Port 65 Cartagena, Spain

by Ed · May 9, 2022

Buenos dias!

It was another rainy morning when we arrived at Cartegena’s port on May 4th, 2022. May the 4th be with you!

Once again, we received steering assistance!

There are some amazing fortresses on the hills guarding the port.

We enter the breakwater with its little lighthouse. More structures are still visible on the hillside!

And even once we’re in the harbor another fortress structure is present!

We dock behind the Royal Caribbean Odyssey of the Seas. She’s huge! 4,800 passengers! (But she’s not the biggest Royal Caribbean ship!)

This beautiful globe on the pier is reminding us where we are supposed to be right now! We originally planned to be cruising around India and on our way to Africa!

We have an excursion today, but it is in the afternoon. So we go for a walk around town in the morning. We see that we can go left or go up – we choose to go up!

In front of the steps we are greeted by King Carlos III. He was responsible for the construction of this wall around Cartagena, so the wall is called the Muralla de Carlos III, and this section is the Muralla del Mar, the Sea Wall.

At the end of what remains of the city wall is a plaza with the Town Hall building, Palacio Consistorial de Cartagena. Beautiful, even in the rain!

We saw this interesting sculture in the middle of a pedestrian walk. It is the Monument to the Processionists.

Around the corner is this stunning building – the Gran Hotel!

This made me laugh!

And so did this! Amen!

Now it’s time to climb on the bus! We’re going on a tour called “Horses & Flavors of Cartagena”.

We drive past this hospital, and we’re told the strange shape serves two purposes – first, it makes the structure “disappear” by helping it blend into the mountains behind it, and second, the screen provides shade and airflow that keep the hospital cooler, taking a load off the air conditioning system!

We arrive at the small family-owned horse ranch called Maipe where they breed and train award winning PRE (Pura Raza Espaniola) Andalusian horses!

While we await instructions on where to go first, in the stables someone is watching us! After learning about these horses I can now confidently say this is one of their stallions!

We are not allowed to enter the stables due to COVID restrictions. Even horses can get COVID!

We are taken around to the back of the house. This is a beautiful little estate! We are told this is normally where the horses would be brought to educate and entertain us, but because of the continuous rains we will go indoors, which is the lower roofed area we see in the distance.

The have a lovely mural on the wall showcasing their accomplishments!

This is the covered show area. The little dog is one of seven who greeted us today, and he is the one who hung out with us the most! He loved attention!

We are introduced to Milo and his handler, Jose Carlos. Milo is a stallion, 15.2 “wrists” (we say hands) high, and checks in a around 1,500 lbs. He is considered a gray in color, born dark and lightened with age. We were introduced to the breed, how gentle and calm they are, how to recognize the breed, how they are branded (including a secret brand), how to recognize a stallion from a mare, what records are kept for the pedigree, and what the farm does in terms of keeping and training or selling the horses. In Milo’s case he is no longer a show horse, but has a great lineage and is used for stud.

He is very gentle, and we are allowed to get photos with him! He nuzzled my hand!

Jose removed Milo, and a few minutes later there was a small stampede as two dozen horses came running in!

These are all mares and their foals!

The foals stayed close to their mothers. The youngest foal was only three days old! (Not this one)

Mares at this and most other farms are kept with their manes, forelocks, and tails trimmed, and they receive their brand on the right flank. So at a glance it is easy to identify a mare from a stallion without having to look underneath the horse! This is why I could say that first horse we saw is a stallion – he still has his forelock!

Then we had a treat! Mamen, a professional and award winning dancer who’s real name is Carmen, came out and performed a couple of dances for us! She was fabulous!

Then Corsario, another stallion, came and joined Mamen in dancing! This is really a dynamic combination that needs to be seen live or in video, so I’ll just give you a handful of photos. It was amazing to see the horse stepping in time to the music! (I’ll apologize up front for the quality of these shots – the lighting was bad, and some shots are taken from videos.)