Colombia-Joyas y Cafe Day 11
Colombia-Joyas y Cafe
Day 11 - Thursday, April 3, 2014 - Tour and Explore San Felipe Fortress; Emerald Museum; Free Time; Carriage Ride to Our Farewell Dinner
We got an early start on the sun and heat today. Katty was at the hotel to meet us at 8:00 and José was there to take us to the San Felipe Fortress.
On the way to the fort we saw the famous statue of Catalina, an Indigenous woman who acted as an interpreter for Pedro de Heredia, the Spanish founder of the city. The prizes in the famous Cartagena Film Festival, held every year in Cartagena, are shaped like the statue.
The Spanish built San Felipe fortress during the precolonial era to protect the city from pirates and invading armadas. It was constructed in 1536 and expanded in 1657 in a prime location to protect the bay.
We walked along the ramparts and through the tunnels of the fortress. When we got to the gift shop Gennie showed the proprietor the bracelet she had purchased four years ago and wore again during this trip.
He was very happy to know we had been there before and Vic talked with him about the 40 years he has worked in this gift shop. He gave Gennie a Colombia flag pin and thanked us for coming back to the fortress.
It was 9:30 when we finished our learning and discovery of the fortress. Katty took us to another neighborhood, Getsemani. This was once the home of the independence movement lead by Pedro Romero.
Fiercely independent, the people of Getsemani have been pushed out of their single story homes and now boutique hotels or other exclusive shops are working their way into this once residential neighborhood.
We made several stops; in front of the Trinity Church, at Well Plaza to see the sculptures by Alberto Samudio, and then at the private home of Gladys who invited us in to see her beautiful plants and the menagerie of over 50 birds. There were parrots, parakeets, cockatiels, cockatoos, as well as several more small songbirds.
Edgar and Katty offered us a drink of a local red soda called Kola Román. People of the Caribbean region prefer this soft drink and we all agreed it was very good, almost like a strawberry soda.
From the Getsemani neighborhood we traveled along the peninsula to Bocagrande, an area we had passed by last evening. The modern homes and high-rise apartments might as well have been in Miami, the white gleaming marble and concrete were so similar.
In this area we visited the Joyeria Caribe Emerald Museum. Juan, our guide explained the process of mining emeralds. When the Spanish came to the new world looking for El Dorado, they found that the Indigenous people prized this magnificent green stone.
From the replica mine, to the workshops, and finally to the show room, we learned of the value and prestige of emeralds. None of our group bought anything, but there was no pressure and as soon as we completed the tour, we drove back to the hotel.
The afternoon was on our own to explore the city. We went out and walked to the Exito large supermarket and walked up and down the aisles just looking at their produce and dry goods.
We spent the heat of the day working on the photos and the journal and then at 3:00 we met with David Romero, our guide from our last visit in Cartagena. We went to a coffee shop and had a Limonda con Coco and caught up with David and his OAT adventures.
At 5:30 we went down to one of the meeting rooms and had a birthday party of Jim and our wrap up meeting. There was a cake, with wine and party hats. We gave our impressions of the highlights of the trip and then Edgar showed us a slide presentation of the photos he had taken of us during the past ten days.
Instead of walking to dinner, two horse drawn carriages came to the hotel to pick us up. We had a ride around the perimeter of the old city that ended at our restaurant for the farewell dinner.
The chef of Monte Sacro came over to welcome us and thanked us for choosing his restaurant for our special dinner; our last night in Cartagena and our last evening in Colombia.
Edgar gave us our departure times for the morning; we have the early flight out at 6:00 back to Bogota and then to Atlanta before getting home late in the evening in Denver. We asked the front desk for a 3:45 wake up call.
Tomorrow will be our fly day home so we will post the final day of this adventure when we get home to Colorful Colorado.
Accommodations: Hotel Bantu - - - Meals included: B & D
To receive $100 per person off your first reservation with OAT, mention the following information when reserving your Overseas Adventure Travel Trip: Mr. Victor Garcia Customer #673062
OAT's - Colombia's Colonial Jewels & the Coffee Triangle
Comments
Post a Comment!Loved that carriage ride too - it was special!
Joyeria Caribe - Emeralds (1:13)
San Felipe Fortress
Getsemani Neighborhood
Cockatiels
Emerald Crystals
Watermelon Vendor
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