Cartagena de Indias is the undisputed queen of the Caribbean coast, a fairy-tale city of romance, legends and superbly preserved beauty lying within an impressive 13km of centuries-old colonial stone walls. Cartagena's old town is a Unesco World Heritage site – a maze of cobbled alleys, balconies covered in bougainvillea, and massive churches that cast their shadows across plazas. www.lonelyplanet.com/colombia/caribbean-coast/cartagena/i...

It was too funny watching the tour group park their Segway's outside the Santo Domingo church on Plaza Santo Domingo. I think the tour guide may have thought he was trying to heard cats! Segway® Cartagena is a Colombian venture, created to offer an innovative tour service onboard personal transporters with the latest technology called Segways. Guided tours have always been the way of choice to explore Cartagena’s walled city. Segway Pt s bring an additional element of fun and entertainment, because instead of having to walk long journeys under the inclement tropical weather, or be confined to a bus or a horse carriage, visitors can choose to glide through the streets of the walled city and its world famous historic landscapes.

After breaking away from the hoard of taxi service providers at the Cruise ship terminal exit, we made our way to the old walled city. This is typical of the streets in the old town. Wooden balconies are a common site. The Port, Fortresses and Group of Monuments that consitute Cartagena were unscripted as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1984. Situated in a bay in the Caribbean Sea, Cartagena has the most extensive fortifications in South America. A system of zones divides the city into three neighbourhoods: San Pedro, with the cathedral and many Andalusian-style palaces; San Diego, where merchants and the middle class lived; and Gethsemani, the 'popular quarter'.

Cartagena de Indias is the undisputed queen of the Caribbean coast, a fairy-tale city of romance, legends and superbly preserved beauty lying within an impressive 13km of centuries-old colonial stone walls. Cartagena's old town is a Unesco World Heritage site – a maze of cobbled alleys, balconies covered in bougainvillea, and massive churches that cast their shadows across plazas. www.lonelyplanet.com/colombia/caribbean-coast/cartagena/i...

Ciudad Amurallada. Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.

Mount Monserrate

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Cheryl-Ann at the market on the summit of Mount Monserrate.

Monserrate Sanctuary is a Catholic shrine in Bogotá, Colombia. The sanctuary was built between 1650 and 1657 and is 3,152 metres above sea level.

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The Castillo San Felipe de Barajas is a fortress in the city of Cartagena, Colombia. The castle is located on the Hill of San Lázaro in a strategic location, dominating approaches to the city by land or sea. It was built by the Spanish during the colonial era. Construction began in the year 1536, and it was originally known as the Castillo de San Lázaro, It was expanded in 1657. [...]. The fortification consists of a series of walls, wide at the base and narrow toward the parapet, forming a formidable pattern of bunkers. The batteries and parapets protect one another, so making it practically impossible to take a battery without taking the whole defence system. The castle is striking for its grand entrance and its complex maze of tunnels. It is the most formidable defensive complex of Spanish military architecture. It is 41 meters (135 ft.) above sea level.[3] The castle is well preserved. When it ceased to be used for military purposes, tropical vegetation covered the battlements and walls, and soil accumulated in the tunnels and trenches. In 1984, UNESCO listed the castle, with the historic centre of the city of Cartagena, as a World Heritage Site. Since 1990, the castle has served as a location for social and cultural events offered by the Colombian government in honour of foreign delegations at presidential summits, ministerial meetings, the Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (1995)[4] and the Summit of the Rio Group (2000),[5] among others. The castle is open to visitors. Wikipedia

Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas, Cartagena, Colombia Wikipedia says: The Castillo San Felipe de Barajas is a fortress in the city of Cartagena, Colombia. The castle is located on the Hill of San Lázaro in a strategic location, dominating approaches to the city by land or sea. It was built by the Spanish during the colonial era. Construction began in the year 1536, and it was originally known as the Castillo de San Lázaro, It was expanded in 1657. The fortress was begun in 1536. It was significantly expanded in 1657. It was built in a triangular shape on top of the hill, with eight guns and a garrison of 20 soldiers and 4 gunners. Its name was given in honour of Philip IV of Spain. Another expansion was made to the fortress in 1763 by Antonio de Arévalo. In the 1697 raid on Cartagena, during the War of the Grand Alliance, the castle fell to the French privateer Baron de Pointis. The castle was repaired by José de Herrera y Sotomayor in 1739. British Admiral Edward Vernon attacked the fortress in the 1741 Battle of Cartagena de Indias, an important conflict of the War of Jenkins' Ear. Vernon's forces were repelled by the Spanish admiral Blas de Lezo.