Cartagena, Colombia

After leaving the Dominican Republic, our next port of call was Cartagena in Colombia. This was my first time to Colombia, as a visit in Jan 2022 was cancelled as the ship wasn't allowed in.

Was out on deck just before 7 am as we were approaching the large bay of Cartagena de Indias. 

 The modern skyscrapers again looked like Panama City. It was more built up than I expected. It is a major port on the Caribbean. It is named after Cartagena in Spain and was founded 1533. Saw pelicans and gulls and terns. The cruise port is on an island opposite the city.

Monument to the Virgin -

Leaving the cruise terminal you walk through the Port Oasis eco park. This was a wonderful place and my next blog will be just on the park. Outside the terminal gates, I negotiated a taxi with 3 other people and this took us into town. The traffic was awful and it took ages. We passed the fort on the hill. This along with the port and other monuments make up the UNESCO World Heritage status, "Port, Fortresses and Group of Monuments, Cartagena". "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'."

The taxi dropped us off in the centre and we started to walk around. 

Plaza de La Trinidad (Trinity Square) and Iglesia de la Trinidad (Church of the Holy Trinity) in Getsemaní. The declaration of independence took place here in 1811. The church dates to 1643 -

Getsemaní used to be a rough and dangerous area, a slum, but now it is full of culture with colour everywhere, lots of backpacker hostels and trendy bars and hotels.

Our next stop was Centenario Park, between Getsemani and the city walls. This is in the heart of the city and I was amazed to find there are sloths and tamarins here. It is not sure how they got here, they must have been brought in by people. According to Shoestring Safari, the tamarins are of 2 species, the white-footed and cotton-top. The sloths are brown-throated sloths. There are guides in the park that can show visitors the animals and they are also there to protect them. However it was easy to locate the animals as there was a large group of humans below them, pointing cameras. My photos aren't that good as the sloths were high in the trees and the sun was bright -

We then headed over to the city walls and the main gate, Puerta del Reloj-

Inside the city walls, the buildings are mostly all renovated and very colourful. It reminded me of Penang or Malacca in Malaysia.

After a lot of wandering we were in need of a beer -

Then after a quick look at some shops we got a taxi back to the terminal and the Eco Park.

Gibraltar's Barbary Apes

Gibraltar is well known for its Barbary Apes. It is the only place in Europe to have wild monkeys. They are actually monkeys, despite being called apes. And these Barbary Apes or Barbary Macaques are only found in the wild on Gibraltar and in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. The word Barbary comes from the Berber people in Morocco.

There are several troops of apes living on the rock, numbering about 250 individuals. Occasionally some of them venture into town. They are all monitored and have frequent health checks and population controls. They are also fed and watered every day. They have a longer life span than those in Morocco.

The first troop I saw was outside St Michael's Cave. They mostly ignored visitors as they were well fed - there was a lot of food on the ground for them.

The next troop I saw was at a viewpoint. One obligingly posed for photos.

The next lot I saw was on the observation deck at the top of the cable car ride. One suddenly tried to
grab my backpack that I was wearing. I was a bit puzzled as I knew there was no food inside, so assumed it was just being cheeky and trying its luck. However the next moment it jumped onto my back. I tried unsuccessfully to shake it off but it was holding tight. It soon jumped off, sat down and I realised it had got 2 wrapped mints that had been in the small front pocket. The ape had unzipped this pocket and removed the sweets, thankfully leaving everything else in place. It then turned its back on me and ate the sweets. I'm amazed it had been able to smell the sweets from a distance.

There are plenty of signs up reminding visitors not to feed the apes, and warnings that the apes will
snatch plastic bags. But there was no sign about them unzipping backpacks! The thefts from bags is mentioned on Wikipedia.

I later saw this couple. They reminded me of an old married couple settled down in front of the tv,
sharing a bag of crisps. They had obviously stolen the crisps from a visitor.

Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory. There is a legend that as long as the monkeys stay on Gibraltar, the territory will remain under British rule. 

Silvered langur monkey in Kuala Lumpur

At dusk I heard the birds shrieking in the trees outside my kitchen window and to my huge surprise I saw a monkey sitting in the tree. It was eating and seemed unconcerned by the birds. Unfortunately it was getting dark and I wasn't able to take great photos.

I assumed it was a long tailed macaque but when I looked at my photos, I realised it is a silvered langur, Trachypithecus cristatus. It was on its own. I have no idea what it is doing so close to the city as normally these monkeys are found in coastal or rivers. There are plenty at Bukit Melawati at Kuala Selangor and those are a tourist attraction.

 

 

According to the IUCN Red List it is 'near threatened' and only occurs in Peninsula Malaysia along the western coastal strip.

 

 

 

 

Macaques playing at Ao Nang beach, Krabi, Thailand

The monkeys at the end of Ao Nang beach are really comical. They are long tailed macaques and compared to those at Batu Caves in Malaysia, they are far less aggressive. The ones at Batu Caves will grab anything being carried by visitors in the hope that it will be edible. They have stolen valuables such as passports and wallets and handbags and became a real nusiance. They used intimiation techniques to scare the visitors to drop whatever they are carrying.
The monkeys at Ao Nang are very different. They don't seem to bother too much about the visitors. OK they check them out to see if anyone is obviously holding food, but they make no attempt to grab anything. And they seem to understand that cameras are not food, even when the humans point the cameras just inches from the monkey.

There is a notice by the shrine asking visitors not to feed the monkeys here. A man from the Last Cafe keeps a watch and when too many monkeys congregate in this area, he sends them back using a catapult. It's not done to harm the monkeys, just chase them away. But it only lasts a minute and then they come back.

The monkeys make good use of the tree branch to cross the small section of stream to get onto the beach.

 Sometimes there were so many leaping from the beach onto the branch that they were double parked on the branch!

Others don't mind getting wet and will happily drop into the water from the high branches and then swim across. They are good swimmers, doing a doggy paddle.
Many were happily playing in the water and some were really competent at swimming underwater. But there were some who preferred not to get wet.

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission