Old town of Cartagena
This fortress sits on top of the Hill of San Lázaro outside of the Walled town of Cartagena. The Spanish built it in the 1600s to protect the city after it was occupied and looted by Sir Francis Drake.
The Castillo was cleverly designed. Its complex consists of several individual forts on different levels. In case one fort was taken the others remained secure. It was gradually enlarged and made truly impregnable. The fortress withstood numerous attempts to storm it including attacks by the British during the famous Battle of Cartagena de Indias.
An interesting feature of the fortress is its system of underground tunnels. They connect strategic points so ammunition and provision could be quickly delivered to the forts. Any noise reverberates in the tunnels which makes them efficient internal communication channels. They also allowed to hear approaching enemy well in advance. Some tunnels are open and it’s fun to explore them, however they are illuminated by natural light and dark in some places.
It was surprising to see tour groups from cruise ships in the fortress. Despite the fact that two Princess ships were already quarantined because of the COVID-19 outbreak, the cruise lines continued to operate. We spoke with some tourists from these groups and they confirmed that their ships left recently from Florida.
At dinner, my husband and I argued which continent has the most countries. He initially said that it was Europe, then agreed with me that’s Africa. Not to be beaten on a geographical question, he suggested a bet that he would name all African countries from memory and would miss no more than 3 of them.
I took out a pen and paper. While we were eating, he named those countries, one by one, and I wrote down what he said. When we returned to the hotel, I checked online the list and, lo and behold, he forgot only 3 African countries out of 55 ‒ Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, and Equatorial Guinea.
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Thanks for the beautiful photos and an interesting story! It’s like Pirates of the Carribean come true:)
Pirates of the Caribbean were real. The most famous of them, Sir Francis Drake raided rich Spanish cities for the glory of the British crown. He was a controversial figure. On one hand, Drake was the most renowned seaman of the Elizabethan Age and he was awarded a knighthood for his sea voyages. On the other, he never missed a chance to loot.