Ports of Call Part 2 - Colombia and Ecuador

CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA:  The Old city is a Unesco World Heritage Site with its 400-year-old Spanish colonial buildings huddled along brick streets enclosed in a 2mile long stone wall.  One of the easiest ways to see it is via a horse drawn carriage (unfortunately my driver spoke only Spanish and I don't so I basically just nodded and smiled along as he "described" everything to me).  Cartagena is one of the most photographed cities in South America and it is easy to see why with its colorful buildings and beautiful churches.

The Main entrance is the Clock Tower Building. The walled city includes the neighbourhoods Centro, San Diego, Getsemaní and the modern part La Matuna. The oldest part of Cartagena is around Plaza Trinidad in Getsemaní.There are also museums such as the Palace of Inquisition, where the Spanish Inquisition tortured, judged and convicted men accused of crimes against religion. Almost all churches in the historic center are worth visiting, especially Iglesia de San Pedro Claver, in honor of the priest St. Pedro Claver, who was the first saint of the new world for his work with slaves; La Catedral, near Plaza de Bolivar and the Iglesia de Santo Domingo.  At the port itself, there is a store which is fairly large and some loose parrots running around.  Taxis are plentiful if you want to hire your own tour guide which we did (twice).  Mike took his own cab ride with a tour guide on our 2nd morning who took him to a friend's house for coffee -- I think he might have been looking for a rich American to help his friend get a wife/green card!!  Only you, Mike, only you!!!

MANTA, ECUADOR: This is clearly a fishing port, in fact we were docked right next to a fishing vessel which had come in to unload its catch of tuna. Using a crane and large nets, they started offloading tuna into trucks by 7am. Working nonstop, they finished about 10 hours later! There wasn't much to see right at the pier since we were docked in a commercial area but en route to our destination we passed a "boatyard" and saw a number of boats being built right on the beach in various stages of completion. This is not a beach for swimming as it is loaded with old fish hooks. Our excursion today took us a half hour away into the city of Monte Cristi which is where they invented (created?) the Panama Hat. In Monte Cristi, there is a small market featuring local handicrafts such as scarves, jewelry, carvings, and of course tons and tons of Panama and Pana-wanna-be hats. We also got to witness how the hats are made by hand. We bought a few souvenirs and of course Mike's official Panama Hat which I am happy we did because The UK's Financial Times Magazine recently reported that there may be no more than 15–20 years remaining for the industry in Ecuador, due to the competition of paper-based Chinese-made imitations, especially as a few hat sellers dominate and manipulate the market. Mike looks quite handsome and jaunty in his hat, (even though I look like Becky Thatcher from the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in mine!) and we had a great time with Wayne and Susan and a couple of Cubanos at the Pool Bar that night for the Panama Hat party!

GUAYAQUIL, ECUADOR: a friend who is involved with a bowling center here warned me in advance that this is not a place to be wandering around by yourself (which is true in pretty much every city we've seen so far in South America) so we decided to take a cab downtown (very very long ride from the pier) to Malecon 2000 which is one of the most visited places in the city. Since 1999, the Malecón has received over 5 million national and foreign visitors who marvel at and enjoy its beauty and safety. Malecón 2000 is divided into several sections:

- The central area, where we began our walk, is home the historic Civic Plaza with its sculptures: the Moorish Clock Tower and Rotonda Monument. The Guayaquil Yacht Club and the Naval Yacht club are located here too.

- In the south part is located the modern Bahía Malecón Shopping Center where you can buy clothes, eat, and even buy souvenirs. Mike enjoyed a delicious cup of cafe americano here at a generic "starbucks-type" of place for a price of 71 cents!

We never got as far up as the north section which has several plazas, water fountains, an antique Ecuadorian train, spaces for aerobics and games for children, a Planetarium, an anthropological Museum and a Contemporary Art Museum. Also, at the end of Malecon is the oldest village of Santa Ana. Instead we walked back through the very busy, very crowded streets to the Seminario Plaza where we saw them filming a commercial and got up close and personal with the Iguanas. Not watching where he was going, poor Mike almost stepped right on one. Our shuttle bus back to the ship was escorted by two armed policemen -- they don't mess around down here.