CARTAGENA, COLUMBIA

We had the near perfect sail from Aruba to Cartagena, Columbia.  DDW (Dead Down Wind) for 400 nautical miles.  The winds were constant between 15 and 20 knots.  You gotta love that !  The only downside, no fish.  

The Magdalena River is the principal river of Columbia.   It is 949.5 miles long.   It flows into the ocean near the city of Barranquilla.  You can see with the naked eye, a line of fresh green water and blue ocean water.  The fresh water can be seen 12 miles from shore.  While sailing thru the ocean and fresh waters, we noticed how calmer the seas were in the green waterway or was that just an illusion?

GREEN FRESH WATER VS BLUE SALT WATER

As we were approaching the Boca Grande entrance at 5am, we saw an amazing amount of tall buildings.  This is the Boca Grande area which is a neighborhood with many condos, extensive shops and hotels. 

BOCA GRANDE

During the 1700s, the Spanish built an underwater wall at the entrance of the Boca Grande channel.  This was to force the English to enter at the Boca Chica entrance where the Spanish had 2 forts they could shoot from.  Today, a 100 foot gap in the wall was created and is marked by flashing red and green buoys.

We anchored off of the Club Nautico marina and to the other side of us are Columbian Navy ships and three submarines.  This anchorage wasn’t the best as there are numerous boat taxis running all day long creating much wake.  Since we are anchored in a large commercial port, the water is less than desirable.  Soon, we’ll be going to the island where the water is crystal clear.

SUBMARINE

El Centro, as it is known in Cartagena, is the Old city or the Walled city.  It is a heavily-fortified Spanish town that was the key strongpoint of the Spanish Empire.  The city is protected by thick stone walls that took over 100 years to build.  It contains plazas, churches, narrow streets, balconied houses and monumental buildings in admirable states of preservation.  There are numerous restaurants for all tastes and lots of good shopping.  Beware!  We saw a street food vendor sharpening his knife on the edge of the sidewalk then using it to cut the food….be selective about your street vendors!

VILLA SUSANA

CLOCK GATE

KGB BAR.  EVERYTHING RUSSIAN

MADE BY AN ARTIST FROM PARIS WHO DONATED THEM TO CARTAGENA

PALENQUERAS.  DRESSED AS THEY DID BACK IN THE DAY SELLING FRUIT

LA GORDA

Every day was stinking hot.  I’m talking about 34 Celsius (93.2 F)with 70% humidity hot.  With the heat index it feels like 46.8C (116F) .  Finally, after 6 weeks with no rain, it poured so we jumped on the deck and jumped up and down like kids.  We cooled off nicely. 

SMART CAT COOLING OFF ON A FREEZER FULL OF ICE CREAM

FINALLY, RAIN

We visited the Castillo San Felipe Fort which is the largest Spanish fort in all of the Caribbean.  There are several underground tunnels.  We found one in particular that was quite steep and we could never find the end as there was 6 inches of water on the ground.

CASTILLO SAN FELIPE FORT

VIEW OF BOCA GRANDE FROM THE FORT

CAPITAN TIM

ONE OF THE MANY UNDERGROUND TUNNELS IN THE FORT

In the district of Getsemani, we found a street with numerous hostels, cheaper but very good eateries and the famous Café Havana in which Hillary Clinton, while secretary of state had a diplomatic event there.  On a Saturday night, Tim and I went here to listen to a Cuban 10 piece band and dance salsa until the wee hours of the morning (the band only started at 11:30pm).

Another famous bar is called Tucandela.  This is where Obama’s secret service agents got drunk and had prostitutes entertaining them.  It was quite a scandal.

One more drinking hole I must mention is called Donde Fidel.  They play good salsa music whereby many locals dance in the aisles.  Unfortunately, the music is extremely loud.  You might as well stand outside and dance where there is more room.

We had a most delicious lunch at the Cevicheria (Calle Stuart, 7-14 / www.lacevicheriacartagena.com  / tel 312 209 6301).  Anthony Bourdain made one of his TV food episodes at this restaurant.  I want his job.  If you never saw his show, it’s called “Parts Unknown”.  He travels around the world to taste local food.  They talk about traditions, some history and he’s always with locals.  It’s my dream job.

SQUID SANDWICH ON A BAGUETTE

ANTHONY BOURDAIN

There are several local restaurants that are very affordable and delicious.  There will be mostly locals at these restaurants and very few if no tourists at all.     

SALAD WITH AVOCADO, MIXED MEAT AND PLANTAINS FOR ONLY $5US

I gave this street artist our boat card and asked him if he could paint Alpenglow.  He was very happy to oblige.

We visited the gold museum and the Emerald museum, both next to each other.  Columbia has the most beautiful emeralds in the world.

GOLD EARRINGS AT THE VAULTED MUSEUM

One must always taste the local beer

THEY CALL THIS AMBER BEER, RED BEER.  VERY GOOD

On our walk to and from our boat and the old city, we often saw parrots and many species of birds.

INFORMATION FOR CRUISERS:

-         Navigating: If you want to take the Boca Grande entry to Cartagena Bay, it is well marked with red and green simultaneously flashing buoys.

-         Cartagena Bay: The water in the bay is dirty and we don’t recommend swimming here.  Expect your anchor chain to have black mud on it when pulling up.  It is a very busy bay with many local boat taxis and pleasure boats which cause a lot of wake.  Expect loud music at night for a short period of time when tourist boats pass by.  Look out for some fireworks !

-         Club Nautico:  Good dinghy dock however they ask that you don’t lock your dinghy.  That said, it is gated with a security guard 24/7. 

It has a nicely air conditioned self serve or service laundry with folding table for 10,000COP a load (self serve).  It also has 2 couches and a TV.

The club also has a restaurant and has shower facilities but not air conditioned.  Free Wifi is just ok.  The marina is very busy, med moorings with lots of surge.

-         Library:  There’s a large library with good Wifi in the Centre of town.

-         Exchange rate:  As of April 2016, the exchange rate was approximately… $1 us to 3,000cop.

-         Taxi:  There are many, I mean many taxis.  A ride from Club Nautico to the old Colonial city is 6,000cop ($2us).  However, you can walk which can take about 20-25 minutes one way.  At night, taxis cost 8,000cop.

-         Clearing in:  At the Club Nautico, go to the marina office and ask to clear in.  They called an agent for us which arrived soon afterwards.  He charged us $30us up front then another $90us when we leave.  You may need a temporary importation document which would cost $100us if you stay beyond a certain amount of days.

-         IGY marina in Santa Marta:  We heard from other cruisers that because the marina is near a coal mine, if the wind is coming into the marina, you will get black coal dust on your boat.

-         Isla Rosario:  A cruiser friend of ours went here in April 2016 and said that the coral reefs are all dead and all is grey.  There were no other cruisers there.

      -    FREE TOUR:  This tour lasted 2 hours.  Our guide Edgar was great.

-         Santa Marta:  Beware when taking a 1 day tour bus from Cartagena to Santa Marta.  Cruiser friends took this 4 hr trip.  They drove thru the old city and then got dropped off at a beach and back they drove 4 hours to Cartagena.  They were disappointed and surprised to have been dropped off at a beach rather than in the old town.