Semana Santa 1998 Cartagena

April 4 (Cartagena)

I got up at about 9:00, packed, ate and then worked on the computer typing the last of my lesson plans. Kate was leaving on the same flight to Bogota so at 11:30 we left for the airport together. The flight left an hour late either because of mechanical problems or an emergency at the Bogota airport, I wasn’t sure. The airport was shut down for a while and my hopes of catching an earlier flight to Cartagena were quickly dashed. I saw this old woman at the airport that was bald. Not just no hair but bald like a man with a white ring around the outside of her head. She looked just like an old man except with earrings, a blouse and skirt. Strange.

Once in the air, we found out that due to the Bogota airport being shut down temporarily, there was now lots of air traffic. We had to circle for a while and would then try to land at 3:00, making the flight half an hour longer than usual. If that were not possible we would have to return to either Armenia or Pereira. We were able to land and I headed off for the Aces Airlines counter. There were no earlier flights and my 5:50 flight was delayed until 8:30! Yikes! A long day in the airport. I spent most of it reading. The most exciting thing I did was buy and read the Miami Herald cover to cover. It was great to read a real newspaper in English. I also read a pocket version of H.G. Well’s The Time Machine. An excellent story and commentary on society. The plane didn’t actually leave until 9:30.

Arrived in Cartagena at 11:00 p.m. It’s very hot and humid here, just like in Atacamas and Singapore. I was the first one out of the airport (wonders of having only carry-on luggage) and in a cab five minutes later. I arrived at the hotel and they were expecting me so there was no problem. The elevator didn’t work so I hiked the eight floors to my room but nobody seemed to be there. I was supposed to be sharing with Evan’s roommate from Bucaramanga. I went downstairs and got the security guy to come up with me to open the door. We got all the way up again and then I found out he didn’t have the keys with him. I waited and finally he came back and opened the door. Evan’s friend Greg was there asleep. He woke up and we introduced ourselves and chatted a bit. Ev and Gaby were apparently asleep

I went out for half an hour and looked around. A few cool bars around the corner but with long lines so I didn’t go into any. I checked out the bar upstairs in our hotel and ordered an aguardiente. This is the local liquor, I guess sambuca is the closest we have to it in Canada. The guy gave me a plastic cup half full of aguardiente...enough to kill me! Pretty empty and dark place but with decent music. Turned in.

April 5

Got up at around 7:30, read the guidebook and then got cleaned up. Ev and Gaby were notoriously slow and we headed downstairs for a decent (but not spectacular) breaky. The good thing about this hotel is all meals are included and alcohol too. Before we left, I caught this awesome thing on T.V. It was this group called "Stomp" which performed both percussion and dance simultaneously. They did this percussion piece chopping vegetables, then playing on metal pipes in sewers and then playing all sorts of garbage cans, lids, wooden poles and other things. Really remarkable.

By 10:00 we caught a cab to the old city. We started at the main gates of the enormous stone wall which surrounds the old city. It is 15 feet thick in some places. The huge gate was topped by a clock tower, which apparently was added in later years. Inside was a first courtyard where we were approached and hassled by various locals. There was a statue of Claver, a monk who’s church and monastery we saw later. He was apparently the first person canonised in the New World (1888). He was called the "Apostle of the Blacks" or the "Slave of the Slaves" as he spent all his life ministering to the black slaves brought over from Africa. The church was huge and beautiful and we peaked inside, as mass was in session. The inside of the church was pretty bare except for some stained glass windows and a huge gold altar. Outside, Greg bought some Colombian cigars off some guy for 2000 pesos. They were also selling boxes of Cuban cigars.

The next square was surrounded by beautiful colonial buildings with balconies full of flowers and centred by a statue of Christopher Columbus himself. In fact the whole old city was filled with gorgeous colonial buildings, balconies and flowers, all painted pretty colours. I took some photos of cool doorknockers with faces, lions and a huge sea horse.

This man who spoke good English convinced us to go with him and see the house of the Marques de Valdehoyos which was nearby. The Marques at one point was the only person in Colombia who was allowed to sell flour. What a monopoly! He was also involved in the slave trade and therefore was very wealthy. The house (or palace), which is now just used for display, apparently has been closed for renovations and wasn’t open but we got in anyway. It was a beautiful example of colonial architecture with a huge inner courtyard with mango trees, other gardens, supposedly Colombia’s first bathtub and complete with a lookout tower of the city. The guy told us this silly story about ghosts but I was more interested in looking at the two wild parrots at the top of a nearby tree. It was the first time I’d seen wild ones up close. I have seen or heard flocks fly by but they only look like black streaks against the sky. Very cool. There was also a room filled with woven baskets and an old piano.

Of the main Plaza Bolivar was the Palace of the Inquisition, arguably the most beautiful building in Cartegena if it weren’t for the construction they were doing. People could be tried for magic, witchcraft and blasphemy. Over 800 people were killed here (the public figure). Inside was some old furniture, a scale to weigh witches, some foot, head and arm shackles and a rack. Very cool. I wanted to try and rack Evan.

We took a peek at the top of the city wall where they had a few canons and a view of the ocean. On the way back to the main gate we passed another huge but ugly church which needed extra buttresses added because it was poorly build and falling down. The tower was also twisted. It was built in accordance to the street, not the rest of the building. We checked out a couple more building before heading back to the hotel and hitting the beach.

I was pretty disappointed by the beach as it was just mobbed by people and vendors who just wouldn’t leave you alone. People were actually lined up side by side. You could rent a chair or a "cabana" which was basically a piece of clothe held up by some sticks to shade you from the sun. Everything here was a way to make money. The water was warm and had large waves. I saw not a few pretty girls. I tried to read for awhile but all the chatter kept me from concentrating.

This guy came by and opened some raw oysters with lime for Greg and I. We said we had no money many times but he kept opening them. He of course then expected money, which we refused to pay him. He was furious and wanted us to go up to our hotel for money. A huge argument ensued, after which I finally decided to give him something because I didn’t like the idea of this guy and his friends being pissed off at us. When I came down with his money from my room, I couldn’t find him. Then, I spied him arguing with some other guy and an army person escorting him off the beach. I thought forget it.

We had a decent dinner of calamares although they were too greasy. I hung out writing on the patio while Ev and Gaby played chess and Greg drank. After drinking considerably (it was free) we met up with Martha, another Canadian teacher from Bucaramanga and her boyfriend Zulu. Zulu is a black (as night) dance teacher and is really funny though but hardly understands any English We hit this big bar which played both North and South American music. I couldn’t get into all the North American stuff and the alcohol was putting me to sleep. Finally they played "Latinos" which is one of my favourite tunes and that got me going. A little while later they played a meringue and I got Gaby up dancing. She moves really well and easily followed everything I did. She was so easy to dance with. I’ve danced with people who knew how to meringue and we couldn’t stay together.

After, I sat down and Ev and she went up to dance. Greg is so much like my old friend Rob Markham; cynical, gross, opinionated and alcoholic. I like him but couldn’t live with the guy for long I think. He went home and Martha and Zulu disappeared. Anyway, I’m sitting at the table alone now and this cute girl comes up to me and asks me to dance. We danced one tune and then danced a meringue. She danced a little different than I was used to and therefore I was tripping all over her feet. We danced for quite a while and then sat down to talk. She asked me the usual stuff like my name, where I’m from, how old am I (I told her to guess of course, and she said 19!) etc. Turns out her name is Gabriela and she’s not Colombian but Ecuadorian from Quito. Eban and Gabriela, Evan and Gaby (Gabriela)…I couldn’t stop laughing. She said she had to go as she was with a group of friends but gave me a kiss on the cheek. Here’s the hitch though…turns out she was seventeen! She was here on her graduating class’s trip. Yikes, cradle robbery. She spoke English (I think she said she studied it for twelve years) but we spoke mainly in Spanish. It was nice to have someone to hang out with for a while though because Evan and Gaby had pretty much left me.

April 6

We got up this morning at 6:45 and after eating got ready to leave on our tour. We met up with Zulu and Martha and took a cab to the wharf. We clambered into this big speed boat with a canopy. Good thing because by this point (9:00 a.m.) I was sweating so much in the heat that my shirt was completely soaked. We rode for about half an hour until we reached the fort at Bocachica. Cartagena is built in a bay which has two entrances. Bocagrande (large mouth) was blocked by an undersea wall to prevent the entrance of pirate or enemy ships to attack the city. Bocachica (small mouth) was then protected by a fort on once side and a small battery on the other. After picking up a couple of locals, we headed to another island which had an aquarium. On the way we made a snack stop during which two canoes came up to sell us food, beer, shrimp and sea shells.

It was a very non-standard aquarium as it was built with fences and gates over real coral in the sea. Very few glass tanks. Besides some tropical fish, they had tons of tiny baby turtles, some adult sea turtles, baracudas etc. There was a huge manta ray about a metre across, three of these long sharky looking things with noses like a chain saw, some catfish sharks, some dangerous sharks and dolphins. The guy practically got in the water with the catfish sharks and fed them fish. They obeyed his commands and were like big brown dogs, or slugs. The dolphins were very cool and did a few tricks, sometimes jumping three metres in the air. They can swim fifty kilometres an hour and boy can they jump. It was really weird to hear them breathing. They quickly breath out and then in as if they were out of breath. There was also bunch of cool wild water birds, some brown with yellow beaks, others snow white with tuffs on their heads and yellow feet. One was really greedy and stood on the platform with the woman who was doing the dolphin presentation. She had to keep giving it fish to keep it happy. We also saw a wild pelican up close and two captive flamingos. Waiting for the boat, Zulu decided to go for a swim off the end of the dock. He was in and out in about half a second and shouted "tiburón!" which is Spanish for shark. He was joking but from then on we called him Tiburón. His drinking partner Greg soon became Tiburón Dos.

After the aquarium we headed off again to another island. This one sported a white sand beach and aqua-marine blue water. There were not too many people here but enough vendors and sales people to drive me crazy. The others bought fresh fish which was immediately cooked for them while I settled for fresh shrimp. I did manage to find a spot on the beach to just lie and read. We only had one hour there which sucked because I could have stayed there all day.

Back in the boat again and we returned to the island near Bocachica for lunch. Lunch was fish, excellent but small. For some reason Greg was full so I got his. There were lots of people selling shells, corral centre pieces etc. I couldn’t find anything I liked though. After lunch this guy took us on a small tour of the fort. He was nice and spoke good English (and Greek). The fort was cool with a huge moat and places out of which to shoot rifles and canons. They used to keep sharks in the moat. This is the same fort they used in Romancing the Stone. Very cool. At the dock while we were waiting for the boat back to Cartagena, there were a bunch of local kids swimming in the water. They were all very black and had beautiful faces. Zulu (Tiburón Uno) would throw change into the water and they would dive for it. It was kind of sad but more of a game than anything else. They would all be shouting "amigo!" at him until he threw it and then there would be a fury of white water as ten kids would disappear below, often coming up with the change. We returned home for a shower and siesta. I got a call from Pat who will be meeting us tonight.

We sat on the patio listening to music and watching people dance (and drinking) until ten when we went to the lobby to meet Pat. He literally ran in and grabbed me, hugged me and put me in a headlock. What a freak! It was a kind of strange night however. We went to find a new bar. We stood outside for awhile because it looked dead. Zulu wanted to go back to Escalera because he wanted to dance. We did go back and sat down to drink for a while. I danced a few tunes with Juliana, Pat’s Colombian girlfriend and a few times with Gaby which was really fun. We kind of faked it but I think we were pretty good. I liked the music and we had a good time but we finally left for another bar back downtown.

At this point Evan and Gaby left (I think she was drunk) and Zulu and Martha soon did too. The rest of us went into this really classy place which cost us $10 each (consumable) to get in. The places was really nice but empty. We sat and had some Gin and Tonics and Juliana and I danced a bit more. Eventually she wanted to leave but Pat didn’t. She didn’t want to take a taxi by herself and I was way to drunk at this point so I offered to go with her. I was totally cleaned out of cash so she had to pay and also lend me $10. We got almost home when she realised Pat didn’t know how to get to her aunt’s place. So we told the cab to turn around and went all the way back to the bar but Pat and Greg were gone. Talk about a night of supporting the taxi company! I dropped her off at her aunt’s and then went back to the hotel, arriving at about 4:00 a.m.. Greg got back later and it turned out he and Pat had gone to another bar and got back at 5:00 a.m.. Wow.

April 7

I wasn’t hung over this morning but my stomach was feeling funny and I felt very shaky. We had lunch (it was 12:00) and then headed to the fort of San Felipe. This is the biggest, strongest Spanish fort possibly ever built. It is just huge with walls over two metres thick, openings for rifle shooting and canons. It was cool because usually the rifle holes are narrow slits which widen towards the inside to give space for the barrel and to allow the soldiers to aim, but the cannon holes were the opposite. I guess in order for them to aim, they need space near the front for the barrel. There were ramps for moving the machinery and tons of catacomb tunnels which we checked out. They were only about 6’3" high and if it weren’t for the electric lights, it would have been pitch black. They were used to bring supplies to different parts of the fort and were also built acoustically so you could send messages and hear the footsteps of the enemy approaching. Inside the tunnels, offset on either side, were little compartments. Soldiers would stand there in the dark and shoot the enemy as they walked down the passage. They were offset so they wouldn’t shoot their own men. Evan stood in a dark one and we couldn’t see him at all, even with the electric lights in the hallway. The fort was built so that if it looked like it was going to be taken over by the enemy, it could be destroyed by its own batteries before the solders fleed. The tunnels were really long and with many side passages. It would have been very easy to get lost.

We headed back to the hotel and sat on the beach for the rest of the afternoon. I ate fresh shrimp in tomato sauce with onions, lime and hot sauce while Greg got a message. Ev and I played a decent game of chess which I lost. It had a lot of potential but didn’t amount to much. After dinner Ev was wiped. We wanted him ready for tonight so he went to take a nap for a couple of hours. Greg and I drank and hung out at the dance floor.

There was this very pretty woman who I’d seen at dinner who smiled at me. I figured I’d ask her to dance. It is not unusual to ask a stranger to dance here. Before I got the chance, she asked me to dance. The song was a meringue so I wasn’t too worried but I couldn’t figure out what she was doing or where she was going. She didn’t dance the way my friends in Armenia dance. We did some turns so I was thankful to Sandra (my friend in Armenia) for showing me what to do. Another girl also asked me to dance but she just stunk of cigarettes, yuck.

Zulu (I think his real name is Fernando) and Martha arrived at 10:00 p.m. but by 10:45 Pat and Juliana (pronounced Huliana) still hadn’t shown up. I called and Pat said he and Juli were tired and not coming. I bugged him about being a cop-out and he just said "okay, I’ll be there in ten minutes". He’s a real party beast. He did arrive soon after and we headed out. We met up with Zulu, Martha and another teacher from Bucaramanga and had a few drinks at this patio bar. I was hungry so I bought a Chuzo (shish kabab) from a nearby stand. They played my favourite song (No Voy A Volver A Llorrar) and Gaby and I danced. We decided to go to another bar and took a cab to this really neat ocean-side bar/restaurant. It would have been great for hanging out and drinking but some of us wanted to dance. We got back in a cab and went right back to where we started except we hit the bar next door. Again we sat and chatted, and danced a bit on the empty dance floor. The place was dead. I decided not to drink any more because Pat and I had split on a small bottle of aguardiente (which we had not finished). It was a good thing because they hit the guys up for $6 a drink. Yikes. We headed across the street to our favourite bar but Zulu tried to bring the bottles in and they denied him. We went back to the patio for a while.

By 3:00 a.m., Pat, Greg and I were still raring to go do something (as we really hadn’t done anything yet tonight except not make up our minds about anything and take cab rides). The others left and we headed up the street (after another Chuzo) to check out a "Gringo" bar nearby. It was closed but we did witness a fight on the street. Two guys just hitting each other. It was funny though because a prostitute expressed her concern for our safety by telling us we’d better stay clear! Every place seemed dead so the prospect of getting in a cab and going downtown didn’t appeal to me. Pat said the place they hit last night had still been happening this late and there was no cover charge so we split for there.

Not only was the place sharp, air-conditioned and free, it was full of people even though it was 3:30 a.m.. And the place was full of gorgeous women. Greg suggested playing "Where’s Waldo" for an unattractive woman. The music was good too; meringue, salsa and rock. The only bad thing about the place was beer cost $5 a pop, and Budweiser at that. Actually compared to Colombian beer, the Bud tasted really good. We stayed until the bar closed and caught a cab home. After bidding fair well to Pat, Greg and I went for more food. Along the way we were simultaneously offered cocaine by two different guys. Crashed by 5:00 a.m..