Cartagena de las Indias
- a few seconds ago
- 3 min read
After our 6-night passage to Colombia from Grenada, followed by 2 nights of horror riding out a storm off Santa Marta and the another 2 nights of passage down the somewhat bleak coast of Colombia we were very much ready to ‘land.’
Our nightfall arrival to Cartagena was nothing short of dramatic. Firstly, it was raining hard, so no moon to guide us in, secondly, we were met by blasts of 30+ knots of wind as we entered the typical acceleration zone coming round the corner towards the harbour. And to top it all we had to find a small 50 metre gap through a submerged wall under the sea to get ourselves safely into the harbour via the small boat channel of ‘Boca Grande’.
In the 18th Century the Spanish, who had previously established Cartagena as the capital of their Caribbean empire from where they exported the gold and silver pillaged across South America, had built a wall under the sea across the harbour to protect their city against the English. This wall is completely submerged and only leaves between 1 and 2 metres of clear water to pass safely. Saecwen draws 1,8 metres…
Having called the port authorities at midnight by radio to alert of our arrival we were informed there would be lit red and green buoys clearly marking the channel and it would be safe for us to enter. We were comfortably heading for a pair of flashing red and green lights in the right direction of the gap in the wall when Charlie suddenly realised that those lights were a couple miles back inside the harbour marking the inner large ship channel and that we were literally about to hit the wall.
He spun the boat around just in time and we took a second shot through the gap, this time working with the GPS charts alone as it became evident there were no lights of any description marking the channel. It later transpired that the unprecedented storms of the past week had washed the buoys away.
So after all these dramas on the morning of 6th February, we finally tied up in the Club Naútico and celebrated our much-awaited landfall. The customary bottle of champagne was duly popped.
It is no wonder the Spanish established Cartagena as their main port to ship back their stolen treasures as it is so well protected with a huge natural harbour of approximately 25 square miles of sheltered water and to add to this protection, they built the ‘new city’ with 20-metre-high walls and a multitude of fortresses protecting every angle of its seaward approach. The now four-hundred-year-old walled city is extremely well preserved with several large churches and convents, open squares and brightly coloured colonial buildings many of which are now boutique hotels. Adjacent to the walled city is Getsemani, the old artisan neighbourhood whose narrow-cobbled streets are decked with vibrant street art and cafes.
The city is buzzing with life and colour; waves of tourists walk the walls to see the sunset, colourful tropical fruit trucks,‘tinto’ (local coffee) venders and brightly dressed Palenque ladies found at every street corner and bright bougainvillea blossoms out of the tiniest cracks in the cobbled streets. The city also houses some excellent museums including an informative maritime museum which documents chapter and verse the many attempts of the English “pirates” – to plunder and capture the city. These included Sir Francis Drake, who burnt the city down in 1586 and Admiral Vernon in 16?? whose failed expedition of 200 ships ended in the loss of over a third of his 24,000 men. The museum also shows how all the various fortifications were constructed, including our nemesis - the infamous submerged wall that Saecwen so narrowly avoided.
The harbour is equally lively with a constant flow of party boats who rip across the bay (at top speed) during the day to take people out to the nearby islands and cruise back from sunset tours with a Salsa and Soca on full volume. Add to the music and colour there is also the incredible Cartagena cuisine with coconut ceviche and a thousand ways to cook yuca just two of the highlights.
After a week of immersing ourselves in this amazing city and indulging in many of the local delicacies, we re-provisioned Saecwen with an amazing selection of Colombian mangoes, avocadoes, pineapple, yuca, plantain and more. It was time to head back out to sea.
We loved Cartagena. It was quite something getting here but totally worth it.
