Photos....Cartagena

Here are a few photos...today was a day for walking the beach and the old historic center. This is Las Bovedas...through each of these arches are found artisan shops selling stuff to tourists and way too high prices. This place is a zoo when the cruise ships come into town. And here is a woman selling her fruits, seen atop her head. The blur in the photo is a bird which swooped in!!

Check out this kid's boat...his dad ran down the beach, leaving him in this wooden boat which had to be taking on water. Holes and patches everywhere and he is offloading water as I took the photo.

And this parrot lives here at Las Americas and can be found spying on one at all times of the day and night from any of a number of perches. He is high up in a tree and not cages. He speaks Spanish and whistles at women...not indiscriminately either. He doesn't whistle at me but young sweet things get a piercing man like whistle which often surprises the young women...hard to see where the whistle comes from and most are not expecting it high in a tree or in a bush.

Today was a bit interesting...a day of walking and enjoying the heat and the sun. Forget how fast one can wet one's clothing from sweat in this climate. I walked miles today and while on my morning beach walk, a car tore down the beach at maybe 45 miles per hour. This is highly dangerous and, of course, illegal. The police and security guards from all around were chasing it and yelling ahead. Car was stopped with its front wheels stuck in the sand and surf. Didn't go see what was up because of all of the guns at the ready. Thought it more prudent to walk in the other direction which is where I saw the young boy in his leaking boat.

I mentioned yesterday about the dogs...today in the paper was a story about people stealing pure bred dogs to sell to others. Saw a man with a golden retriever puppy and asked him if he had seen the story in El Universal? He had not but we began talking and his puppy's name is Cumbia, a type of music here in Colombia. He knew of people who had had their beagle stolen...like meeting folks on the street and talking. What is most fun is how surprised they are that I can communicate. I bet they go away and tell their friends they ran into an old gringa who spoke horrid Spanish...but it was amazing that she COULD speak to him/her. Gotta love the surprise part.