Equipo Williams

We ended up staying almost two weeks in Cartagena.  The shipping process is slow, with lots of waiting for documents and inspections and for large metal boxes to be moved from one place to another.  As far as places to wait for things to happen, it was a great place to be stuck.

Cartagena is one of the oldest colonial cities in the Americas, and the fortifications that surround it represent about 200 years of work from the mid-1500s to the mid-1700s.  The port was an important port for the Spanish Empire, with silver flowing out and slaves flowing in.  During that time, the town was attacked repeatedly by buccaneers and the English.  Growing up in Georgia, I learned about the War of Jenkins’ Ear between Britain and Spain, mostly because Georgia was on the border between Britain and Spain at the time and there was fighting there.  I had filed this away as some dumb Georgia thing because in later life when it came up I was the only person who seemed to know about it.  Well, the other major theater of operations was the Caribbean, including a British attack on Cartagena in which the British almost took the city but were ultimately repelled. Had the British succeeded, and given Spain’s declining fortunes at the time, it is likely the history of South America would have unfolded quite differently.

The upshot of all those pirate attacks is a beautiful colonial city surrounded by walls and fortifications.  We spent a lot of time just wandering around the city and looking at the architecture and museums, with breaks in cafes and restaurants to escape the heat.  The old city was really pretty: brightly colored houses, flowers growing everywhere, and plazas with cafes and old men playing dominos. I could have spent the entire week just wandering around, but Jessie and the kids felt that it was too hot for more than short walks through the city, so we ended up doing a little each day.

There were a few good museums, including a naval museum which told about the history of Cartagena as well as the history and current state of the Colombian Navy.  I think Sydney was ready to enlist in the Colombian Navy when we were done.

There is also a large fortress (Castillo San Felipe de Barajas) outside the walls that was built to defend the landward approaches. The best thing about this fortress was that many of the interior tunnels are open to explore, and we really liked getting lost inside the walls.  It was also cooler than it was on the walls of the fortress.

We made a couple of day trips out of town as well.  Before we dropped off the car, we went to the Colombian National Aviary and spent a great afternoon looking at colorful birds.  Some were captive, and some seemed less than captive, or maybe just fed.  There were also a lot of peacocks, which are not native to Colombia but are very charismatic.  The various parakeets, parrots, and macaws were definitely a highlight, and we stayed until nearly closing time.

We also did a trip via bus and boat to some islands and beaches south of Cartagena.  I’m reasonably sure at least one of the kids has written about that but I haven’t posted it.  Expect that next.