The sail to Cartagena started out great. Although we had a sickness sweep the ship days before we arrived, the mood was exciting. Everybody except for a small group of students and staff escaped the ship-wide epidemic. For this reason Thanksgiving dinner was postponed.

The first thing that we saw when we reached Cartagena were the mountains. We motored through a channel that took us into the harbour. When we arrived in port, parents were there to greet their kids with big smiles. The rest of the day was spent meeting friends' parents and exploring the city.

The first activity that we did together was listen a presentation by Whale Force. Three people from an institute from Alberta came to talk to us about whales. They told us about how to identify the different kinds of Cetaceans (sea mammals) that we will see while we sail. They also talked about how whaling has made the amount of whales in the world smaller over time, and that is why we need to help identify and save them.

The next day we were allowed to explore the town more. A group of us went up a hill that had a castle on top. It had a great view of the town and of the mountains. After that we watched the sunset on a small beach with a strange Spanish man. He turned out to be a cool guy even if he didn't speak any English, or French.

The last thing that we all did together was go hiking to a small town outside of Cartagena. We hiked for one hour through the mountains to a beach. We tried to catch fish, we played Frisbee and Volleyball, and we laid in the sun. After that we hiked back and had a nice dinner together.

Once again we had to set sail for another port so we got ready to leave. With heavy hearts students said good-bye to their parents. Cartagena was a really fun port for us all and it won't soon be forgotten.