Cartagena

ABOUT CARTAGENA:
Cartagena is one of the most historic cities in South America - legendary for both for its history and beauty. Various native civilisations have inhabited the area for thousands of years before the city was founded in 1533 CE by Spanish conquistador Pedro De Heredia - the settlement was named after the city of Cartagena in Spain, where most of Heredia's sailors were from. Having suffered a tumultuous past full of battles, raids, invasions, destructions and reconstructions, the city became heavily fortified, and massive defensive walls surround its narrow cobbled streets and colonial

buildings. The city is made up of various districts - the new town with its high rise hotels, apartments and nightspots, and the older colonial parts of the city. The old city is the main attraction for visitors, particularly the inner walled town which is packed with churches, monasteries, plazas and mansions.

I woke up this morning feeling very refreshed, sleeping all through the night until 7:15, when my alarm went off for breakfast. This included a lovely omelette with ham (tortilla con jamón) and fresh fruit.

We all then met in reception at 8:00 am for a 2 1/2 hour guided walk with JJ, our local guide who explained the sites and history, Cartagena. After the walk, I retreated to the air-conditioning of the hotel as the temperature was 33 and also high humidity. I used the time to use the internet to track down my bags and confirmed that they had already been moved from Philadelphia to Miami, waiting for

the same flight I had done the previous day. However, I could see that this plane had already been delayed by 4 hours; therefore, I decided to go to the nearby shopping mall and buy a new set of clothes and some toiletries as American Airlines said that would reimburse me for any expenses. Shopping in Columbia was quite the experience, and it was at the point that I realised that this was the first country I had visited that does not speak English. With some hand signals and broken Spanish and English, I was able to buy some essentials to get me through until my bags arrived.

I tracked the status of the flight for most of the day, and the flight became further delayed, until it finally landed 5 hours 35 minutes late, at 6:19 pm. It was at this point I had a bad feeling that given it was now late on a Sunday night, they might wait until the morning to deliver it, which wouldn't work as the tour was leaving at 7:30, and so the tour guide and I tried calling to ensure they would be delivered

tonight. Nobody was picking up, so we gave up as the tour guide was adamant that they would deliver them tonight. But sure enough, later on, I received a Whatsapp call to say they couldn't deliver them tonight as no-one was available. After discussions with Jazz, the truck was going to go near the airport tomorrow on our way to Tayrona National Park, so we will pick them up on the road.