Retiring
In Cartagena
In Colombia ~ by George Harrs
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| Colombia,
are you nuts? You might well ask this question if you haven’t visited this
enchanting city and not many North Americans have. Cartagena is a jewel
in the Caribbean and I’m not the only one who feels that way. Cartagena
is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is a favorite vacation and retirement
destination for many thousands of Europeans and Colombians. Let’s put one
thing to rest right now, Cartagena, Colombia is a very safe place to live
or visit. In fact, it is far safer than many cities in North America.
Perhaps if
you knew a little bit about the city and its history you’d understand why
it is so special. Cartagena de Indies, Colombia is named after the famous
city of Cartagena, in Spain. It was founded in 1533 by Pedro de Heredia
as an Amerindian trading post and it prospered and started to grow. In
1552 fire reduced the small town to ashes and Governor Heredia (the same)
decreed that all buildings be made of stone from that point forward. This
decree is one of the reasons so many colonial buildings have survived to
the present day. Because of its well-protected harbor Cartagena became
the staging area for the Spanish treasure fleets. The plundered treasure
from Peru and Ecuador was ferried up the Pacific coast to Panama, taken
across the isthmus by mule train (no canal in those days) and loaded on
the Galleons which then made the short sail to Cartagena where they were
provisioned and picked up more treasure brought down the Rio (river) Magdalena
from the interior of Colombia. In order to protect the ships carrying these
goods, so they would not have to sail out into the Caribbean and down the
coast, the Spanish built a canal from the mouth of the Magdalena to Cartagena
114 Kilometers long. |
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| Shot from
the sky of Bocagrande, Castillogrande and Ligito. (Photos by Peter
Van Dijck: Click Here to see
more photos of Colombia) |
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This was the
largest colonial project the Spanish ever undertook in the new world and
it is still in use today. This along with the slave trade made Cartagena
the wealthiest city in the new world, many of its citizens would have been
multi-millionaires today and they built the beautiful churches and large
colonial homes which give the city its charm and beauty. All of this wealth
did not escape the attention of Spain’s rivals and Cartagena was constantly
under the threat of attack by pirates and privateers alike. Such famous
or infamous individuals as Robert Baal, John Hawkins, Jean-Bernard Desjeans,
Jean Ducasse and Sir Francis Drake all attacked Cartagena, some with more
success than others. The most famous was Admiral Edward Vernon, sent by
King George II in 1741 with a fleet of 186 ships and 20,000 men he was
to take control of Cartagena for the English Crown. He didn’t fair so well,
the small garrison of defenders, some 3000 men, lead by General Basco de
Lezo, drove the English back to the sea. It is said that General Lezo truly
inspired his men as he continued in the fray after loosing an arm, a leg
and an eye in the fighting. By this time the Spanish Crown had grown disgusted
with all of this plundering of their plunder so they decided to really
fortify the city. It had been fortified in a piecemeal fashion prior to
this time. The resulting military fortifications are the largest and most
extensive in the new world. The Fortress of Castillo San Felipe de Barajas
and the city’s 7 miles of walls and other ramparts and forts are truly
a sight to behold. Apparently the King made the comment that he had spent
so much money on this project that he should be able to see it from his
palace in Madrid. Unfortunately for him these fortifications could not
protect his empire from the wrath of his own subjects as less than 50 years
after their completion the people of Colombia threw off the yoke of Spanish
oppression. Led by the Great South American Liberator, Simon Bolivar, they
won their independence in 1821 for good. Several years earlier in 1811
they had declared their independence from Spain but in 1815 the Spanish,
under General Pablo Morillo, recaptured the city slaughtering more than
a third of its inhabitants. The Great Liberator called Cartagena, Ciudad
Heroica, (the heroic city) for the bravery of its citizens in their fight
for Liberty. After independence Cartagena became less important as a seaport,
its fortifications no longer necessary and with no more treasure fleets
Barranquilla, a city further north on the coast, at the mouth of the Magdalena,
became the major Caribbean port in Colombia and Cartagena slipped into
obscurity. But, you know the old saying, when the going gets tough the
tough get going. The citizens of Cartagena would not let their city die.
Over the past 60 years or so Cartagena has made a miraculous come back.
The old city has been largely restored; museums, fine restaurants and many
tourist attractions have made Cartagena a favorite vacation spot for folks
from all over Colombia and Europe. With all of its beaches you might say
that Cartagena is the Miami Beach of Colombia. It is really two cities
in one, the old restored colonial city behind its majestic walls and the
new city with its high-rise condominiums, modern hotels, movie theaters,
shopping districts and restaurants of every description. Since the advent
of containerized freight Cartagena has regained its place as a major seaport.
The city has developed an ultra-modern container facility that rivals any
in the Caribbean. Ships come and go all day long. It has doubled in size
in the past 2 years and just in the past several months’, 2 new giant cargo
cranes have been added to make the port even more competitive. Today, Cartagena
is a vibrant growing city with a myriad of new construction projects, hotels,
condominiums, new retail space and private homes. To be sure it has its
problems just like any other growing city, but the citizens of Cartagena
will solve them just as they have so many times in the past.
You may be
saying, to yourself, gee that’s nice but why would you want to retire and
live there?
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View
of the streets of Cartagena.
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Balcony
of Santa Clara Hotel in the "old city".
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There are
many reasons to consider Cartagena as a place to retire or just to visit.
Not the least of which is the cost of living. With an average exchange
rate of 2600 Pesos to 1 U.S. Dollar, your retirement nest egg will go twice
as far and I mean literally twice as far. With the exception of some imported
goods prices are half what they are in the States or Canada. They manufacture
or grow just about everything here, you will not want for anything. When
was the last time you bought a cart full of groceries for less than a hundred
dollars, I mean everything you need for two for at least a week. You can
take a taxi just about anywhere in the city for less than $2.00. They brew
several brands of local beer; by far the most popular is Aguila, which
sells in the supermarket for around .40 cents a bottle, .75 to 1.25 in
restaurants and on the beach and it’s a nice beer. Many imported brands
are available and will run in the neighborhood of 2.00 per bottle. Colombia
is famous for the rums that are distilled here. From everyday, run of the
mill white rums to delicious aged golden rums, there are many brands to
choose from and they will cost you between 5.00 and 7.00 a bottle. If you
prefer a 12-year-old scotch, you can pay as high as 30.00 per bottle, imported
liquors are heavily taxed and expensive here. Accommodations are far less
than you would expect in a seaside resort. You can rent a fully furnished,
3 bedroom 2 bath air-conditioned apartment including all utilities and
cable TV, on or within a block of the beach and the most you’ll pay in
the high season is $850.00. For a month! That, my friends, is in the high
dollar tourist area, a few blocks off the beaten path you’ll pay 450.00
or less. If you would prefer a nice hotel and I mean nice, not a dump,
25.00 to 35.00 per day, which usually includes a continental breakfast
with coffee. You can also stay at the 5 star Cartagena Hilton, that’s here
too, but you’ll pay it’s imported.
The cost of
a nice apartment here can range from $30,000 to $150,000 Dollars; this
of course is dependent upon location and size. My wife and I purchased
a 3 bedroom 2 bath condominium in a small, low rise, garden apartment complex.
(There are 13 other units in the building) Our apartment is approximately
1300 square feet and is located in the heart of Bocagrande. We are literally
blocks from everything and yet our neighborhood is a quiet residential
area. We paid $42,000 and spent another $20,000 to completely remodel it.
Everything is new except the building, which is about 20 years old and
very well maintained. Another plus, there aren’t any hurricanes here;
Cartagena is well out of the hurricane belt. Let’s make a comparison, an
area with similar weather. South Florida’s Gold Coast, say from Jupiter
to Miami Beach on or near the water. I would conservatively say there is
a 90% difference in the cost of housing alone, plus utilities here are
50% less and taxes are almost non-existent. You can live on a modest pension
here and put money in the bank. Here’s an example. I took my wife, Mariela,
to lunch yesterday, something we do once or twice a week. We go to different
restaurants that are within walking distance from our home. The Dunia,
a two-block walk, was our choice. When we arrived our favorite waiter Juan
greeted us. He seated us on the patio, under an immense Banyan tree, I
prefer to eat outside, Mariela likes the air-conditioned dinning room but
I prevailed, that doesn’t happen often. We ordered and Juan brought me
an ice-cold Aguila and my wife a homemade fruit juice while we waited for
our food. Mariela ordered the Special of the Day, meatloaf with rice, vegetables,
homemade cheese soup and salad with avocado dressing. I had one of my favorites
at the Dunia, a filet with black pepper sauce, baked potato and salad.
We had a second round of drinks and thoroughly enjoyed our lunch. The Dunia
is a family owned affair and is very clean with good service and exceptionally
good food. It’s a medium priced restaurant; our lunch with tip was 27,000
Pesos. (about $10.50)
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Entrance
to Santo Domingo Plaza
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| The "old
city" is in the distance beyond the modern apartment buildings. |
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The second reason
is personal safety. As I said earlier Cartagena is a very safe place to
live and visit. The city is surrounded by water on three sides so there
is really only one way in or out if you’re a bad guy and the police and
military heavily patrol the access roads into and out of the city, in fact
they patrol the majority of the northern coast of Colombia from Cartagena
to Santa Marta. The Colombian Navy is headquartered here on a beautiful
historic naval base with a substantial contingent of Marines. The police
and the military are omnipresent in the city and they don’t put up with
any nonsense. All in all it makes one feel quite safe. Even the Colombians
who come here on vacation marvel at how safe they feel and how tranquil
Cartagena is.
The third reason
is health care, perhaps the most important. It is a fact of life that as
we grow older we require more health care, wish it wasn’t so but it is.
What is the sense of retiring to a beautiful tropical island or some lush
and lovely area in some far away country and building your dream home if
the closest hospital, with a heart trauma unit is two and a half hours
away over some iffy roads? Or worse, you have to be air lifted to another
island or back to the States. Air medical evacuation insurance is expensive
but if you live in many parts of the world or on many islands in the Caribbean
it is a must. If you don’t have it and you require the service it will
cost you dearly as much as $25,000.00. That can put a serious dent in your
retirement account not to mention your chances of survival are greatly
diminished. Cartagena has world-class health facilities, excellent hospitals,
clinics and doctors of every discipline, from brain surgeons to podiatrists
and everything in between, many of them trained in North America and Europe.
Need your teeth fixed? Dental work will cost you 80% less than up north.
Plastic Surgery is peanuts here in comparison to America. Health insurance
is far less expensive, my wife and I pay $32.00US per month for our family
policy and it’s good comprehensive insurance coverage. Yes, we pay a co-payment
when we go to the doctor, 5,000 Pesos, pocket change! I’ll write a separate
article on health care and elective surgery, if you don’t do anything else
just coming here for your dental work and elective surgery will save you
a fortune.
The fourth
thing is places to go, things to do and the people you meet. When you retire
the worst thing you can do is sit around the house and vegetate. There
are so many things to do here. My wife has joined a gym, the Body Tech,
it’s quite a place, it takes up half a city block and it has every conceivable
machine plus aerobics and dance classes, everything you could ever want
in a gym. She goes three or four times a week and she loves it. I prefer
to walk; the city has built a walking path that goes part way around the
harbor. It starts at the Navy Base and goes all the way to the end of Castilogrande.
It takes a little over an hour to make the round trip. I do this four times
a week, grudgingly, but it’s good for my heart and it keeps the blood flowing
so what the heck. We go out to dinner a couple of times a week, do the
happy hour thing once in a while, spend some time at the beach, we try
to go to different beaches when we go. We walk around the old city (Centro)
we always find a new shop or café or see something we didn’t know
was there.. It’s really a neat place. We have made quite a few new friends,
once you live here for a few months you’ll find the folks to be quite friendly,
you do have to learn a little Spanish but that can be fun too. All in all,
Cartagena is a great place to live or visit.
To contact
George Click Here
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