The first port of call for this Panama Canal cruise was Cartagena, Colombia. The city was founded in 1533 by Spanish conquistadors, who soon realized the country was rich with emeralds and gold. However, smart pirates, like Sir Francis Drake, attacked, causing the King to build a 50 foot thick wall around the Old City. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984.
These days the city of over 616,000 people offers towering skyscrapers, vacation resorts and hotels, and high end shopping. Emeralds and fine jewelry fill the boutique shops, as well as their famous Juan Valdez Colombian coffee. And the Bocagrande district, where you can find all of this, is a mere 15 minute taxi ride from the pier.
Shore excursions had 13 tours, starting from 2½ to 4 hours for the price of $40 to $100. Most were sightseeing either by bus or boat, and only one left the city to see birds in an aviary on the island of Baru. Most all of the tours made a stop at Las Bovedas, “The Dungeons”, a former prison turned into row after row of handicraft stalls. If you cannot find souvenirs here, you will find them nowhere. Anyway, that is really an incredible amount of tours, since we will only be here from 7am to 1pm.
Arriving to the harbor on time at 7am, it was cloudy, for sure. But so heavily overcast that it made breakfast more like going to dinner. It got darker every minute we sat there. Slam warned us that he had a scratchy throat and felt a cold coming on. Too late, because we already have it. It has spread like wildfire the last few weeks, and finally caught up with us. It does not matter how many times you wash your hands, we believe the virus is in the air and circulating through the forced air on the ship. Hopefully it will be short-lived.
Shortly after getting our breakfast, the rain began to come down in torrents. So loud that we could hear it pounding the dining room windows. Thunder and lightning followed. At least the ship was getting a good bath. Speaking of ships, we are the only cruise ship in port today, but there was an American naval vessel docked across from us. From the promenade deck, we watched as there was a lot of activity happening with their crew. Good thing we took a few photos, because they pulled out after 10am.
The many buses were being loaded, as well as the local hop-on hop-off double decker covered bus. The bad news was that an ambulance was waiting for someone to transport to the hospital. Eventually a man was wheeled down on a stretcher along with two other guests traveling with him, we assume. Always sad to see.
By the time the rain let up, we left the ship by 9:30am for a stroll to the terminal shop and garden. We were most surprised to find that there were no umbrellas for the guests to borrow. That is something to remember if anyone does a shorter cruise, as we assumed these plastic umbrellas were available all of the time. There were two shuttle buses taking folks to the terminal as well.
It is always fun to see the collection of birds at this terminal. It is like a small jungle in a forest. Before we saw them, we could hear the familiar call of the resident peacocks, who seem to have multiplied quite a bit since our last visit. They were perched in the tall trees and climbing across the roof of the shops and restaurant. The first enclosure we saw was the pond and fountain where beautiful flamingos live. For friends, they have some black swans, native geese, and some ducks.
Passing through the store, we went out back to find we were being greeted with “hola” from all different sides. Guess what? It was coming from many colorful macaws, showing off their speaking skills. Walking through the different enclosures, we were able to walk in an aviary with toucans, pheasants, geese, and indigenous birds that were most tame. We searched for the one toucan who used to like to untie shoelaces, but he must have been relocated. There was only one anteater left, and he had an agouti, or a large guinea pig, as a buddy. Both of them were most unusual-looking animals.
We searched for the monkeys we know are always here, but they must have been hiding from the rain, which began to fall again. So we went inside the store to buy the hard coffee candies we love…even better than See’s. And of course, one of us happened to see a unique necklace and earring set made from gourds to add to the collection. And much more affordable than buying emeralds.
The dining room was opened for lunch, and a bowl of chicken noodle soup sure sounded perfect. Adding an appetizer, salad, and one meatball and spaghetti entrée was good. Captain Eversen came on the PA with his PM talk, but it was difficult to hear him due to people talking loudly around us. Most of his info was for tomorrow’s transit of the Panama Canal, which will be in the When & Where paper, also tomorrow. Wonder what the weather will be like? Anything is possible.
Actually, the rain had cleared, and we saw some sun coming out. The sail out of the harbor was warm and humid, but with a nice breeze. Finally, this sailing was again held at the Seaview Pool, where many guests were indulging with the drink of the day – a pina colada in a tall glass for $6.95.
As the Amsterdam left the harbor, some pelicans, gulls, terns, and frigates flew past us. Glad the rain had stopped, or else we would not have seen them. Staying outside until we were clear of the harbor and the outlying islands, we left when the ship entered the open ocean. It was smooth sailing for the remainder of the day.
Perfect time to work on photos and cool down in or room, the afternoon sped on by. Around 7pm, we went to the Ocean Bar to listen to the new band, but they were playing a different type of cabaret music with songs we did not know at all. And to top it off, the curtain had been hung for photo-taking, even though tonight was really a casual evening. We have never been bothered with the pictures, but the cute photographer we used to call Pretty in Pink, has gone home. She was replaced with an aggressive fellow who happens to be loud, you know, like trying to recruit people to take photos whether they want to or not. This never happened with the original group. There is still one nice fellow still here, but when he left for dinner, and was replaced by the other guy, we left too. Time to get ready for dinner anyway.
Back in the dining room, we had a nice quiet meal with soup and salads with a shared appetizer of lasagna. A little dessert, and we called it a day. The entertainer this evening was a repeat performance of Shirley Dominguez, a harpist that we enjoyed in the beginning of the grand voyage. Better for us to get some much needed sleep to wipe out the colds.
We did take the time to get some fresh air outside, like we usually do. On the horizon, we could see numerous lightning strikes behind the clouds. But also, there was the treat of seeing the almost full moon shining on the water.
Bill & Mary Ann
