Cartagena, Colombia

Tuesday March 20

I woke up this morning and my face no longer hurt and my headache was mostly gone. I didn't even cough much throughout the day.

The Captain announced he was going to try and arrive early. At breakfast Greg mentioned that and the guy next to us commented that this Captain arrives early and leaves on time in every port unlike the last guy (Captain Bye Bye). We said, this Captain has been late in every port so far except for Cartagena. He has left early/late or on time at all ports as well. With this Captain we arrived over an hour late in one port, not sure how that equates to being on time. It was like we were on a different ship than the guy next to us at breakfast. LOL

I thought I'd share one of my pet peeves. People that pronounce Cartagena incorrectly. It does not have an ñ, but a hard n. Carta - hay - na, not Carta - hay - nya.

We have been here before and love the old walled city area. This time we are doing a Mangroves Tour with a short city tour for 4 hours and we planned to just wander around after the tour.

 sail in

 Cartagena - skyline

We did arrive about 30 minutes early, so we got off despite the tour not starting until later, but they were there and waiting for us so we got started early. I had booked it through Viator and expected a small group, but it was just the 2 of us. Guianza Express was the name of the tour company Viator used. One could have booked directly with them, but it was an easy way to book the tour.

Right at the port is a small bird park which is free to wander through.

Our driver was Eduardo and our guide was Londoño. (it does have an ñ)

We drove by the San Felipe de Barajas Fortress for a photo op.

 Then, we drove out of the city and drove on the beach until we came to the fishing village where we would start the mangrove tour. 

 I hope these aren't our boats.....

After some confusion on where to get in the canoes. (depends on the tides and how much rain has fallen since the landscape changes) We found Captain Manual and boarded our canoe.

these were our canoes

Off we went to explore the mangrove tunnels. We did see quite a lot of birds, though we didn't expect to see any new ones. We may have, but will need some time with reliable internet to research some of them. It was a relaxing canoe trip as Manual used a long pole (like in Venice) to move us quietly through the water. We saw where there was an enclosed space where they were breeding Tarpon. We saw Egrets, Kingfishers, Herons of all kinds and a couple of Orioles as well as some shore birds.

 Greg in front (the camera man)

 I'm right behind him with our guide & captain

 Great Egret & Snowy Egret

 we meandered through small mangrove "tunnels"

Snowy Egret

 a huge tour group showed up just as we were leaving

 the Captain served us ice cold coconut water

 then he cut up the meat to eat

Londoño took us on a short walking tour of the walled city. We asked him to leave us there so we could have some lunch and wander on our own.

I think we found the one bad place to eat in town as we ordered pizzettas (like pizza) and the cheese was awful. We did find some decent gelato to get the taste out of our mouths. We wandered around taking in the fine Colonial architecture and people watching until we decided it was time to grab a cab and head back to the ship.

 oh hell no, not until I get a dollar

 that's better, she got a dollar

 Common Ground Dove

 Eared Dove

 Common Ground Dove

 Caracara

 we walked through the bird park to get back to the ship

I started out feeling much better this morning, but by mid afternoon I was feeling awful again.

I called Dad at the Humboldt hospital, but was told he was transferred to Fort Dodge Hospital since that is where he had his surgery. (gall bladder) He really has had some awful complications. He's been in long term care for almost 5 weeks now and now he's back in the hospital. I never got to talk to him since he was in ICU and had just gotten there. Scott is going there this Saturday and we will get back there as soon as we can once we return and knock out a couple of our own medical visits, etc.

The Cuban singer was back tonight and we opted to have dinner at the Bayou Cafe & Steakhouse and skip the show. The food was very good and afterwards we went back to the cabin and I rested.

Tomorrow we have 1 sea day until Aruba.

Cartagena https://photos.app.goo.gl/aoMuamFJATy3Lz2h1