1-3 Jan, Cartagena, Colombia days 13-15: After our passage from Santa Marta and News Year Eve celebrations we slept like babies on our first night in Club de Pesca marina. Most of New Year’s Day we enjoyed the air conditioning in the boat and didn’t venture out until late afternoon, only to de-salt the decks, pole guys and sheets.

In theory it’s no hotter here than it was in Santa Marta but somehow the 32degC and high humidity seem more stifling. And the boat rocking is also no less than Santa Marta, only this time it is due to wake of the many boats passing the marina at speed, and not due to the wind. The larger wakes pitch Cloudy so much that the stern splashes the pontoon behind us. But it’s far worse for the boats at anchor or the smaller boats in the marina.
In Santa Marta, many of the other cruisers had ordered Starlink. It has just been launched for use in Colombia and at quite a reduced price compared to anywhere else in the world ($400 for equipment and $40 per month for service). Pricing that is hard to resist. Armed with the tax code and residential address info which other boats had used, I tried to order a Starlink dish for Cloudy Bay. But try as I might the order wouldn’t go through. We suspected that so many people had ordered using the same details that a red-flag had been raised at Starlink! But today, in Cartagena, I managed to order it. Fingers crossed it arrives in time.

Late afternoon and evening we again walk the old town and Getsemani area. Like NYE, it is still thronging with people and very lively but a bit more difficult to walk with the traffic and horse-and-carriages allowed back on the streets, now that all the street party tables have been cleared away. Although the old walled city (a UNESCO heritage site) is quite amazing, we prefer the adjacent Getsemani area, where the poorer people would have lived just outside the city walls. The buildings are shabbier but atmosphere somehow nicer with a lower key tone.

The following two days, the only other excursion we did was a day tour around the Boca Grande area on our GoCycles. This peninsula, that butts onto the old walled city, is covered in the high-rise apartments and hotels that we had sailed passed on our arrival. We had observed a very busy beach front all around the peninsula which looked well worth exploring. We set off on our bikes in the blazing midday sun but were surprised it was reasonable cool to cycle with our UV protective clothing.
We don’t often get our bikes out, but when we do, we love them. So pleasant to ride and still pretty much like new. Which is quite a feat considering they’ve been on the boat’s salty environment for nearly 6 years now.
But the scene and ambience on Boca Grande is nothing like how it had glamorously appeared from our offshore view. The road, pavements and certainly the beach are all very shabby. And at least half the beach was closed off and under full excavation. We don’t even find a nice place to sit for a cool drink. Though on the harbour side of the peninsula it was quite different. The apartment blocks looked newer (or at least better maintained) and there was a very nice promenade to cycle along with landward views over the rest of Cartagena.
Once off the peninsula we declared it “ticked and crossed”! Explored and no need to return.

For the next couple of days we are tied to being on the boat because we will have Volvo technicians arriving on the boat from Wednesday. Then we depart to Bogota on Friday ready for our motorbike tour.