Welsh David's South America: 2 April 2017

I seemed to have packed a lot into this day when I look back to do this blog. Mompox in the day light was a fascinating place with the buildings in the centre of the town painted mostly in white and all with old style tiled roofs. I did find out later that the centre of the town had to be kept as it was in the past, white paint and old roofs, and that was what made the place more interesting.

Mompox was founded in 1537 as a safe port for the transportation of goods in to the interior and for goods to be sent back to Spain. It had a royal mint and was famous for it's goldsmiths. Due to the silting up of the river its use as a port declined and now it is a sleepy backwater compared to the past.

In the morning we went out on a river cruise, the boat even having rocking chairs on-board. Weird! It was a trip up and down the river to see that canoes were still used and that the riverside villages had not changed much at all.

On the boat

River views

Catamaran vehicle ferry

River view

After the river trip the guide announced that he would do a walking tour of the town if anyone wanted to go, this being an extra and at no further cost (he was given a tip at the end though). He was the one who told us that the town centre had to be kept as it was and during the walk we actually went into a church he said he had not been into as it was always closed. There were a lot of old buildings now mostly taken over by the local government and used a offices, hospitals or old peoples homes. There were an abundance of rocking chairs everywhere, more than I have ever seen in one place before.

Various Churches

The Town Clock

A normal street

Local transport

Sweeping up

Pretty patterns

Street Art

A big family

The cemetery

The bottom of a tree in an enclosed courtyard

The rest of the tree from the clock tower

At the end of the walk we were asked if we would like to go up the clock tower, at an extra cost of about £1, but as it was then very hot only three of us decided to go. The following views are of the town from the tower.

In the evening I went walking again just taking my time and going where-ever I felt. With dinner at a local cafe of roast chicken, potatoes and salad costing £2 ($3) I thought I had not done too badly.