Cartagena

Spanish conquistador Pedro de Heredia founded Cartagena de Indias in 1533 on the Caribbean coast. Its natural harbour made it one of the most important ports of the Spanish Empire: gold and silver from South America were shipped from here to Spain, and it was one of the main ports where enslaved Africans were brought to the continent. Pirates and navies attacked it repeatedly, including Francis Drake in 1586, so the Spanish built massive walls and forts, completing the San Felipe de Barajas castle and resisting a huge British siege in 1741. Cartagena declared independence from Spain in 1811. The Jesuit Saint Peter Claver ministered to enslaved people here. The fortifications and old town are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Cartagena moves to Caribbean rhythms: champeta, salsa and vallenato pour out of bars and passing cars. Palenqueras, women in bright dresses from the nearby town of San Basilio de Palenque, the first free town of formerly enslaved Africans in the Americas, sell fruit in the old town. Coastal food means fried fish with coconut rice and patacones, arepas de huevo and fresh fruit juices. Gabriel García Márquez lived here, and the city's magic realism atmosphere inspired his novels.