Day 293 – 2/17/2022 – We pulled into Cartegena, Colombia the white city at 7am. It is a glorious sunny warm day.
We are in the middle of a fairly large shipping yard. There is a lot of shipping containers and activity this morning.
We watched our ship officials walk out to a tent to get us cleared to depart the ship. I guess no money no entry. Lol.
Last time we were here we did an excursion which included a horse and buggy ride through the old part of the city. Today we are going to walk out and see what is around. We left the ship and walked to the right towards the terminal. On the way we passed the docked USS Billings (LCS-15) which is a Freedom-class littoral combat ship of the United States Navy. She is the first ship in naval service named after Billings, Montana. She arrived in Cartegena 2/14/2022. I think she is helping with drug control. It was pretty cool.
Once we were on the pier away from the ship, we took our mask down and immediately were told to put our mask on by the police. So, you have to wear a mask outside in Columbia.
We then spent a lot of time at the terminal eco park. Such a nice little park. Very clean and animals are free roaming. In this park you will find lots of flamingos,
birds eating their breakfast on the walkways,
peacocks intermingling with the people,
iguanas,
lots and lots of parrots,
entertaining ducks,
little monkeys,
giant anteaters,
large turtles
wild boar,
and even some strange tree pods/seeds. We were not sure what these were.
The parrots were the best.
They are fascinating and without turning its head, a parrot can see from just below its bill tip, all above its head, and quite far behind its head. You could see that most of the parrots were paired off. With few exceptions, parrots are monogamous breeders who nest in cavities and hold no territories other than their nesting sites. The pair bonds of the parrots and cockatoos are strong, and a pair remains close during the nonbreeding season also.
A large parrot can live up to 80 years whereas a small parrot lives 15 to 20 years. Colombia is home to 54 species of parrots that include macaws, parakeets, and parrotlets. A parrotlet is the smallest species of parrot.
Of course, there are the little beggars. They will do anything if you give them a little bit of your lunch. Even let you pet them.
We were both very impressed with this free little animal sanctuary. I would highly recommend going. Another great photo opportunity if you wait your turn.
They also have a very nice little gift shop that sells local artists crafts. Beautiful craftsmanship. The employees were so nice and helpful. We bought six bottles of water for $1.00 each.
We did drink two bottles sitting in the sanctuary surrounded by birds and monkeys. The animals did come really close.
We walked through the park to the street. Of course, as soon as you exit the park you get attacked by people wanting to sell you tours. If you want to go anywhere from here, you really need to take a taxi. We decided to head back to the ship. Around the edge of the park was a drainage ditch filled with water that appeared to be coming from a pipe under the street. The smell was not nice. We wondered if there was sewage from the city flowing in that water.
We left the ship around 9:00am and got back around noon. Before reboarding we took some time to get photos of the MSC flags and ship.
When we left the ship, we were the only cruise ship docked. When we came back the Carnivale Pride was docked on the other side of the pier. Our ship is huge compared to the Carnival Pride.
Ha, they even ruined my balcony view or at least changed it. Now I can watch the people on the other ship though. We are in balcony cabin 13100 on the Cupido deck.
We also got to watch and listen to the ship balcony washers riding by on their lift.
Then we headed to do more exploring of the ship. The Divina has a really nice sports court on Deck 16. The sports court seats 120 people and has a total of 2,122 square footage of area.
In the afternoon we booked an excursion for when we get to Roatan, Honduras. It is called a Snapshot of Honduras and is a five-hour tour. The price is $72.99 each.
We have only been to Honduras once before and we were nervous about leaving the port. We departed Cartegena at 5pm and are traveling 270 nautical miles tonight and will pull into Colon, Panama at 10am tomorrow Friday 2/18/2022. We really enjoyed our day in Cartegena of the Indias.
To see more about the MSC Divina click here: https://deestimes.com/divina/
For more information on Cartegena, Colombia click here: https://deestimes.com/ports/
Today’s product recommendations are traveling essentials. 1) Luggage hand cart – we love this cart for easy rolling for easy cruise carry on bags. Even when you can’t go to your room right away this is so easy to walk around the ship with. Here’s the link https://amzn.to/3s37EOw
2) This large toiletry bag is the best. Steve has the black and I have the pink. We both absolutely love them. Here’s the link https://amzn.to/3v1p6ok and picture
