Location: Cartagena, Spain
The sun was just rising as we got up. The days have been growing light later and later, so we got to watch the glow of the orange sun come up with our yogurt and granola breaky. After breakfast, we spent some time tidying up Argo after our cozy Harry Potter movie night. Although the floating candles and letters of the Great Hall got taken down, we still have pumpkins gracing our tables and some spooky skulls to keep the October spirit alive.
By the time Argo’s salon was looking shiny and her decks freshly washed, we packed some lunches to go and set off on our hike for the day. Destination: Fuerte de Navidad at the entrance of the harbor. We walked along an incredibly tall wall blocking off a military section of the city before following a dried-up river lined with Eucalyptus trees. The road carried us out onto the headland and the fort itself, which sat next to a lighthouse. We had lunch on the break wall with crashing waves on one side and a view of the whole protected bay on the other. Gorgeous stuff! A group of us wandered up to the fort after and watched a quick video on the history of Cartagena as a military port of Spain and its various lighthouses and forts built throughout the centuries. We followed a little staircase up to the lookout and were greeted by a lone standing and fully stocked vending machine! A choch-y milk, iced tea, sparkly water, and some sneaky snackies later, a group of us looked out over the coastline, imagining what it must be like to have stood there in the 1600sdefinitely vending machine-less.
Once back on board Argo, everyone had a wonderful Oceanography lecture before dinner. Then we munched on curry and naan bread before our super special secret surprise of the evening….pumpkin painting!!! Feat. Jellyfish Pumpkin, the Addams Family, Sharkie, Sunflower Pumpkin, captain Jack’o’lantern Sparrow, and spooky barbie, amongst many more. Then, folks played a few rounds of pool on Argo’s new mini pool table before heading to bed after another wonderful full day.