On this cruise we had five stops and today was stop four of five. Cartagena Colombia.

Founded in 1533, Cartagena de Indias gained fame after the mid-16th century when great fleets stopped annually to take on gold and other products of northern South America for convoy to Spain. The city became a centre for the Inquisition and a major slave market.

Cartagena is a port city on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. By the sea is the walled Old Town, founded in the 16th century, with squares, cobblestone streets and colorful colonial buildings. With a tropical climate, the city is also a popular beach destination. Reachable by boat are Isla de Barú, with white-sand beaches and palm trees, and the Islas del Rosario, known for their coral reefs.

Today we took the hop on hop off tour to explore the city.   Except we didn’t do the hop off part. Lol. Too hot! We rode the bus all the way around the city and saw the sights. There’s lots of poverty and lots of street vendors. The street vendors are super pushy. They even came up to the bus to try to sell. We were sitting on the top level so we kind of got out of the line of fire. There was a flood in the city last year so there is still quite a bit of destruction.

After the tour they dropped us off in the parking lot and we had to go through a bird aviary to get to the shuttle to get back to the ship. We saw a sloth, peacocks, parrots, macaws, an iguana and an anteater. All in all, it was a great day! I highly recommend getting out and seeing the sights when you cruise to a new port 

Wish you were here