A close shave!

I met our agent, David, at 09:00 and gave him our passports to clear out of the country. My plan is to leave at first light for the 24-30 hour sail to the San Blas islands en route to Panama.

Then we all headed to town, Emily to a wifi spot to update her blog, and the rest of us to Citadelle San Filipe. The fortress is almost pyramidal, with stone faced walls sloping up to a peak. It was built after the French sacked the town, and was impregnable when attacked by Admiral Vernon with his 183 ships and 23,000 men. There was not a lot to see other than the massive walls, but then we found a small doorway with steps leading down and down, through passageways lined with alcoves, where explosives would be stored so that they could blow up under the attackers feet. It got quite claustrophobic as not all the lights were working and sometimes it was a question of feeling ahead in the dark, suddenly finding a right angle bend and then groping one's way along hoping there wasn't a pit to fall into!

Inner bastion of Citadelle San Filipe, Cartagena

Then, very hot and thirsty, we walked across the causeway into Getsemane, where we found a section of the city that had not all been improved, painted, gentrified and boutiques. This proved most enjoyable, and we turned into a dark doorway. Beyond which a little green courtyard beckoned with tables. We ordered Arepas stuffed with various things. An Arepa is a 4" circular pitta bread, opened to receive a filling - I had fish in coconut and chilli. Delicious!

Plaza de Santorini Trinidad, Getsemani, Cartagena, Colombia

Then I said that I needed a haircut and, stepping outside, we immediately saw a sign BARBER UNDER A TREE pointing through a gate into a dusty yard.  Sure enough, under a tree as advertised, was a barber shaving a young man. The tree trunk was painted pink, and the house walls beyond were a orange ochre, so it was a colourful sight. We settled ourselves in a ring of plastic chairs to wait our turn in the hot afternoon.  Eventually I got a very short back and sides and a beard trim that involved rather a lot of cut-throat razor work. Mark followed me for a haircut too. The last time we both went to the barber together might have been at school in Saffron Walden, or perhaps even earlier in Malawi. All very atmospheric and memorable but, at about £35, very expensive!

The Barberia does Mark under a tree

We wandered and explored for the rest of the day, and then went back to the marina where I settled up with agent, David, and retrieved our passports and international Zarpe document that authorises our departure from Colombia.

We also enjoyed meeting Paul and Jane Thornton and their daughter Lily and their energetic (and horribly mutilated) rescue dog, Skye.  It was interesting to learn of their 4 years touring Mediterranean and Caribbean, aiming to now head north with a view to visiting Guatemala.

We did some shopping to finish up our Colombian pesos, and then headed back to Tin Tin for supper. With the wind picking up we should now have a fast trip south to the San Blas islands, where we will pass a couple of days, and then on to Colon on the 13th to meet Steve Tedbury, who is coming to help us through the canal to the Pacific.