We finally made it to Cartagena, Columbia, South America.
It is just about as far from Merna to Miami as it is from
Miami to Cartagena - That’s a long way south!!
Once before we were here and did the tourist type of things
and this time, we booked a private to the Bazurto Market for us and also Barb
and Tim.
It was 86 degrees when we went out and it was very, very
hot. We are so close to the equator to
make it uncomfortable to walk very far in the direct sunlight.
When you leave the ship, you have to take a shuttle bus to
the start of the port and walk through a really nice bird and animal sanctuary
with lots of Parrots, Monkeys, Peacocks and Flamingos. None of them are caged so it is really neat.
We took a short cab ride to meet our guides. The tour is sponsored by a non-profit
organization and the two guides were very nice.
One was a lawyer and the other
Basically, this market has everything and it is a labyrinth
of stall and if we didn’t have a guide, you could easily get turned around and
lost!!
For anything you wanted to get fixed, there was a craftsman
to fix it for you. We watched a metal
mechanic make duck work all by hand. We
listened to their local music and they gave us a CD to take home. We went to a traditional Colombian healing
center where they used all natural plants to cure “anything”.
We tasted some very different fruit and they made a fruit
drink for us.
We then went to a restaurant in the market that was featured
on Anthony Bourdain’s TV show to have lunch of fish and several kinds of rice
and ??.
The final part of the tour was the produce, meat and fish
markets and they were amazing.
There is no refrigeration and he meat and fish are just sitting
out in open air stalls!
Then our guides took us out of the market and back to the
ship where we again walked through this amazing entry to the port with all the
birds.
After cleaning up we met everyone on the back of the ship
for lunch. While we had eaten in the
market, it just seemed to eat again on the ship – it was there, why not??
After lunch we went back to the cabin to relax before going
out for the evening.
The show in the theater tonight was called “big Band &
Broadway” and it was very good.
After the show we went to Blu and had a wonderful meal.
Then it was to the casino where Barb and Ed each lost a
little.
Tomorrow we arrive in Aruba at 4pm for an overnight stay.
Nite – Nite from way south.
