Yesterday, I signup for a bus tour. It is isn't exactly a bus but an open truck with a lot of bench seats. There must have been about 30+ people in the group. They drive around and pickup at many different hotels before the tour started and luckily I got on early and got a good seat. I was told ahead of time that the guide would speak English and this turned out to be true but I was the only one in the group that needed English, so I felt a little guilty always having it translated. For this reason, I didn't ask a lot of questions or I took his abbreviated version.
One place were visited was the old Spanish fort called Castillo de San Felipe in the historic part of town. This was built and maintained by the Spanish in about 1657. It was used like a bank because gold was brought here and kept for shipping out to Europe. At the top, you could see many different lookout posts, with cannons. Some places were like a tunnel for a secret passage out and built so you could see and hear anyone from the top but not from the bottom. I not sure how many years it was maintained. I do know that Cartagena was the first place in the Western World to free slaves. This was something I read before.
We also toured the oldest and narrowest streets in Cartagena. One place was a convent for cloistered nuns. This convent also served as an orphanage. Poor people would often bring their new babies here if they couldn't afford to keep them. Because it was a cloistered order, the transfer was done by way of a revolving drawer. The mother would place the newborn in a small box on one side of the wall. Then the box or drawer would be rotated to another side of the wall in another room. There the nun would take the baby, so no one saw each other. I am not sure how many children were brought here.
I met another young couple on the tour. They were with their one year old son. We enjoyed trying to communicate but they were very friendly by taking photos of me, helping me buy a special gift for a friend, and buying water for me. So far, I don't have any fear of walking around most anyplace. I not sure why Colombia has this bad image, but most seem quite honest and helpful. A good example was yesterday on the tour. When we got off to tour the castle, I left my Nike backpack on the bus. When I got back, I immediately noticed that the bag was gone. Then, I started to think what was in it. I decided not much and that I should have taken it with me because their are really no doors on this bus and they didn't say I could left it. Well, just as everyone returned and the bus driver was about to drive to another location, he reaches down into his ice chest and pulls out my bag. I then knew that he had noticed that I had left it and if he hadn't put it in a safe place, it would have been taken. I tipped him when I left he tour. Lesson learned.
I think I got my zipper pulls fixed today. I asked a man at the hotel where to go and then he gave the taxi driver very specific instructions. It was in the old central part of town, near the central market. I made sure to ask him the price before he started to repair it. He said 200 sols-I had him write it down too. Well, after about 30 seconds, he was done. And I thought 200 was too little, so I gave him 200 sols, which is about 1 USD. From there I walked around enough to get lost. I have decided that no one knows how to read a map nor can I find a good map of the area. You really can't get lost her as you can always get a taxi and if you walk long enough you are sure to get back, as not that big an area. But it is quite hot, about 90 degrees I think and this is there winder. It threatens rain but i don't think it has ever happened yet. On my meandering, I stopped at a coffee shop. Simple orders like coffee can take a while so best never to get in a hurry. One older man was interested in talking to me so we struck up a conversation. He was Colombia but his father was Chinese. After learning all about his marriages and children and his new girlfriend in New Jersey, he wrote down and gave me his phone number and name. Of course, I had to do the same. I think he was about my age too.
I ended up walking all the way back to my hotel.
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