CARTAGENA COLUMBIA

Our arrival in Cartagena took place in the late afternoon. By the time we motored into the very large and well marked harbor it was dark. My only concern had been a shoal near the entrance of the anchorage, which turned out to have a large well lit monument on it. We chose to anchor near the container docks and a large dock that accommodated extra cruise ships. Once we checked into the country Gil and I set out to explore the the Old City. It is walking into the past in a Spanish city. Cobblestone streets lined with three story buildings with bougainvillea covered balconies cascading in pink and red. The city boasts a huge arts and music culture, while we were there they had a music festival and there were many art exhibits throughout the city. On any given day there is something of interest going on which is well advertised. Gil and I toured the naval museum and San Felipe Fort,who's fort walls extend around the old city. We also visited the museum of the Inquisition, to be accused of being a witch was not a good thing. When we arrived the Miss Columbia pageant was taking place. The Colombians take this very seriously. There is a week long festival with a huge parade, during which you have to arm yourself with cornstarch, powdered tempera paint, cans of foam and bags of water. All of these accoutrement's you use on all bystanders at the parade and all the open air festivities. Obviously old clothing is a must because you end up very decorated and drunk. Once the fanfare of the pageant was done the city moved on to getting ready for Christmas. During the preparation of this they have at least one to two day religious Holiday's every week and more festivals. Around this time Gil found out he had to travel back to Canada and I was left to babysit the boat on my own And let me tell you it was a hardship festivals,happy hour at a local Cantina every Wednesday, volleyball three times a week, plus an excursion to see a bullfight. Oh!, yeah did I tell you I drank sun downers on other boats every night. I barely had time to decorate the boat with Christmas lights and entertain old friends and the new ones I had met. Seriously the harbor was beautiful at night there were many sailboats that lit up their lights and with the lights from the city it was a fairyland. During Christmas week the boating community organized a Christmas Ball with dinner and dancing, Everyone dugout their evening apparel and traded in their flip flops for dancing shoes. Christmas Day was a little lonely with Gil still in Canada but I was invited to breakfast on Christmas morning aboard Caborat. Suzy and John made an exellant meal and then we all had to get busy with cooking our dishes for the potluck Christmas dinner we were having in Old Town at a hostil. The hostil is owned by the same woman who owns the marina that we used. Chandelara was gracious and let us use her facilities. She decorated it beautifully with flowers and candlelight. After that a group of us went to a Small town named Trabaco to celebrate New years Eve.