Caribbean Cruise - Colon, Panama

 The next port we stopped at on our cruise was Colón, Panama. Colon (pronounced Ko-Loan) is near the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal, and capital of Colón Province. Many of the cruise excursions centered around tours through the Panama Canal, but having just recently taken a tour of the Erie Canal, we decided we’d do something different.

We signed up for an Eco Cruise on Gatun Lake (pronounced Gaw-Toon), which included a short hike through a rainforest, a boat ride on the lake through more forested areas, and promises to see spider monkeys, sloths, crocodiles, and water birds. And we did, in fact, see all those things, but not very many of any, and they were pretty hard to spot. But our guide, Jorge, was very knowledgeable, and always knew where to look and did a good job pointing them out to us. He also gave us a comprehensive overview of the area and a history of how the building of the canal shaped the geography and history of the area. Gatun Lake is a manmade lake, and is actually part of the overall Panama Canal system.

The neighborhood of Colón our tour bus drove through to get us from the cruise port to where the tour started was very sobering. We witnessed such stark poverty, it was difficult to think about people living in these squalid conditions. Mountains of trash were piled high everywhere you turned. People were sleeping on sidewalks, barbed wire wrapped around high walls, and what looked like demolition debris from torn down buildings littered the streets.  Open sewage drains ran along many of the roads, right alongside sidewalks and housing entrances. It wasn't always like this.

During its heyday Colón was known for its citizens’ civic pride, orderly appearance, and outstanding native sons and daughters. But politically instigated riots in the 1960’s led to the start of the city’s decline, and was further accelerated by several military dictatorships between 1968-1987. There are efforts underway today trying to restore the city to its former standing. I included some pictures of the poverty stricken areas taken from our bus, trying to capture a feel for what I saw. I can’t help but wonder what the locals think about the busloads of tourists coming through…

This neighborhood was in the immediate area surrounding the port where we docked. If we hadn’t taken this excursion, we probably would not have ventured outside the ship, and we would never have seen another side to Colón.

Caribbean Cruise - Cartagena, Columbia

Our third stop on our Holistic Holiday at Sea Cruise in March, 2019, was Cartagena, Columbia. Since we’d never been here, we decided to sign up for one of the off-shore excursions sponsored by the cruise ship, the “Walking Tour of Old Town Cartagena”. As it turned out, I think we spent more time on the bus than we did on foot, being transported from one “walking” spot to the next. Our tour guide, Ana, was from the area, and she narrated our surroundings as we drove through the town, speaking both in English and Italian, so everyone on the bus could understand her. Her native tongue is Spanish, and I think she mentioned she spoke at least two other languages as well.

The first place we stopped was at the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, a stone fortress built by the Spanish during the colonial era. Next was a 15-minute stop in a shopping area set up for tourists. It was very bright and colorful and I would have loved to be invisible and walk through all the little shops. But you couldn’t take two steps without being pleaded with to buy something, and it made me uncomfortable to have to keep saying “No, gracias”, so I didn’t linger long here. 

Then we were back on the bus and finally into Old Town, where we were able to get out and walk around for about 30 minutes while Ana explained what we were seeing. There were some centuries old churches, as well as other old buildings, and very colorful architecture. The brick church is the Cathedral of San Pedro Claver built between 1580-1684, and the Peach/Yellow colored adobe structure is the official Cathedral of Cartagena, built between 1577-1612. I loved the colorful architecture of the area, everything so bright and pretty!

The “fruit ladies”, or the women who walk through the village with fruit baskets on their heads, are called Palenqureas (as they originally came from a village called Palenquera) and are an integral part of the history of this area. If you take their picture, you are supposed to give them $1. They will take the basket off their heads and make you a beautiful fruit salad right on the spot for a small fee.

That was the extent of the walking tour, at which point the bus brought us back to the port. Just before reboarding the ship, we passed through a small parkwhere we saw dancers, parrots, sloths, and spider monkeys. That was a delightful surprise!