MUNGO EATS Latin America

Here we are…still in Cartagena, waiting for the van.  Remember when we left the van in Colo’n and it was too wet to put the van in a container?  Apparently it was too wet for the van to get shipped at the right time as well, so we are STILL vanless.  We know it is in transit at the moment and we think it is supposed to arrive in port tonight, 5pm apparently, then hopefully it gets unloaded this evening and we can get it back tomorrow.  That is what we are banking on.  If for some reason it is not available to retrieve tomorrow, then we are stuck without the van until Monday.  Keep your fingers crossed. 

Kevin and I thought we would be really smart and try to do some of the paperwork on this end before the van arrives, since retrieval of the van is supposedly a 5 hour process.  I think there are about 10 steps you have to follow before you  get into your van and ride off into the sunset.  We completed Step 1.  At Step 2 we were told that we had to wait until the van arrived.  Oh well, so much for that great idea!!  The good thing is that we visited  the port, found the shipping office, found the bank, found the customs offices and now we know where everything is.  The dock on this side seems a lot less hectic than on the Panamanian side.  All the offices are in buildings that you walk into, so there should be no yelling through small glass windows.  Also, all the offices are AIR CONDITIONED!!!  AAHHH!!  I like Colombia much better  than Panama.  I’ll see if that holds after we go through all the steps of getting the van back. 

There are really 2 reasons why I feel STUCK here.  The first is that it is HOT.  Most days it is about 33-35 degrees, with 75-85 % humidity.  HOT.  Luckily, in the evening it cools off to a nice 28 degrees.  Aahh…fresh! Just in case I failed to mention it, our room is not air conditioned.  We do have a fan, and that is what is keeping us “cool”.  Once we leave Cartagena, we head to higher ground and cooler temperatures.  Man, what I wouldn’t do to have to put on a layer!!  Also, we seem to be running out of things to do in this town.  we have visited all the museums, have done all the souvenir shopping we need to do, have walked around the old town and sat around the old town absorbing the atmosphere, now it is time to go.

Yesterday we visited the gold museum.  We saw some nice pieces.  It is amazing that we use the same goldsmith techniques today as they did 2000 years ago.  Here are some pictures of some of the cool pieces.

Oh, and check out these urns that they would put remains into.  Wouldn’t you like to have that on your mantle, instead of the “tasteful” urns we use now? Much more fun!!

I have written  about Mungo’s fame, but the subject begs to be readdressed.  I know that we have had our issues with travelling with a large beasty, but I have to tell you, when you see “the Mungo effect” on a daily basis, it is more than worth the effort. 

He IS a superstar.  People CONTINUOSLY stop us on our walks to talk to us about “el perro”.  We have had at least 3 different people ask us if we will sell him to them, we have had at least that many again ask us where they can buy one like him, and how much it would cost.  We have even had one fellow ask us if he could buy one of Mungo’s “children” (of which he has NONE).  He is the ultimate icebreaker and people who likely would not stop to talk to us, will stop to ask about the dog.  They all ask what kind of dog he is, and their eyebrows all lift when they find out the breed was used for hunting lions.  We had one fellow approach us in the airport and ask about Mungo, then he whipped out his cell phone and walked us through picture after picture of his 3 dogs.  Everyone asks what the dog’s name is and the universal response is…”Mango, like the food?”  His name always precipitates a smile.  By the way, the second question is “does he bite?”.

The response is either 100% positive or 100% “holy crap”.  People are either drawn towards the large dog, or hurriedly cross the street to get away from him.  Either parents try to push their small children towards him, or they scoop the kids up in their arms and rush away from the dangerous beast. 

I  gotta tell you though, when people like him, they LOVE him!!!  They will run out of their houses, or places of business to say “buenas dias Mungo”.  Forget about the poor saps that walk the dog 2 or 3 times a day, we do not get a greeting, but the dog…you bet! 

The hostel we are staying in today has a lady that is totally in love with the hound.  He can’t be within 10 feet of her without stimulating her to start cooing and cawing, “Hola Mangito, bonito, mi perro……”  It’s a 5 minute distraction every time we leave the room.  And now she has to show him to her friends, so whenever her friends visit the hotel, she asks if they can meet Mungo, and could I please show them the tricks that he can do?  Then they cheer and clap and Mungo is in dog heaven!!!  All this attention for little old me?  The room we are  in has a large double door and 2 windows, that open onto a patio right next to the office.    While we are in the room, the door and the windows stay open otherwise we would bake in the room.  Mungo’s biggest fan is constantly peering in the window and clicking at him, saying hello.  I tell you, the gal is out of control.

And I have to say, some people are very, very strange with him.  Many people reach down and pet him as he walks by, but they often pet him on the butt after his maw has safely passed by.  People will move out of his way, but then they click their tongues at him, or whistle to get his attention,  or wiggle their fingers in front of him.  Yesterday a guy stopped to chat with me and after a few minutes started rubbing his head, petting his ridge backwards, then he slapped Mungo’s butt and finally he picked up one of his feet.  Honestly, it is a good thing he is so well adjusted, the kids have him well desensitized. 

He has been asked into restaurants, museums and chicken buses…just another day in the life of the famous dog!

If Cartagena is anything, it is a little boy’s fantasy.  Where else can you stand on city walls, explore a fortress, complete with secret tunnels, see pirate ships, view implements of torture, etc. ?

Sean is having a great time in this town.  Yesterday we walked into the old walled city again.  At the harbour were two “pirate ships”.  These were replicas which I believe you can now buy a ticket for to take tours of the harbours.  They were complete with small cannons and a skull and crossbones flag. 

Okay, the next exciting thing may not be in Sean’s dreams, but it was fun all the  same.  What is a holiday without a good “feeding of the pigeons” session?  The kids had a great time with this.  They were extremely cheap with the corn kernels and managed to stretch this feeding time out to almost 1/2 an hour.  Not bad for 25 cents!

We also visited the Museum of the Inquisition, which held a display of torture devices, all of which delighted Sean immensely!  (He is a morbid little boy!)

This is not part of Sean’s dreams either, but it did get Kevin going…barrels of rum!!  Really!!

Today we visited the old fortress, Castillo de San Felipe de Baranjas.  It was pretty cool (well actually, it was stinking hot, but it was neat to see).  There were turrets,

cannons,

and secret tunnels.

The tunnels were sparsely lit with lights, but we followed one tunnel down into complete darkness.  Every once in a while, we would snap a picture, so we could get an idea of where the tunnel was going, and the rest of the time, we tried to use the light from the LCD screen on the back of the camera to dimly light the way.  Eventually we got to a point where the tunnel was starting to fill with water though, and decided to abandon the effort.

Very, very spooky!!!!! 

Definitely a place for little boys!!

I had some fun at an old fortress today!!!!  The bad part was the heat.  The good part is that I got a mini cannon at the top!!!!!  Oh,, and I got to go spelunking in some tunnels.  With mom, dad and Sara of course. The first ones were ok but the last one was AWESOME!!!!  For one reason it started in a fork!!  The 2 paths met up.  Lucky for us they did!  Sara and dad went one way, mom and I the other.  The soldiers would live in little dents in the wall of a tunnel.  This couldn’t be comfy.  The dents were a bit smaller in length than a single-sized bed and just as wide.  The tunnel roofs were too small for mom and dad to fit standing up, so they looked like hunchbacks when we finally got out.  There was a HUGE hill descending down into the darkness.   Yes, I think this

was happening for an hour or half an hour before Sara said the hill stopped.

After the hill the electric lights did not work.  I don’t even think there were any!  What you see here is a picture so we could see what was ahead of us.

I am sorry that I didn’t post yesterday, I was exhausted!!!  We are in Cartagena at the moment and we will be here for at least the next 5 or 6 days while we wait for our van.  It is supposed to leave Panama tomorrow and requires a day to reach this city.  I don’t know how long it will take for the ship to be unloaded, and that is why I am unsure how long we will be here. 

Let me tell you about yesterday.  I barely slept thinking about all the things that could go wrong;  Mungo would have no papers, our taxi would not arrive, the folks in Cartagena would find something wrong with Mungo’s papers, etc.  Also, I HATE flying.  I am not afraid of flying, I just HATE it.  I hate being crammed into a plane with a bunch of strangers, I hate the smell of the jet fuel, really, if I did not have to fly (or if 6 days on a boat was the only other option), I  would not fly.  In the morning though, everything went quite well.  Mungo got a nice walk along the seawall for the last time, our cab driver  was actually early and he got us to the vet clinic via some shortcut way that saved us a lot of time.  The clinic had Mungo’s papers ready in a folder and handed them to me as I walked in the door (THANK GOD), and we were at the airport just a bit before noon, which was when they  asked us to be there with Mungo.  Our plane was on time.  We got to Colombia without too much turbulence.  Mungo was waiting in the baggage claim, a little freaked out, but otherwise unharmed.  He did pee in his crate which was unfortunate, so his bed was a bit wet and stinky, and I don’t think he will let us out of his sight for a few days, but otherwise he is just fine.  We found a cab the moment we stepped out of the airport and even though it was only a sedan, he insisted that we would all fit, plus the dog crate, plus 4 backpacks.  The kennel took up all the truck space plus more, it had to be tied into the trunk.  The two large backpacks took up the front seat, which meant that 4 people, two kids backpacks and a large, rather freaked out dog had to cram into the back seat!!!  Wow!  Our cab driver knew where our hostel was and he agreed to stop at an ATM on the way so we could gather some pesos.  The hostel is a little shabbier than the last place, and the “kitchen” is just a little corner with a sink and a two burner stove, but we can handle this for a few days.  We don’t really have a lot of options with regards to lodging.  It is “festival week” and there are various events going on daily in celebration of Independence, so we will tough it out here for the week. 

So why Crazy Cartagena?  Well, a few hours after we arrived there was a big commotion on the street and we realized a parade was going by.  What is it with Latinos and parades??  Anyway, this was a much different parade than we have become accustom to, no marching bands at ALL.  There were some drummers, but they were just keeping the beat for the Caribbean style dancers.  The parade was actually in celebration of Sexual Diversity, so in addition to folk dancing groups, there were a lot of very flamboyant characters, and  a fair share of drag queens.   There was one group where the members seemed to be wearing KKK outfits and hoods, although they were red, blue, yellow and green instead of the traditional white and they were running around with lit torches.   Yes, this was a different parade than we are used to. 

Today we decided to do a little looking around in the old city.  The old part of the city is mostly surrounded by fortress walls, which the Spanish built in an attempt to protect themselves from pirate attacks.

Of course the kids could not resist climbing the walls.  

Lots of cannons too! 

The town has colonial architecture and is quite picturesque.

   It reminds me a lot of Italy.  It is a very vibrant town, with street performers, horse drawn carriages, street cafes, etc.  Very nice.  Oh, by the way, I was interviewed, in Spanish, for TV, regarding what I thought of Cartagena and what I thought of the Independence “Day” festivities.  I think I will mostly be cut in editing!!

Crazy!!