It's a warm balmy late afternoon and I'm sitting comfortably in the cockpit of Long Windid under our extended sun cover sipping an ice-cold bottle of Smirnoff Ice. From our slip at Club de Pesca Marina, I gaze across the anchorage towards the old Spanish walled city of Cartagena. Just the other night we walked over the bridge to the city for an enjoyable dinner with some new cruising friends. The imposing 16th century fortress surrounding the city are made of huge perfectly stacked corral and rock blocks. The walls were built to protect the gold and silver against attacks from the Pirates of the Caribbean, John Hawkins, Sir Francis Drake and Captain Henry Morgan, just to name a few. During this time, Cartagena had also been the principle point of entry from Africa for the slave trade into America. The historic town is filled with incredible cobble stone streets, many large tree-lined plazas, houses with balconies painted in bright colors, large monuments, and big beautiful churches with stone facades. The well-preserved town has tons of great restaurants, local shops, horse drawn carriages and fun festive music making it a vibrant place to explore. In the evening, tour boats full of half baked, sun burned tourist (mostly in their twenties), race back from the popular and picturesque Rosario Islands to continue the spirted fiesta at the city's bars and nightclubs. These tiny islands are only 20 miles away with stunning crystal-clear water and white sand beaches. Perfect for a relaxing Caribbean vacation getaway. The wake activity in the harbor of approx. 50 to 60 passing tour boats makes Long Windid dance in her slip for a couple of hours each evening. Although Cartagena is now a well-known tourist destination, the living expenses is half of what you would pay in the USA. Like Mexico, the people of Columbia that we have met are happy, friendly and very helpful. I could easily talk myself into staying in Cartagena for a longer period of time. But I only have half a vote.
I am now down to my last sip as the sun begins to set behind the city. How fortunate for us to be healthy and live this simple and carefree life style in a great country and amongst wonderful people.