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Cartagena: Safe Haven?
In a region torn by violence, the Colombian resort town offers a
measure of peace.
By
Darryl Fears,
Washington
Post Staff Writer, Sunday, December 29, 2002; Page E01
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The
sun is blazing in a crystal blue sky as I walk through the streets of
Cartagena
,
weaving around hundreds of brown, black and tan pedestrians. These
people are gorgeous, with perfect skin in shades.
Colombia
, lying at
the bottom of an umbilical-cord-like stretch of land that connects
North, Central and South America, has a warm coastal climate and a
landscape of jungle and beaches as
inviting as any in
Venezuela
or
Brazil
.
But drug dealers and revolutionary guerillas have given the country a
decidedly nasty reputation. |
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Colombia
President
Alvaro Uribe Velez has vowed to restore
Colombia
's good name.
Unfortunately, drug dealers actions, overshadow
Colombia
's
worth as a tourist destination.
Cartagena
is a favorite vacation spot for hip young Colombians from
Bogota
, Caliand
Medellin. You can find them playing and kissing in El Parque Nacional
Tayrona,where the flora is lush and the beaches pristine. |
Canadians and Europeans, especially Germans, also
flock to
Cartagena
.
They are more adventurous than Americans, traveling through a country
with a dense jungle, deep emerald mines and hundreds of miles of
warm-water beaches. The government protects
Cartagena
, its main tourist
destination, with patrolling soldiers, military outposts and a naval
base. |
 |
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Cartagena
de
Indias
was founded by
Spain
in 1533 and served as a major port for the trade of slaves, gold and
shipping cargo. As an African American, I want to know more about the
city's history as a first stop for hundreds of thousands of slaves
entering
Latin America
. I want to
see first-hand what the slaves built here, to learn how they were
treated by the Spanish during the Inquisition, and how they became an
integral part of Colombian society. I want to see the
Inquisition Museum
, with its exhibits on
the history of torture, including |
| the instruments that carried it out. Then there is the
Hotel Santa Clara, formerly a monastery, that served as the seat of
the Inquisition Tribunal for
Spain
when it was built
around 1770. Decisions on how to convert African slaves to Catholicism,
sometimes under the threat of torment, were made there. |
But
things change. Last year, for the first time ever, a
dark-complexioned, drop-dead gorgeous descendant of those slaves was
named Miss
Colombia
.
I saw dozens of women in the streets, chatting with friends, darting
into storefronts and typing in Internet cafes, who could have
replaced her in an emergency.
After I arrive in the city, my head is on a
swivel, looking for thedangers I'd read about. But what I find are
smiling faces on men. Like many other
Caribbean
residents, most Cartagenans are dirt-poor |
|
.
A short walk away is the city square, with its cheap fine dining,
museums,grocery store and a Citibank branch with an ATM. A lone guard
with a sidearmchecks my camera bag at the door. He is backed up by an
intimidating military forcein and around the city: some 2,000
soldiers, sailors and police officers armed to theteeth with machine
guns . |
|
Early Saturday morning, Karla and I join her cousins,
Lucena and Rene, on a trip to El Mercado de Bazurto, a local fish
market run by black fishermen. Lucena wonders why Americans are so
afraid of
Cartagena
.
"It is beautiful and safe," she says. She's not so sure
about the mountainous regions in other parts of the country, where
Uribe has vowed to fight a civil war if needed, to oust the
guerrillas.. Right now, terrorists couldn't be further from my mind. |
We are on our way to Islas del Rosario, a chaotic
stretch of rocks that are to
Cartagena
what the Florida Keys are to
Miami
.
About two hours later, we are docking at the Hotel San Pedro de
Majagua, the cheaper, less pretentious sister hotel of the
Santa Clara
,
where we are greeted with smiles and fruit juice. Off-white huts with
spacious rooms, king-size beds and stand-up showers are set against a
jungle backdrop. Palm fronds billow in the breeze like living room
curtains swaying in an open window. |
|
Within
minutes, Karla and I are about a mile out to sea, breathing through
spouts. The vendor is our guide. Out of nowhere the ocean floor drops to
a depth of about 40 feet. Colorful fish speed past me in enormous
schools. My eyes are popping now.
As we
eat, the rain returns, so we head back across the open sea to
Cartagena
. I want
to visit the San Felipe de Barajas castle, one of the oldest buildings
in
Colombia
,
with panoramic views of the city.
Standing
on the castle walls, I look left toward the sea. On the right is Boca
Grande, a miles-long stretch of beach lined with condos that, in spots,
looks like
Miami Beach
.
In the center of it all is the
Old
City
,
surrounded by a great stone wall that was built in the early 1600s to
keep out a string of invaders.
|
Slaves built this castle. It was the scene of the
largest-ever naval invasion before D-Day, when British Admiral Edward
Vernon
tried to take
Cartagena
.
Vernon
was smacked down by a
one-eyed, one-handed, peg-legged castle defender named Don Blas de
Lezo. Unfortunately, de Lezo was mortally wounded in the fighting in
1741and was buried in a place no one has managed to find for more
than two centuries. He is honored with a statue in front of the
castle, holding a sword and standing on his one good leg. |
Cartagena
was saved, but
the slaves weren't freed until decades later. They mixed with
indigenous Indians and Spaniards, following a trend that played out
along the coasts of
Honduras
,
Guatemala
and
Cuba
.
Rene
and Lucena are taking us on another outing, this time to La Playa Oro,
we pass a major military checkpoint, dust flying behind us on a lonely
road. "Tranquilo," Rene says, with a glance at my concerned
face. Stay calm. The beach is no more than 10 steps away. A waiter
brings a selection of fish, asks which one we want, fries it. We frolic
and relax on the warm beach for hours. At the end of the day, the
waiter washes the sand from our bare feet before we swivel them into
the car.
Back
in
Cartagena
,
Karla and I return to our favorite restaurant, Cafe del Santisimo, in
a neighborhood filled with shops and discos. As we walk, a stranger
approaches us, wanting to chat.
"Where
are you from?" he asks in Spanish. He pulls out a
Florida
driver's license. "I lived in
Miami
," he says, "but I
came back here. I love
Cartagena
."
And
so do I, my friend. So do
I.
"Darryl Fears is a reporter on The Post's national staff." |
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GETTING
THERE: American Airlines flies to
Miami
,
where you can pick up a direct connection to
Cartagena
on Colombian Aces Airlines.
Round-trip flights start at about $700.
GETTING
AROUND: Most points of interest in
Cartagena
's
Old
City
are within walking
distance. If you can't get to your destination on foot, the area is
swarmingwith cheap yellow cabs.
--
Darryl Fears © 2002 The Washington Post Company
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