Another bright and sunny day to go exploring. Today's destination for the Secret Seven (Anthem's crew Jack, Chena & Will & the Inspiration Lady's Jackie & Gary) was the Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas, a huge stone fort on a hill outside the city wall begun in 1639 to protect the city from pirates. It dominates the landscape with steep sloping walls and a series of buildings rising from the centre. There were good views across the bay, the old city and into the hinterland and a massive Colombian flag rippling above it all. We got there early and it was already hot and inside there was little shade so how the soldiers coped wearing heavy uniforms and hats is hard to imagine.
The highlight of the castle is an impressive walk through a complex system of tunnels, built to facilitate the supply and evacuation of the castle. One series was shallow and well lit with good ventilation but another which was under the heart of the castle went much deeper, sharply sloping flagstone floors, less light and unlit tunnels leading off. We must have descended quite a way down because our feet got wet in water left after a rain storm 3 days ago. Most impressive and definitely worth the effort to get there and the even greater effort to walk home afterwards in the midday heat. We got back to Jackster, threw off our clothes, threw open the windows and took a well deserved rest bathing in the offshore breeze.
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