On March 19th we arrived in Cartagena (pronounced Car-tah-hay-nah), Columbia.   Cartagena is a Columbia, South American city with a population of approximately of 952,000 people.

I went on a tour around the town which included a stop at the fortress. A centuries old city, Cartagena was subject to repeated attacks and takeovers by foreign powers. In response they built a 50 ft. thick wall around the city and then around the fort making it virtually impregnable. It’s really pretty impressive.

 

 

 

 

 

From here we went into the walled Old Town part of the city. Quaint and cobblestoned, the old city certainly has the flavor of Span by whom it was colonized.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We walked through Old Town to San Pedro Claver Catholic Church where Ben relayed the story of San Pedro.

 

 

 

Sadly, the Caribbean was the major hub of the slave trade as early as the 1600s and Cartagena was one of the infamous port cities where slaves were sold and traded. Father Claver, a Jesuit priest in the city, rightly found this practice and the treatment of the slaves abhorrent and dedicated his life to fighting against slavery saying, “I will be the slave of slaves.”

Father Claver did not live long enough to see the end of slavery. He died of Parkinson’s  at the age of 74 and was canonized several years later for his selfless life and saintly works.

 

 

 

 

 

We toured the priests residence house – a place of peace and reverence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We ended our historic tour with shopping at one of the slightly more up-scale places in Cartagena. I didn’t buy anything, but I did get a chance to take a picture of some of the local women in native costume and to meet my very first three toed sloth.

A great way to end the day.

 

 

And so we bid Adios to Cartagena, Columbia.