off the bus we got, into the 90 degree heat and humidity, and were told we were climbing to the top

Once our whole group made it up there we got to sit in an air conditioned room (thank goodness) to hear the story of the fort and its importance to Columbia- which was really interesting.

On the way down from the top, the guide took us through the strategic tunnels used at the fort. Unfortunately for Shawn, he is much taller than the average Colombian soldier for whom they were built.

Back to the bus and on to the walled city for a walking tour of old town.

We toured the old Spanish government buildings and heard our tour guide’s version of the origin of the term Black Friday, which was horrifying (and according to our research, maybe not true.) Slaves were sorted by price and sold accordingly- tall men with all their teeth and attractive women were worth the most. Once a year, on a Friday in November, there would be a 1/2 price sale for the slaves who had not sold yet.

After that sobering information, we headed to a museum and the oldest neighborhood in the town, where indigenous people still live and make beautiful art

We also had a stop at a hotel for empanadas and hibiscus tea. We were all wilting at this point and ready to get back to the port. Also notice I’m not wearing my jewelry anymore in the last photo- our guide had me take it all off for safety.

Our final stop before getting back to the ship was a bird and monkey sanctuary. Easily the highlight of the day, even though I almost got beaned with a papaya husk that a monkey tossed down from his branch.

We got back to the ship a sweaty mess, but managed to get cleaned up to celebrate our wedding anniversary.❤️

Today we are docking in Colon, Panama, and have a jungle excursion with a nature guide to see local wildlife. Wearing more sunscreen, bug spray, and deodorant for sure. 😂

*Editors Note: I did this post all on my phone with the slowest internet connection possible, so please forgive any formatting issues 😩