More on Cartagena

 Important port for Colombia and surrounding regions. Large container ships transferring containers to smaller vessels. Two small naval vessels in sight in harbor. The size of US Coast Guard cutters. Significant police presence throughout our city tour. Fortress that held off a huge English assault made of coral, reminiscent of fortress of St Augustine FL. Quite hot even in mid-winter. Can’t imagine mid summer. But schools have two month December- January break. Go figure. (Further thought - school vacation is in the holiday/dry season. Of course).  City is a mix of great wealth and significant poverty with 13% unemployment per the guide. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Magical Moorea

Image
 Moorea appears out of the mists like a larger more mysterious version of Bora Bora, which it is. More mountain peaks, bigger surf on the reefs, much narrower channel to Opunohu Bay, which is where we anchored crosswise in the channel!   On the way in one passes the shuttered Intercontinental Moorea Resort, thatched roof cabins located overwater or crawling up the hillside. Sandy beach, places for kayaks and snorkeling,restaurants and beachfront bars - all shuttered, deteriorating plywood coverings over windows. Asked “Why?” our snorkel leader said that shortly BC the hotel workers went on strike, and then COVID came.  Asked “Why did they go on strike?” He gave a Gallic shrug and said “They are French; that’s what they do!” The openings in the reef (see the channel marker) or passes, are created naturally when during the rainy season fresh water floods down the narrow valleys in the mountains and rushes out to sea. The corals don’t like the change in salinity. When we arr...
Read more

Panoramic New Orleans

 In the afternoon we went on a panoramic bus tour of New Orleans, with stops at a cemetery and at the New Orleans Museum of Art, which is located in a huge park containing both quiet park activities and a botanical garden as well as football and soccer fields and a golf course. Imagine!  But the most interesting part of the trip for me was driving through the now restored areas that had been flood destroyed by Katrina  and seeing from the ground how far below sea level New Orleans actually is. One drives along a main road (not a highway) lined with modest two story houses and ahead the road rises as to go over a railroad or highway. You can’t see what it is going over until you get to the top, and you see that you are going over  a “drainage” canal, and the water level in the canal, which is at sea level, is higher than the second story of the homes that you just passed!  We didn’t drive through the Lower Ninth Ward, not sure why.  Our guide explained all t...
Read more