Question 1

Cartagena on Your Own

Accepted Answer

Cartagena's old town is compact and easy to explore on foot once you are there, so an independent day is mostly about the taxi ride in and out. A good plan is a taxi to the Clock Gate, a morning walking the plazas inside the walls, and an early start back. Through the Clock Gate: The Puerta del Reloj opens onto the Plaza de los Coches, once a slave market, and the Plaza de la Aduana is a few steps farther. From there it is a short walk to the Church of San Pedro Claver and to the Plaza de Bolívar. The Plaza de Bolívar: The square holds the Palace of the Inquisition and the Gold Museum, which shows gold work of the Zenú people who lived along this coast. One short ride: The Castillo San Felipe de Barajas stands on San Lázaro hill just outside the walls and is a short taxi ride from the old town. Taxis: Cartagena taxis do not use meters, so agree the fare before you get in. For the ride back to the ship, ask a restaurant to call a licensed taxi rather than hailing one in the street. Carry a copy of your passport: Carry a color printout of your passport's photo page for identification and leave the passport itself somewhere safe. Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own, and old-town traffic can be slow, so leave yourself a margin. Watch the clock: All-aboard is given in ship's time, which may not match local clocks. Colombia stays on UTC−5 all year, so it is an hour behind US Eastern time while the US is on daylight saving time.

Question 2

Getting Around Cartagena

Accepted Answer

Inside the walls you walk, and for anything farther you take a taxi. Taxis are not metered, and the safest are licensed cabs called by a business rather than hailed in the street. Agree the fare before you get in. Printed fare lists exist, but drivers treat them as a minimum, and there are small night and air-conditioning surcharges. City buses run to San Felipe, Bocagrande, Castillogrande and the airport, but they are slow and stop at every corner. Horse-drawn carriages wait for visitors at the Plaza de Bolívar and near the Santa Clara hotel. Express kidnappings, in which criminals posing as taxi drivers force victims to withdraw cash, are a known risk in Colombia. Use cash machines inside a bank, supermarket or shopping center during business hours.

Question 3

Where to Eat

Accepted Answer

A typical Cartagena plate is fried fish, chicken or meat served with coconut rice, fried plantains and salad. Restaurants are concentrated in the old town, especially around the Plaza de Santo Domingo. Coconut rice, arroz de coco, is the usual side on the coast, and fried plantains are called patacones. Fresh fruit juices are sold everywhere, mixed with water or milk. Set-menu lunches, called corrientes, are served in small local restaurants. Many restaurants in the city are closed on Sundays. Buy bottled water on the Caribbean coast, and avoid ice that may not be made from it.

Question 4

Tipping in Colombia

Accepted Answer

In Colombia, nicer restaurants generally add a service charge of about 10 percent to the bill, and if one is not added it is usual to leave it yourself. Most other tipping is simply rounding up. Tipping taxi drivers is not common. Private tour guides do not need to be tipped, though many people do if they liked the guide. The currency is the Colombian peso. Many places, taxis in particular, accept only pesos, and a debit card at a cash machine is the easiest way to get them. Street money changers offering good rates are a known trick, in which notes go missing as the money is counted.

Question 5

Culture & Local Life

Accepted Answer

Cartagena's mix of Spanish, African and Indigenous roots shows in its people, its food and its music. In the 2005 census just over a third of residents identified as Afro-Colombian, and the Spanish spoken on this coast is similar to that of Cuba and Puerto Rico. San Basilio de Palenque, about 50 kilometers from Cartagena, was founded around 1600 by people who escaped slavery, and UNESCO recognized its culture in 2005. Pedro Claver, a Jesuit who spent about 40 years working among enslaved Africans arriving in the port, lies in a casket in the church named for him in the old town. Gabriel García Márquez based the unnamed city of Love in the Time of Cholera on Cartagena, and set Of Love and Other Demons here. The city fills up over the December holidays and Holy Week, when much of Colombia is on vacation. Street vendors can be persistent; a polite no thank you works better than a sharp one.

Question 6

The City That Spain Built and Pirates Tried to Destroy

Accepted Answer

Cartagena was founded in 1533 and grew rich as the port that shipped South American silver and gold to Spain, which made it a target for pirates and navies for two centuries. Its walls and forts were the answer, and in 1811 it declared independence from Spain. Before the Spanish: Pottery from about 4000 BC found in this region is among the oldest in the Americas. When the Spanish arrived, a village called Calamarí stood on the island that is now the old town. Founding, 1533: Pedro de Heredia founded the city on June 1, 1533, naming it after Cartagena in Spain, home to many of his sailors. Raids: The French sacked the unwalled town in 1544, and Francis Drake held it for ransom in 1586, burning about 200 houses and the cathedral. Walls and forts: Spain hired the engineer Bautista Antonelli to plan the defenses, and work went on for some 200 years. The Castillo San Felipe de Barajas on San Lázaro hill was built in the 17th century and enlarged in the 18th. The Inquisition and the slave trade: A tribunal of the Inquisition sat here from 1610 until independence, and the city was a major market for enslaved Africans, many of them sold on the Plaza de los Coches. The siege of 1741: A British fleet of about 50 warships under Admiral Edward Vernon besieged the city. After a failed assault on San Felipe in April, Vernon withdrew. Lawrence Washington served with the British and later named Mount Vernon after his commander. Independence: Cartagena declared independence on November 11, 1811. Spanish troops retook it after a siege in 1815 that left thousands dead of hunger and disease, and patriot forces won it back in 1821. Decline and recovery: The city shrank for most of the 19th century, hit by war, a cholera epidemic in 1849 and the rise of Barranquilla as a port, and its population did not recover until the early 20th century. World Heritage: UNESCO listed the walled city and its fortifications in 1984. To learn more ashore: The Palace of the Inquisition on the Plaza de Bolívar is now a museum of the tribunal, and the Gold Museum on the same square shows the gold work of the Zenú people who lived on this coast before the Spanish.

Question 7

Traveling with Family

Accepted Answer

With children, keep the plan short: Cartagena is hot, and the old town is a taxi ride from the ship. A fort with tunnels, a carriage ride and a cold fruit juice cover most ages. Younger children: Start in the terminal's own garden, where tropical birds live among native plants. In town, a horse-drawn carriage from the Plaza de Bolívar saves small legs in the heat. School age: The Castillo San Felipe de Barajas has a maze of tunnels, some of them open to visitors. Nearby La Popa hill, 150 meters high, has a 17th-century monastery and wide views; take a taxi up rather than walking. Teenagers: The Gold Museum and the Palace of the Inquisition on the Plaza de Bolívar suit older children with an interest in history. Teenagers who want the sea can join a boat trip to the Rosario Islands, a national park about 20 kilometers away; boats leave in the morning and return in the early afternoon, so check the timing against all-aboard. Sun and water: Carry bottled water and sun protection, and plan indoor stops for the middle of the day.

Question 8

Accessibility

Accepted Answer

Ships berth alongside the terminal's docks, but the old town is 3.2 kilometers away, so a taxi is the practical way in for anyone who cannot walk far. Ask your cruise line before you sail about accessible transport, since a vehicle with a ramp or lift is not something to count on finding at the curb. The Clock Gate is the main entrance to the old town. Ask a restaurant to call a licensed taxi rather than hailing one in the street. The Castillo San Felipe de Barajas stands on a hill 41 meters above sea level, and much of a visit is on stone walls and in tunnels. La Popa hill, at 150 meters, is reached by taxi. Daytime heat is high all year, so plan shaded rest stops.

Question 9

Shopping in Cartagena

Accepted Answer

Emeralds, jewelry and handicrafts are the main things visitors buy, and shops selling them are all over the walled city. Las Bóvedas, a long building set against the city wall near the Santa Catalina bastion, holds craft shops. The terminal itself has shops selling Colombian handicrafts, jewelry, emeralds and coffee, so you can shop without going into town. Emerald sellers bargain and offer certificates of authenticity, but unless you know stones and gold, there is a real risk of buying an enhanced emerald or plated metal. Street touts who lead you to a shop take a commission, which you pay in a higher price. The Portal de los Dulces, near the Clock Gate, sells local sweets.

Question 10

Beaches

Accepted Answer

The nearest beaches are on the Bocagrande peninsula, a short taxi ride from the old town and lined with hotel towers. The clearer water is out on the islands, a boat ride away. Castillogrande, next to Bocagrande, has a quieter beach. The Rosario Islands, about 20 kilometers offshore, are a national park created in 1988 to protect coral reefs, and Isla Rosario has an aquarium. Boats to the islands and Playa Blanca leave in the morning from the tourist piers and return in the early afternoon. Buy island trips from the boat operators inside the marina rather than from touts outside, and confirm what the price includes, since snorkeling and the aquarium are sometimes extra.

Cartagena, Colombia

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