Port of Call - Cartagena de Indias - Colombia concrete dwelling perched on the hill above the village square 　Arriving in Cartagena, Peace Boat participants were eager to see beyond the stereotypes of cocaine, coffee and El Dorado to the real lives of ordinary Colombians. Prior to arrival, study programs and lectures onboard had discussed the role of NGOs in developing countries and the particular problems faced by inhabitants of a country with a history of bloody civil war, displacement and environmental destruction caused by coca cultivation. Exchange programmes visited the fishing community of Arroyo de Piedra, focus of a new development in Peace Boat's work supporting sustainable development projects and creation of community networks. Though selected tours usually include a donation to the partner organisations, on this visit to Cartagena, Peace Boat initiated a system whereby a proportion of the profits from local companies such as travel agents, hotels and restaurants, will go to support the activities of community-based groups. By encouraging interconnection of local actors in this way, Peace Boat aims to foster responsibility for and awareness of grass-roots issues and hopes to implement this system in all ports of call. Back-snapping dancers in Arroyo de Piedra 　Arriving in Cartagena, Peace Boat participants were eager to see beyond the stereotypes of cocaine, coffee and El Dorado to the real lives of ordinary Colombians. Prior to arrival, study programs and lectures onboard had discussed the role of NGOs in developing countries and the particular problems faced by inhabitants of a country with a history of bloody civil war, displacement and environmental destruction caused by coca cultivation. Exchange programmes visited the fishing community of Arroyo de Piedra, focus of a new development in Peace Boat's work supporting sustainable development projects and creation of community networks. Though selected tours usually include a donation to the partner organisations, on this visit to Cartagena, Peace Boat initiated a system whereby a proportion of the profits from local companies such as travel agents, hotels and restaurants, will go to support the activities of community-based groups. By encouraging interconnection of local actors in this way, Peace Boat aims to foster responsibility for and awareness of grass-roots issues and hopes to implement this system in all ports of call. Planting red mangroves, international cooperation at work 　As the bus wound its way past the flat grey sea, inlets showed evidence of habitat regeneration, with troops of mangrove saplings balanced precariously above the water on their stilt-like roots. In Arroyo de Piedra, Peace Boat is helping fund a pilot project for twenty families, planting mangroves in the sandy plains below the village to help fish reserves recover as well as provide inhabitants with the tree's natural resources. This humble start promises to spawn other projects, such as a shrimp and fish cultivation pool, marked out with stakes next to the projected mangrove swamp. Stocked initially with eggs from the mangrove project, the pool will be used to minimise periods of food shortages in the community, with surplus being sold or used to replenish wild populations. A member of the community related how families were learning propagation methods while workshops for the wider community explain how mangroves are vital to the survival of the eco-system. One tour participated in the inaugural planting, symbolising the start of a project which is bringing hope back to the community. After making their way across slippery flats and negotiating a river mouth, participants and local children scooped holes in sand etched with the footprints of seabirds and delicate crabs, then carefully planted the mangrove seedlings. Participants learning how to cook platano, a staple food 　Climbing back towards the palm-frond roofs of Arroyo de Piedra, pelicans gliding heavily above, this group was joined by the soccer exchange tour, singing loudly despite having lost as usual. In the village a festival was in progress, tightly packed crowds laughing over invisible entertainment, curly-haired children pressing past knees, clutching origami or kamifusen balloons. Scrawny dogs chased scraps of lunch between small groups of Peace Boat passengers learning how to cook patacones (fried green bananas), make maracas or drum and dance to Afro-Colombian rhythms. Stamping and shaking hips in a frenzy of cries and drumbeats, pairs of children performed to an audience perched in surrounding trees, while the the shiny digital cameras of the participants contrasted sharply with their dusty, barefoot subjects. For members of the exchange programmes, whose day had begun with unloading aid goods in the form of footballs, tatami mats, tools, books and stationary supplies, interacting with the villagers and seeing the way in which their actions could directly impact on people so far removed geographically and economically from their own hometowns was a very moving experience. The colourful streets of Cartagena old town 　The bus journey back to the boat underscored the poverty of the rural area, whose delapidated shacks in rubbish-strewn slums formed a counterpoint to the serene beauty of Cartagena痴 old town, a World Heritage Site. One of the first cities founded in South America under colonial rule, Cartagena de Indias flourished as a trade port, despite suffering from frequent pirate attacks. To protect the city, an impressive eleven kilometres of fortifications were built, including the San Felipe fortress, whose foundations conceal the bodies of slaves who died in its construction. Rusty cannons still face seaward while, inside the stone walls, wooden balconies dripping with flowers jut out over shady courtyards. Some passengers wandered narrow streets lined with colourful buildings in late colonial style, some preferred the vast reaches of the botanical garden, and still others chose to canoe through mature mangrove forests. Reminders of the ethnic diversity of Colombia were everywhere, from the variety in facial features, hair and skin colours of local people, to the music played in restaurants. Encompassing Andean ranges, Amazonan regions and Atlantic and Pacific coasts, the country is also rich in natural habitats, yet the people, their culture and the land itself continue to be threatened with destruction. Peace Boat's 39th Voyage index