On our last day in the South Georgia Islands, we were given a choice. We could either replicate Shackleton’s route to the Grytviken whaling station, starting from Fortuna Bay, OR we could take a zodiac ride. You’ve probably guessed which one I chose, but in case you didn’t, here’s a visual.
Climbing into the zodiac
Boris, our cruise director, was quite specific in his description of the hike: “ It is about 4 miles long, and VERY steep. You will be ascending about 1000 feet. You can take water with you, but no food. And there are no bathrooms, so control your water consumption. Once you get dropped off, there is NO turning back, so be absolutely sure you can make it. The boat will pick you up at the whaling station”.
My interpretation, although he didn’t specifically SAY it, was “you could die”. And I probably WOULD have.
The start of Shackleton’s trail. The hikers are the orange and blue dots.
Despite his dire description of the event, 30 people signed up for the hike. After sleeping on it, six people changed their minds, so 24 of my cruise mates, including my hero Paul, (who helped me up when I fell, on an earlier hike,) and my kayak buddy, Marc (who is my age) made the trek.
They made it!
As for me, I went on an absolutely fantastic zodiac cruise, where we saw waterfalls,
Macaroni Penguins,
Here’s a close up of these adorable little guys
fur seals,
Equally cute, so they get a close up too.
and elephant seals
No close up for THESE guys
It was a perfect zodiac cruise. Once again, we were blessed with ideal weather. But wait, there’s more…
While at the Grytviken whaling station, we toasted Shackleton at his gravesite,
visited the museum,
Baby albatrossArtifacts outside
and were able to send postcards from the only post office we had encountered, so far.
We set sail for the Falklands in the afternoon, and spent the next two days at sea.
I’m not going to describe the seas as rough. Let’s just say I was extremely grateful for my patch.
As the young ‘uns would say, “O.M.G., the South Georgia Islands are AWESOME”!
Lucky me. I got to spend FOUR whole days there.
I had expected rain the entire time we were there, because I believed the weather reports, but we lucked out.
Yes, I DID get up at 4:45 AM, on the first morning to ensure we beat the drizzle. It was SO worth it. The King Penguins are also early risers, so the welcoming committee was out in full force to greet us .
As a bonus, we also saw elephant seals tussling. We later learned that it was because they were roughly the same size. Usually, they can visually determine which one is bigger, ( and thus the winner, who will get all the “girls”) so no need for contact sport. As Ella, our seal expert explained, elephant seals are lovers, not fighters.
Mostly, they like to “wallow” next to each other.
Some of us opted for a two hour, two mile hike, with about a four hundred foot elevation.
That it took two hours to cover two miles SHOULD have been the tipoff that this was not going to be a stroll in the park. But as Elvis once famously sang “ fools rush in where angels fear to tread”.
Those that know me, will instantly know which term applies to me. My reward? Seeing little guys like this one hiding out along the way.
We started at the beach, way, WAY below. Though the grassy part looked pretty benign, it wasn’t. It was very spongy, but looked deceptively solid. Then you stepped on it and SANK varying degrees. Still, I was glad I did the hike. Not bad for a soon to be 77 year old!
The hardest part, by far, was the descent. Let me tell ya, the next day my thighs were screaming “ What were ya thinkin”? This was an ARDUOUS hike. (My friend Jean will get that reference!).
Our afternoon zodiac cruise was equally spectacular. the photo below just doesn’t do it justice.
So, when we were offered the opportunity to do ANOTHER hike on day 3, this fool ignored the pain in her thighs and continued to “rush in”.
Although the second hike was definitely not as “arduous” as the first, it was not without its challenges. We needed to cross a glacial stream both coming AND going.
Once again, it looked deceptively simple. Once again, it was not. You see, the glacial melt randomly deposited many different sized rocks in the stream bed. Some moved unexpectedly when you placed your foot upon it. That’s why members of the crew were standing in the stream to help us across. I was happy to “volunteer” to perform a VERY important safety drill. When I stepped on one of those moveable rocks, I pitched backwards, almost pulling one of the naturalists into the stream with me. Fortunately, the crew member behind me grabbed my butt and shoved me upright. Sadly, that memorable event was not captured on video. Instead, I offer some photos as an alternative.
The next excitement for the day was when a fur seal charged at me, with teeth bared. No video of THAT exchange either. But I DO have a photo of me with my two new friends, Dorothy and Karen.
I have so many fantastic videos, I could easily make your eyes glaze over and have you mutter “enough, already”. I’m a wildlife nerd, and for ME, I can never have enough of these charming creatures.
I LOVED watching these penguins “porposing” through the water:
One more video and then I’ll stop.
We encountered a bit of a “traffic jam” while waiting for the zodiac to return us to the ship.
I’m at the point in my life where if I think I’m not going to enjoy the experience, I’m not going to do it. Our last day in Antarctica ( before heading to South Georgia Islands) was one of those days. Riding in a zodiac when the sea is choppy, the sky leaden, with the wind blowing is definitely not my idea of a good time. Especially when I can watch the action from a warm, gorgeous ship. If this had been my first trip to Antarctica, I might have made a different choice. But it wasn’t, so I didn’t.
Unfortunately, Ernest Shackleton’s crew had no choice. After their ship, the Endurance, (that’s also the name of MY ship) was crushed by ice, they slowly made their way to Elephant Island. Most of the crew waited patiently for almost 5 months until Shackleton and his 5 companions could reach South Georgia to find help at one of the whaling stations.
That’s the reader’s digest version of Shackleton’s voyage.
Needless to say, their cuisine didn’t look quite like what we’ve been eating.
But I digress…back to Elephant Island.
I took the above photo from the ship. Those white dots that you see on the shore are penguins. They are certainly cute to watch, but I’ve already done that, and with another two weeks left on the cruise, I’m sure I’ll be seeing more.
It might not look rough, but remember, that video was shot from my balcony on deck 5. Why can you see two zodiacs containing only 1 passenger, you ask? Well those are members of the crew, standing ready to pluck someone from the frigid waters, just in case the seas started to REALLY rock n roll.
Compare that to the day before, taken from my kayak.
Now THAT experience was absolutely wonderful. What is not obvious from the photo was there were patches of surface ice. We had to break thru it with our paddles, which was a bit of a workout. A very NECESSARY workout, given the way I’ve been eating. Thank goodness for elastic waistbands!
I was very lucky to be paddling with an experienced kayaker, who was steering us through the icebergs.
Was kayaking the origin of the term “back seat driver?”
Marc was able to get us close enough to the nearby island so that I could get my first shots of Adélie penguins.
I was NOT as enthusiastic about the next activity, the polar plunge, but many of my shipmates were.
I figured once was quite enough. When Greg and I did it in 2011, we had to walk into the water, then return to the beach, and ride a zodiac all the way back to the ship. The 2026 version looked to be a whole lot better, given that the hot tubs and sauna were just a short elevator ride away.
We didn’t have a ship photographer capturing our moment, but Mike chose not to participate, so he was able to do the honors. My mother’s comment? “Mike’s the only one of you that has any sense”. Thanks, mom.
So let’s get back to 2026.
You don’t need to be on shore or in a zodiac to see wondrous sights. As we were traveling to Point Wild, we came across a massive pod of blue whales. Unfortunately, they stay mostly underwater, so the only way to know of their existence was spotting their “blows”.
This was as good as Icould get, but undoubtedly those with powerful lenses did a whole lot better.
I liked this photo because you can see the tiny penguins swimming alongside the blue whales.
The weather alongside Elephant Island changed yet again from the brief sunny interlude during our whale watch,
to a progressively cloudier and foggier setting.
That didn’t stop some of my more determined cruise mates from getting into zodiacs to see what they could see at the historic Wild Point. Me, I decided to hear about it at the evening recap.
We have made it through the Drake Passage and are spending 4 days on the Antarctic Peninsula before heading to the South Georgia Islands.
Here’s the visual that I frequently consult, because I’m already losing track of time.
Fortunately both my iPhone and camera date stamp all my photos so if I ever need to tell what I did when, I can always consult my photos.
One of our landings, at a gentoo penguin colonyPhotos of me by my new friend, Sue
There are 140 passengers aboard our ship. Because Antarctica only allows no more than 100 people ashore at a time, half of the group is on land, while the other half cruises around in the zodiacs looking for wildlife.
For efficiency in boarding and disembarking, the passengers are further subdivided into four groups of 35. I’m in the albatross group, which will be kayaking at 10:30 today. Because the kayaks hold two people, we all needed to buddy up. As luck would have it, my partner has his own kayaks back home in Massachusetts, so his skill level far exceeds mine. We all know THAT particular bar is REALLY low. Because he’s in the Gentoo group, he was all too happy to trade his 8:30 departure for my later one. As a bonus, I’ll bet it will be warmer then.
I hope to be able to take a video of that experience, but while I am trying to work off the great food and even greater wine on the gym’s exercise bike, I’ll share some of prior days photos.
We spotted this seal on one of our zodiac cruisesThe view from the bridge. Passengers can hang with captain and crew whenever they want
Well, I TRIED to insert videos of the whales that we saw from the bridge, the penguins and birds from our zodiac cruises, but WiFi isn’t cooperating, so I’ll do that when I get home.
It’s pretty amazing that I’m able to have ANY connectivity here at the bottom of our planet.
Every evening we gather in the lounge for a recap of the day’s activities. Of course, because the talk is in the lounge, we are a very jolly audience, because we can have whatever beverage we desire, and quantities are not limited.
There are so many screens scattered throughout the lounge, every seat is a great seat!
I have time to share a couple more shots before I need to gear up for my kayak adventure.
I SO wanted that seal to pick his head up!
Bones from a blue whale from back when whalers were hunting them
Our flight to Ushuaia took off at 11:20, an hour and a half late. Okay, so maybe we got off to a bit of a rocky start.
Did we really need to leave the hotel at 7AM, to spend over 3 hours in a domestic airport that only had unappealing snacks? After we landed in Ushuaia, I realized it was truly a minor inconvenience, soon to be forgotten.
The above photo was taken on our 2011 trip, but the experience hasn’t changed at all. It was every bit as harrowing as the first time. We popped through dense clouds, in between the mountains, to make a bumpy, rather exciting landing.
But enough about the downside of travel. The Endeavor, our ship is exquisite!
While it was being cleaned and readied for our arrival, we had a late lunch, while we cruised thru the Beagle Channel on a catamaran.
I didn’t take any photos, because I knew I couldn’t top the ones from 2011. Today, 15 years later, I didn’t see a single seal, which made me sad. I hope climate change didn’t do them in—perhaps they were just frolicking elsewhere.
Everyone that I have met so far, both in the hotel and on the ship, is really friendly, interesting, and well traveled. I am delighted that I will have time to get to know many of them over the coming weeks.
The ship’s management very thoughtfully arranged for us single travelers to meet for dinner. Marc from Boston is the only man traveling solo. He doesn’t seem to mind being outnumbered.
So many people have asked me “ what do you do on a trip like that”?
Well, there is no shortage of activities. So far, I’ve missed the 7AM stretching class, and I haven’t made it to the gym or sauna, but I plan to take advantage of all of them really soon.
I HAVE attended the very informative lectures, such as this one on Seabirds. This lecture focused on petrels and albatross. Quite honestly, I don’t really care about the 126 different species! Fortunately, meither did the lecturer.
I won’t bore you with the details, other than to tell you that the way to differentiate between those two species is by the number of nostrils they have. If you want to know more, you have to either come on an Antarctica cruise or ask me yourself.
Tomorrow we expect to be clear of the Drake, and will be able to enjoy our first landing on Antártica.
When we traveled to Antarctica in 2011, we went via Santiago. This time, I am flying to Ushuaia through Buenos Aires.
My journey started in Newark. I was amazed at how empty Newark’s airport was. I left home slightly before 11 AM; by 11:50 I had checked my bag, been through security, changed into my Houston/Buenos Aires clothes in the Polaris lounge bathroom and was enjoying the excellent buffet.
My first flight was to Houston. Because I used miles and points to book my flight, I traveled business class for both segments. Let me tell ya, domestic business class isn’t worth it. International business class, however, DEFINITELY is!
I normally sit on the aisle, but for the Houston flight, I had a window seat. Sadly, when the flight attendant attempted to pass me my lunch tray, I managed to knock a full glass of red wine over myself and the very gracious man sitting next to me. But in my defense, the passenger in the seat in front of me had his seat all the way back, so the clearance was really tight.
As luck would have it, my friend Sharmon’s younger daughter, Sol flew from San Francisco to Buenos Aires and we both had a stop in Houston around the same time. We were on the same flight from Houston to Buenos Aires, so we hung out in the United Club. The time went by MUCH faster because we spent the two hour layover catching up.
I almost didn’t recognize Sweet Sol, because the last time I saw her, she had long blondish hair, no glasses, and wasn’t wearing a mask. She pretended not to notice I smelled like the frat house the morning after a wild party. But then again, stale wine doesn’t smell as bad as stale beer.
Because Sol holds dual citizenship, she was able to whisk thru passport control WAY ahead of me. It took over an hour for me to get thru. HELPFUL HINT: if you’re coming to Argentina, visit the bathroom BEFORE getting in the passport control line. Don’t ask how I came to that conclusion. Let’s just say I was jiggling a lot.
I’d been to Buenos Aires twice before, so I didn’t feel compelled to see Evita’s grave or the Opera House. Instead I figured I’d enjoy the beautiful hotel, and I certainly did.
Check out the rooftop pool:
The view was so spectacular, and the pool was so glorious, I used it on Friday AND Saturday.
My son Greg clued me in to the wonders of ChatGPT. So, when I was unable to find any cafes full of people having lunch outside near Alvear Art Hotel, I asked ChatGPT.
I ended up choosing a delightful cafe about a mile away, which allowed me to stroll thru some very interesting streets.
Waiting for the elevator before tonight’s information session, I met Leslie, another solo traveler. Like me, she’s a widow who is comfortable traveling alone. Her cabin will be across the hall from me.
We had a lovely cocktail “hour”. I’ll admit that our table was having so much fun, we had to be asked to leave! And yes, we closed the place down.
Probably a good thing because we have to be on the bus by 7AM tomorrow. I had hoped for a later departure because Buenos Aires is much closer to Ushuaia than Santiago. But nope. Same departure time as it was in 2011.
Who knows whether I’ll have connectivity once I board the ship, so I’m sending this off now.
Yes, indeed, I’m excited and thrilled that I have already discovered such congenial travel mates.
On our last day in Cuenca, we were free to spend the morning exploring on our own. I walked to the Pumapungo Museum, which is about a mile from the hotel, along La Calle Larga. I was wishing my buddy Elsie had taken the post trip with me, because she would have enjoyed the street art as much as I did. So Elsie, this one’s for you. No narrative, just visuals.
They even paint the poles!
I’m not sure why this art was defaced with graffiti. I thought there were rules.
If you like history, nature, handicrafts, museums, architecture, great restaurants, quaint coffee shops and shopping all within walking distance — come to Cuenca, because it has it all! Initially, I thought I could do one post for our three days in Cuenca, but I have since realized that’s impossible. So here’s episode one.
As usual, OAT has us staying in a strategically located boutique hotel. Once a private home for a large family, all the rooms are clustered around a central courtyard, which is now the reception area and restaurant.
Because this area was declared a world heritage site in 1999, the buildings have all been preserved, but many have been converted into hotels, restaurants, and shops.
One woman decided to rent her home, complete with all its furnishings; it is now a restaurant.
Before dinner, Lorena took us on a quick tour. What made this especially interesting was knowing this was how the former owner lived! Take a look at the opulence of just two of her rooms.
On our first morning in Cuenca, we enjoyed a walking tour of the city. Of course, the cathedral occupies a prominent spot on the main square. As you have probably guessed, the header of this post is a photo I took of the cathedral at night from the Negroni Restaurant.
My friend Jeanne always lights a candle for her husband whenever she visits a church, so I decided to light one for both our husbands. See that bottom row? My $1 coin lit that ENTIRE row of electric candles—sufficient to cover ALL the loved ones we both recently lost!
And yes, you read that last line right. I deposited a $1 US COIN. No longer will you lie awake at night wondering “whatever happened to all those $1.00 coins the US minted years ago that Americans refused to use”? We exported them to Ecuador, and from the worn looks of them, they are widely used.
During our walking tour, Lorena pointed out the entrance to the cathedral tower, so naturally, during our free time, I spent the $1.50 admission fee and climbed to the top. You can get a decent view of the square from the first landing.
Take a look at the umbrellas atop the building in the next photo. That’s Negroni Restaurant—it has great food, but it’s a bit of a challenge to find. Eric, Gail and I had dinner there on our “free” night. It took us a while to figure out you had to enter a clothing store, walk to the revealing women’s tops section, which is where the elevator hides out, then ride to the top floor.
I climbed all 162 of the tower’s spiraled stairs. My reward? This panoramic view of the surrounding area.
I pretended I couldn’t understand Spanish, so I ignored the sign that said “for your safety, seniors keep off” and claimed right up those metal bleachers.
SOME people might have noticed those menacing storm clouds, but my family won’t be surprised to learn I wasn’t one of them. Did I seek shelter? Go back to the hotel to get my umbrella or raincoat? I think we all know the answer to that.
Instead, I decided to support the local economy by buying gifts for friends and family.
So far, we had been unbelievably lucky with the weather. Up until Cuenca, the two times the heavens opened, we had been on the bus, and by the time we arrived at our destination, the sun was shining brightly. Not this time. I got SOAKED!
Cuenca gets most of its electricity from hydroelectric power, so last year’s drought had a severe impact on the city. When it rains, people here rejoice. So, of course I rejoiced along with them.
We have a flight tonight, so the next episode of Cuenca will probably be written at the airport…
By the end of Day 2 of our Ecuador post trip, we had arrived at the Hacienda Abraspungo, the second of our one night stays—not to be confused with one night stands—which if that’s what you were expecting this post to be about, you’ll be very disappointed.
The restaurant at the hacienda
For the remainder of our week in Ecuador, we will be spending three nights in Cuenca, then flying back to Quito for our final two nights.
Getting from Cartagena to our hotel in Quito was a whole day slog, not made easier by our stop at Bogota airport, where clear signage in either language was sadly lacking.
At Bogota airport, I managed to get separated from my fellow travelers, however I know enough Spanish to say, “please, can you help me? Where is the gate for the flight to Quito”. The bad part was the people I asked thought I was fluent, so they launched into this rapid explanation, using BIG words. Fortunately, when I told them I only knew a few words and understood Spanish like a 3 year old child, they switched to body language, which I have completely mastered.
By the time we arrived at our Quito hotel, around 8 PM, we were all pretty tired, so barely had enough energy for dinner.
Although we had two more transit days, they have been in a very comfortable, small bus. We made multiple, interesting stops along the way, and the scenery has been spectacular.
We were incredibly lucky to be able to clearly see Cotopaxi, the highest active volcano in Ecuador. Much like Mt Fuji (and me) it usually has its head in the clouds. Our excellent bus driver knew the exact spot for a great photo op and that’s what you’re looking at atop this post.
Our drive along the PanAmerican Highway was lovely. Did you know you can get from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego by driving its full 16,000 miles? We are only doing a short stretch, along the Avenue of the Volcanoes (there are about 250 volcanoes in Ecuador; fortunately most are inactive).
The countryside is beautiful, but I was unable to capture the grandeur of the mountains, volcanoes and rolling emerald colored hills from the bus. Too many reflections from the windows. Just imagine driving through the Rockies on a perfect spring day.
This photo was taken when we stopped to get a shot of Chimborazo, which rises 20,000 feet above sea level. I know, it looks a lot like Cotopaxi, but for us, it was a real thrill.
Chimborazo
Like the Road Scholar trip Mike and I took to Ecuador in 2012, OAT itineraries include a visit to a rose farm. With 12 hours of direct sunlight most days, Ecuador is able to produce a mind boggling variety of incredible, long stemmed roses.
Rose exportation provided (for the first time) employment to many Ecuadorian women. They are able to bring their children to the worksite, which provides daycare. They are paid the minimum wage, which is $470 per month. The US dollar is Ecuador’s currency, so no “exchange math” is required to figure out that’s not a whole lot of money.
The first rose variety I saw on our tour was named Sandy, so I immediately thought of the wonderful sister I had lost, and although it was a struggle, I managed to hold back the tears.
Sandy
If you’re having a special event and can’t find a hue that compliments your color scheme, no problem. The roses can be sprayed to your specifications. Think I’m kidding? Take a look.
We met indigenous people at our next stops. The first is an artist, who, like Grandma Moses, is self taught. We were all given the opportunity to paint on goatskin, and once again, I produced a masterpiece I think is worthy to hang on the wall in any second grade classroom.
Notice the two condors, representing the heavens, and the snake, representing the underworld. Where’s the representative of the earth—the puma—you ask? Well, sadly the puma didn’t move fast enough, so he’s buried under the lava flow.
Take another look at the photo of Chimborazo. That’s where this man and his donkey climb twice a week to carve huge blocks of ice, which they carry down the mountain and sell to businesses in nearby Riobamba. When we were there, the volcano was hidden by the clouds.
There is no such thing as too many donkey photos, is there? I should have done a video because he was braying loudly.
The Spaniards brought Catholicism to the areas they conquered, because that’s what Jesus told them to do in his sermon on the Mount. It went something like this:. “Blessed are they who steal the gold from the people they enslave, for they get to be heroes in their home land.”
Unfortunately, Jesus didn’t warn them about the Evangelicals from the US. The Evangelicals built schools and clinics; they translated the Bible into the native language. They also gave free radios to all indigenous, so they could easily preach and be heard by all. Most of the locals converted, which is probably why this church had to get creative when they found the collection plates contained more dust than dollars.
Built in 1534, it was the very first church the Spaniards built in Ecuador. Take a look inside.
Looks pretty standard, right? But wait. You haven’t seen the vestibule yet. This is the creative section.
Those of you with sharp eyes have probably noticed the coffee pot in the lower left hand corner. My lens wasn’t wide enough to capture the tables and chairs directly across.
But if you need more than coffee to get you through Mass, not to worry. There are OTHER beverages from which you can choose.
In addition to beer and wine, you can also buy “holy water” . You all know what bottled water without a label looks like, so I didn’t bother to include a photo.
Before the animal lovers get their shorts in a knot over this next photo, let me remind you, Costco uses a similar cooking method, they just rotate chickens instead of guinea pigs. And they remove the heads first.
This road side cuy producer sells about 40 cooked guinea pigs a day! Cuy is considered a delicacy here in Ecuador, and will set you back about $50 if you ordered it in a restaurant.
After Covid, Ecuador’s railroads went out of business, including the famous one that traveled up the devil’s nose.
We visited the now closed train station in Alausi, then proceeded up the mountain, into the clouds, for lunch with the indigenous people.
As we climbed higher and higher, the cloud cover was so complete, I was convinced we wouldn’t be able to see El nariz del Diablo (the devil’s nose), but we continued to have phenomenal luck. Not only did we see the Devil’s schnoz, ( it’s the mountain on the right)
we also saw the train tracks leading up to the zig zag route.
We have been rocking and rolling along mountain roads, so once again, I will push PUBLISH and hope for the best.
I first visited Cartagena in 2010, when Mike, Greg and I took an Oceania cruise through the Panama Canal. I was immediately charmed by this fascinating city, and became determined to return to Cartagena and to explore more of Colombia.
For most of the ports, we opted to go off on our own, rather than take a cruise sponsored tour. That was the case in Cartagena, where we were able to cover most of the high points in the old city, during our too brief time in port.
Here is what the “new” section of Cartagena looked like in 2010.
Fast forward to 2025. Both photos were taken from the enormous fort the Spaniards built to protect the area from pirates. Can you tell which photo was taken with a camera, and which was taken with my iPhone?
It is possible to travel from the top of the fort to the bottom through narrow, low tunnels. When we visited in 2010, we attempted to do just that, but as we approached the exit, our guide discovered it was flooded, so we had to walk ALL the way back to the top. Poor Mike was unable to stand upright!
I know many people have strong opinions about cruises versus land travel. It was interesting to experience both in the same city. Although vastly different, I discovered I thoroughly enjoyed both, but for very different reasons. As with everything in life, both travel modes have advantages.
When we cruised, we always opted for a smaller ship, chosen for its fabulous itinerary. Cruising allowed us to unpack once, travel while we slept and awaken someplace great every single day. It provided us with a taste of many different areas, so we could determine which country we might want to explore in more depth in the future. And, if you happened to get sick, or have an accident, the ship had a fully equipped medical center on board. But your time in port is limited; you normally have to be back aboard the ship around 5PM, unless you chose a cruise that spent more than one night in a particular port. And there ain’t many of those.
For the OAT land trip, we spent three nights in Cartagena, which allowed us to slow down and savor our time there . We saw SOME of the areas we visited on our whirlwind day in 2010, like the former convent of the Sisters of the Poor Clares, but instead of just driving by it, Leslie ( another new friend) and I went to the bar to watch the sunset.
Those of you who read my pre-trip post may recall the special drinks and the tours of the former convent described on the hotel’s website. Well, although getting lost while searching for the rooftop bar allowed us to see a whole lot of the convent, it certainly didn’t qualify as a tour (they don’t give them any more), and although my pisco sour was delicious, it didn’t have what the website called “magical” properties.
What the rooftop bar DID have was a DJ, and lots of young people, staring at their phones.
So, we took our sunset photos, admired the view, and that pisco sour? It was consumed in a quiet, “historical” bar on the first floor.
The view of the ocean, and the only spot at the bar from which you can see the sunset.
Remember the popular image of Colombia as a dangerous place? Well, Leslie and I were perfectly comfortable walking the streets at night and when he noticed we were hopelessly lost, this sweet young Colombian approached us, offered help and walked us back to our hotel.
This was a very common experience: a waitress chased me down the street because I had left my hat in the restaurant, street vendors accepted your “no, gracias” when they approached you, but then engaged you in conversation so they could practice speaking English. Everyone we encountered was friendly, gracious and oh so welcoming.
As you have seen in my earlier posts, the streets of Colombia are very colorful , and Cartagena is no exception.
The woman in the black leather “bondage” outfit is Shakira, who has an apartment in Cartagena, overlooking the ocean. Our carriage driver pointed it out as we rode along the ocean on our way to our farewell dinner. He also claimed he was Shakira’s novio ( boyfriend— see, those Spanish lessons DID come in handy!)
Did you know that Colombia was the inspiration for Disney’s movie, Encanto? I sure didn’t.
Sorry, the sun was in the wrong spot when I took this photo. Anyone who saw the movie will recognize the cartoon character immortalized on the wall, but did you know her image was based on an actual resident of Colombia?
There was so much to see in the neighborhood of Getsemaní, I had difficulty choosing the most compelling street image, so I decided to include several.
During our trip we experienced MANY different modes of transportation- boats, metro system, cable cars, jeeps, tuk tuks and best of all, the PARTY bus,
which came fully equipped with live music, so we were serenaded all the way to Bocavilla, an African Colombian community located on the beach.
Our musicians played European, African and Caribbean instruments
While in Bocavilla, we had drumming and dance lessons which were SO much fun! The musicians and dancers were students at a school established to preserve their African/Caribbean culture.
Seven of us are at the airport heading off to Quito for a week in Ecuador, so it’s time to press publish and hope for the best.
Destination NOW 