Boxing Day whizzed by in a blur of Shipping Admin at Cartagena Docks - many hours spent talking through glass screens and filling in forms! Luckily Santiago & Bellen are from Buenos Aires in Argentina and speak the lingo - plus both are fluent in English - Result! The process would have been nigh impossible without them!!
On the 27th we strolled through Old Cartagena - the inner Walled City, built by the Spanish in the 16th Century following numerous attacks on their most important Atlantic Port, including a raid by the infamous Pirate Sir Frances Drake! Colonial architecture within a fortress - walls 20 metres thick stretching 11km around the city - living History with architecture virtually untouched in 500 years!.
That's the Indian Princess India Catalina in photo 2 - daughter of an Indian Chief kidnapped by the Spanish in 1509, Simon Bolivar in photo 10 - El Libertador of Colombia and La Gorda Gertrudis - Fernando Botero sculpture in photo 16.
David's new Sombrero Vueltiao came in handy on this lovely sunny day where the temperatures hit 40 degrees!
Walked back to El Laguito (The Lagoon) along Carrera 2 - Cartegena's premier shopping street - and passed the Naval Base where David had to get photos of the Troops drilling plus the impressive Statue of a Soldier - 30 feet tall - and was promptly invited inside the Base to meet the troops and get close ups! That's an IMI Galil Assault Rifle by the way - standard issue to Colombian Armed Forces - designed by the Israelis and now manufactured in Colombia!
Amanda much more interested in the Old Style Buses - or Chivas - as ridden by Kathleen Turner in Romancing the Stone - filmed here in Cartagena!
Back at Mirador de Laguito Apartments we relished the Air-Con, had a swim in the Pool, and flopped on the sofa to enjoy a chilled Cerveza/SB and the skyline - storm clouds approaching!!
