I had to spend almost 2 hours now to completely recharge the battery of the camera. Within a city this was not really a problem, in small villages or in nature this could easily turn into a real challenge or even be impossible. Anyway it looked like that the battery would definitely give up sooner or later and I had to start looking for a replacement here or elsewhere. If I could not find a store here in Colombia, here in Cartagena de Indias, in Barranquilla, in Medellin or in Cali the best place would have to be Panama City. If really nothing, nothing works then I would have no other option but to order a battery via internet, halt the journey and wait for delivery.
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The airport was located close to the beach and I walked the 5 kilometers to the historical center along the beach promenade; it was hot and the backpack was heavy and seemed to get heavier the more I walked. I was still a good bit away from the historical center when the battery of the camera let me down.
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I needed a cyber to have access to the internet, check my finance, check the monthly payments and now as well to recharge the battery. I entered about 5 cyber in the historical center; no Wifi, no direct cable but all with ignorant staff. I entered the 6th cyber, Frank’s cyber and Frank appeared to have a technical understanding. He responded to my questions and offered me a plastic chair in his tiny but overcrowded shop. I connected the charger and the computer, the assistant entered the key and I had access, finally. I was relieved for a second just to be worried in the next; no transfers had been made.
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I could not get the monthly payments for January out of my head. The office manager had not replied to my messages, my ex business partner had not replied to my messages and I knew that I would have a problem with my house bank and even worse I would have a problem with the credit card issuer. My ex business partner will have numerous excuses for not having done the transfer with the best excuse being the holidays. If not the holidays, he will have numerous other excuses at hand, typical Mediterranean/South American character. I was angry, I was sad, I was worried. I was thinking of my baby Matilda.
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I had spent 3 hours with Frank and had tried to resolve the monthly payments but now I could do no more and I had to go for a walk to clear my head a bit, to distract my head a bit and try to enjoy the historical center a bit. First I went to the main entrance gate and then along the outside wall towards the port area where I could see already from the distance the white marine school sailing ship with a huge Colombian flag and a huge crowd of visitors standing in line waiting to enter.
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Right next to the sailing ship was the entrance to the tourist port and again a huge crowd of visitors standing in line waiting to enter. Sales people were primarily offering the tour to the island of Rosario with its white sandy beaches, I was tempted.
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The historical center was basically within the old defense walls and had become now an international tourist magnet within the big, grown and industrial city of Cartagena de Indias. For today I had decided to just walk the fortress, just walk the stone wall. The stone wall was well preserved, maybe well restored, quiet wide and allowed a good walk; I passed several old internal ramps, entrance gates and lookout points which had now been transformed into restaurants with terraces which allowed the visitor an elevated scenic view onto the historical streets and the sea. All historical buildings were restored and now home to fancy restaurants, boutique hotels or modern fashion, jewelry or art shops. I walked around the historical center, down to the beach, had a glimpse of the sunset and went back home, home to the airport.
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