Cartagena
Despite arriving in Cartagena from Bogota late at night, the first noticeable difference was the heat. It’s very hot and more humid here. The day time temperature today is 31 degrees.
Casa Moraira.
We are staying at Casa Moraira, another boutique hotel in the old part of the city, Getsemani. The taxi driver struggled to find it in the very narrow streets. That doesn’t bode well for us finding our directions, I thought! The streets are really pretty. As well as bougainvillea and other flowering creepers, they are decorated with flags, paper lanterns and umbrellas etc. May be useful for finding our way?? We still managed to get lost this afternoon.
Symbolic?
Casa Moraira is very quirky. Lots of pot plants, drift wood, decorations made with sea shells etc. It was around midnight when we arrived. The night watchman checked us in and most interaction had to be conducted via Google Translate, due to our lack of Spanish and his of English. We were feeling pretty shattered, so really just wanted our bed and thought we could sort out wifi etc in the morning.
I am always surprised how different places appear in the daylight. The impression you have when arriving in the dark never tells the whole story. We emerged from our room for breakfast into an open air courtyard with a tiny pool. I had no idea it was there when we arrived In the dark.
The ladies serving breakfast also only spoke Spanish, although I did manage to communicate sufficiently to ascertain the receptionist started at 1000 and spoke English. This was the case and she has provided us with a map. Rather alarmingly she also advised, the area our shipping agent is located in, is an “unsafe” area.
Before we ventured out, I thought I’d better do something about finding us some more accommodation. As we are here for a month, at least, depending on when Poki arrives and how long it takes for customs clearance, we really need self catering, so we can keep costs down.
For the first time, I have used Air B & B and have booked a place for a few more days. If it’s nice, we can hopefully extend it. Otherwise we will have a rethink.
Fortress Castillo San Felipe de Barajas
Today’s sightseeing took us to Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, supposedly the greatest fortress ever built in any of their colonies by the Spanish in 1536. Climbing up in the heat was a bit of a marathon, but the views were worth it. I wasn’t so sure about some of the exploring we did in the dark and even hotter underground tunnels though. Rather claustrophobic for my liking!
A daunting site for any attackers.
Son of a …;)
In the bowels of the fort.
Chocolate Museum
After descending from the fortress we came across a Chocolate Museum. Rather an inappropriate name. It was entirely a retail venture. Beautifully presented though and we did indulge in two rather decadent, and expensive, thick chocolate smoothies.
Who would have thought…a Chocolate Museum!
Retail therapy for chocolate lovers.
Cocoa pods
Time to return to Casa Moraira and a respite from the heat, we thought. We wandered back into the old streets of Getsemani, only to find our map totally inadequate. Fortunately Dennis had taken a photo of our street sign or we would have been in serious trouble. Asking several locals for directions to our street, Calle de Lomba, they all looked blank and were unable to assist. Eventually we found a gentleman who gave us directions. A few minutes later he came running up behind us and corrected his instructions, taking us and showing us the way. Whew!!!
Street art.
Later in the afternoon we visited the pool. Not deep or large enough for any swimming, but still relaxing. It was like lying in a warm bath, but with extras, such as parakeets serenading us as they flew over.
For dinner we didn’t venture far. Just further along our street. The restaurant didn’t look very exciting, but they were welcoming and we had two very nice local dishes. During the course of our meal, we started to hear rumbling. This soon developed into a raging storm with incredible lightening, dramatic thunder and torrential rain. There was no way we could leave until this had passed. A good excuse to indulge in desert. Eventually the storm petered out and we were able to return to Casa Moraira without getting drowned.
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