Friday, 16th August. At an AirBnB in Manga district, Cartagena.

Dennis advised, yesterday, that I had spent the morning trying to sort out accommodation and arrange a meeting with our shipping agent.

Good News – A meeting with our Shipping Agent

We went to visit Summit Cargo Logistics, our agent here in Colombia. Our taxi driver had trouble locating the address. Fortunately, we always have our destination on Google Maps, so we were able to help him out. It was quite a convoluted journey. Then he wanted 50,000 pesos. Last night we had come double the distance for 25,000, so an argument ensued. We finished up paying him 25,000.

Finding Summit Cargo’s office still wasn’t easy. There was no visible signage on the building we were at. We went inside and asked the door man. He raised 2 fingers, so we presumed it was the second floor. Trying all the offices, we found life in the one at the very end of the corridor, only to be told we were on the third floor. Obviously, the first floor here is the ground floor.

Once on the correct floor, we found Summit Cargo’s office and met out contact, Josue. Fortunately, his English is good and we sorted out all the necessary photocopies of our documentation. We then established only one person was allowed to enter the port for the container unloading. This had to be Dennis, as he is the one with the mechanical knowledge to reconnect the battery etc.

This caused a small hiccup. Poki, being an English vehicle, is registered in my name. If Dennis was to be the one to claim her, I needed to sign a Power of Attorney to enable him to do this. Josue prepared the document, then we had to go to the Notary’s office to get it signed. 

Bad News – Losing Dennis’s camera

While all this administration was going on, Dennis wanted to show Josue, a photo of the vehicle then suddenly realised he didn’t have his camera. He had left it in the taxi! Putting it on the seat while he tried to direct the driver with our phone, or during the argument over payment, but getting out without it. He has had this camera throughout our travels and I knew he was very upset to lose it.

The Notary’s office was packed and I feared it would take ages. However, many people were just sitting around waiting. There were 3 desks, but just small queues. We went to the first and had our passports copied, our photos taken and our signatures recorded. Then we were told to sit down, while our papers were passed to a more senior looking lady, at the third desk. She called us after a few minutes and presented us with a bill for 18,000 Pesos. About £4.50 or NZD9.00. Then instructed us to sit down again. Finally, after another 5 minutes, we received the signed document.

On our return we stopped at a supermarket and stocked up for a few days. Our host,  Alejo, confirmed we could stay until 28th. This meant paying him for another 9 days. He said he would prefer cash, rather than us booking through the AirBnB system. 900,000 Pesos. It sounds an awful lot, but is around £20, NZ$40.00 per day. 

I have also booked us a further 2 nights at an iOverlander recommended address. It’s more expensive but has parking and is often used by overlanders shipping their vehicles in or out of Cartagena. The owner, Fezal, speaks good English and is apparently very helpful. Plus it is close to the port. I have booked 2 nights here. Hopefully, we will be able to collect Poki, after Customs have inspected her, on 28th, can put the boxes etc back on the roof, provision her on 29th and be off on the 30th. Fingers and toes crossed!

 

Today’s Activities

We needed at find an ATM for cash. We also needed some exercise as we have been very sedentary of late. As we didn’t visit the old town during our previous stay in Cartagena, we set off to do that. About 25 minutes walk. There was a bank, very conveniently, almost opposite our AirBnB. Great, but the ATM was devoid of cash. It seems a common problem here. Carrying on towards the old, walled city, we stopped to take shots of some birds . (I have given Dennis my camera as I rarely use it, taking pictures with my phone).

Mum..or dad with chicks.

There is magnificent Spanish Colonial architecture throughout the old city. The streets were busy with tourists and locals. We chatted with a very friendly policeman, who welcomed us to Colombia. It was extremely hot, 33 degrees with high humidity, so we would try and find shady spots to stop and drink water. Bolivar Square was welcoming with tall palm trees and flowers and yet another statue of Simon Bolivar, overlooking the Cathedral.

Photos are a selection from today’s old city visit.

A lovely guy.

Colonial buildings

Colombian and Cartagena flags flying side by side.

Locked up cathedral.

Exotic fruits

On the way back, we visited another supermarket, with an ATM, our by now, third attempt. Brilliant, it gave me a million Pesos. Some commodities are hard to find. Pepper being one we had struggled with. (Dennis can’t live without it!) By now we were seriously overheating and had run out of water, so stopped for a drink in a cafe. Looking up we saw it had started to bucket down with rain. Waiting a while, it eased off and we started walking back. It was actually cooling and pleasant with a few drops of rain. 

• Footnote. Re the picture of the bird nesting with chicks. A couple of days later, the tree was gone and no sign of the birds. I suspect the wood would have been harvested for fires..:(

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