Cartagena

Click here for a captioned photo gallery of Cartagena.

Cartagena is the caribbean regions economic hub and was part of the Spanish crown for more than 250 years. It was also a major trading port for the slaves brought to the "New World". Slaves were used to; clear the cane for roads, plunder graves for valuables and to build forts and such. Gold being shipped back to Spain left from Cartagena, making it a huge target for repeated attacks by "Pirates" of various flags, resulting in the construction of massive fortifications to protect against such attacks. One such attack by England in 1741 had the combined forces of 23,600 men and 186 ships from British and American clolonial troops. The Battle of Cartagena de Indias lasted weeks, but the Britsh forces simply could not capture the Fortress of San Felipe that is heavily featured in my photo gallery. News of Englands defeat echoed around the world. Spain was able to maintain control of the hugely profitable Caribbean region and continue its empire until the 19th century. Cartagena was also a base for the Spanish Inquisition. The Inquisition was notable for it´s lack of external funding. It paid for it´s existance based on the of seized assets of those found guilty, hmmmm do you think that might be a conflict of interest? I have been meeting interesting people like Bradford from Montana who is on a Central and South American adventure to make a white water rafting video. You can check him out at http://www.theshuttlerig.blogspot.com/. For some more information on Cartagena.