Last Day in Cartagena

Tomorrow we return to the USA via Bogota. Here are a few last photos from the colorful city of Cartagena.

A Day in Cartagena

This was a day to be guided to some of the major attractions of Cartagena.

Panama Hats For Sale in the Old Town

Our Local Guide, Nicomedes,  in the Heredia Theater

Gold-Plated Chapel of La Popa Convent

Bored Guides at San Felipe Fortress

Mural in the Gethsemani Neighborhood

Medellin to Cartagena

We began our last morning in Medellin by driving to a popular hillside park that overlooks the city. It was lively even at 7:30 AM.

Next came a ride on the subway, followed by a cable-car ride to near the top of a "lower class" neighborhood on one of the very steep hillsides that surround downtown Medelliin. These two connected systems, along with buses, help the poor people of Medellin to get to work in other parts of the city.

In the early afternoon we flew to Cartagena. After checking into our hotel and resting a bit, we took an evening walk through the Old City and out to the fort to watch the sunset - and other activities.

Medellin-Guatapé

We started our bus ride from Medellin to the small historic town of Guatapé by stopping at an overlook where two statues of "sewer boys" (one shown here) gestured to the city shrouded in fog.

Guatapé is famous for its "zocalos", elaborate colored bas-reliefs that adorn the lower sections of many houses and shops.

Near Guatapé is a sizeable reservoir with many islands, formed when a previous town was flooded and the inhabitants moved to new land. On one of the islands is a large complex of buildings built by the drug lord Pablo Escobar. The buildings were bombed by his enemies, but remain as a historical memento. We passed nearby in a pontoon boat.

A giant monolith, more than 200 meters high and climbable with about 700 steps (which we climbed) yielded this view of the reservoir and islands from the top.

Manizales to Medellin

We've seen a lot of striking murals on the walls of Colombian cities, but there haven't been many opportunities on this tour to photograph them. An early morning walk near our hotel in Manizales, before our departure for Medellin, provided an opportunity to rectify this situation.

The drive through the mountains from Manizales to Medellin goes through some of the most dramatic scenery imaginable, with some canyons of Grand Canyon scale and vistas that must stretch at least a hundred miles. Here's a view from the place we stopped for lunch.

After checking into our hotel in Medellin and listening to a lecture about the troubles in the area and the remarkable recovery of the city, we walked through a lively area to a good restaurant for dinner. Along the way we passed this park with couples in deep conversation.

Morning in Manizales

View from our hotel window this morning.

Day Three in Manizales

In the morning we visited a coffee plantation, Hacienda Venezia. Our excellent guide, after explaining the many aspects of coffee production in a way that was enlightening to most of it us, took us out to examine coffee trees up close.

Coffee beans in various stages of ripening.

In the afternoon we visited the nature park Recinto del Pensamiento, riding a colorful chair lift to the top of the park.

A blue crested motmot, the official bird of the city of Manizales.