The Vibe of Cartagena

Our hostel in Cartagena was located in the Getsemani district of the city, a modest area of town in the outer wall of Old Town.  At the local restaurants you can order ‘comida corriente’, which is the set menu for either lunch or dinner.  This always consists of rice, plantains, small salad, soup, juice and either fish meat or chicken…all of this sets you back about $2.50.  There were also number snack vendors and cute little café’s with more international food choices.  I fell in love with the bakery and man right next to our hostel, he lured us in with the delicious smells wafting every morning, guava pastry baked fresh was the best! There were also a number of refreshing beverages I fell in love with in this city – Limonatas (Crème de Coconut & Lime, Rum is optional); Agua Panella (sugar cane water, tastes like a slushy sweet ice tea); and of course all of the slushy fruit juices ranging from mango to passion fruit and star fruit. 

Exploring the Old Town’s sheer beauty was simply impressive.  Immaculately preserved within 13km of centuries old colonial stonewall (las murallas) are cobblestone alleys with enormous balconies towering above.  There are cascading flowers everywhere, churches, plazas, and open air cafes.  It has a vibrant Latin feel, the plazas filled with street vendors, dancing, and artists.  I loved all of the large doors with ornate knockers.

In the evenings we felt very safe to walk about our neighborhood, one night we had dinner with our sailing crew and then went out drinking and dancing with Shinji.  Nelson one of the fabulously friendly Colombians we have met so far blended up Limonatas and gave us a taste testing lesson on Colombian Rum.  The band got underway and before we knew it we were all salsa dancing with the locals and learning some new moves from Nelson.

With the streets and alleys extremely narrow, no traffic direction, and scooters zipping everywhere, it is a certainty that the following situation happens daily.  Our taxi was pulled within 5 inches of the curb when Heidi went to get out, and wham the door opened on a motor trying to zip through this sliver of space.  The driver and bike went sprawling and I watched the man on the back simply step off, seeing it coming.  Well, this whole skirmish turned into quite the situation; not because of the cap driver or the motor driver as you may guess.  They were both totally chill, saying it happens and please not to worry everything was fine…the craziness came from this ridiculous passenger on the moto.  He started exclaiming that if it weren’t for his incredible reflexes he would have been dead in the street, going on and on about the stress that this had caused on his system.  All the while he was ranting, his tan linen pants were hanging perfectly and his tan linen open shirt (with tan mesh underneath) did not contain a single wrinkle.  He fanned himself with his hat; fingers clad with jade rings, demanding compensation for his suffering.  Heidi gave the actual moto owner some money in case there was any damage to his bike and as a good will gesture…the other man continued to demand where is my payment?  The other Colombian onlookers involved kind of rolled their eyes every time he started up, we took this as a sign they understood we were terribly sorry and happy to compensate the rightful victim…and got out of there quick.  Quite the fiasco!

Another very memorable experience was our trip to Mercado Bazurto, the central market in Cartagena.  It was equally both dirty and fascinating!  We were the only gringos in sight and it was a great glimpse into the everyday life of real Cartagenos.  Walking through the labyrinth of stalls, vendors were assaulting us from all angles with whistles,“Hola Momma, Para Orden” and just downright sleazy eyes.  It was a huge place, at least 30x30 blocks long and wide.  

 There were stalls with intestines, pig heads, and many other meats and skins piled high and hanging over lines.  There was fish being de-headed, live chickens lined up for killing, fruits and vegetables, spices, grains, condiments in bulk jars, clothes, trinkets, fabric, shoes…basically anything you can imagine being marketable you could find here!

San Blas Islands – Sailing to Colombia

Day 1

To reach the jump off point for our sailing trip we travelled by bus to Puerto Lindo on the Caribbean Coast.  Two hot Aussi’s from the hostel were making the same trek, so when we all got a little lost going into Colon instead of getting off at Sabanitas, it wasn’t entirely a bad thing.  About an hour late, and extremely hot, we made it to Portobello, where we met up with Captain Isreal and our other ship mates. 

We were to sail with four others – a girl from the Czech Republic and one from Britain, as well as a guy from Germany, and a young Japanese fellow who is on a journey biking from Mexico to Argentina.  We loaded up on supplies and boarded one last bus bound for the small village of Puerto Lindo.

Puerto Lindo is one little side road around an ocean bay filled with sail boats.  With one or two restaurants in peoples home, one small open air bar, a window where you can buy beer and snacks, and maybe 40 dwellings, it is extremely tranquil and beautiful.  Kids by the dozens are playing in streets; jumping rope, dancing, and after dinner all running around eating what looked like octopus from clear plastic bags. 

After dinner and some time in town we taxied out to the ‘Fredericka’ with our Spanish Captain Isreal and his Colombian First Mate Orinso (nicknamed by a parrot Otto).  Heidi and I claimed the bow bedroom, and everyone cracked a few beers to celebrate our departure for the San Blas Islands and Colombia.

Day 2

We set sail at 6am with the sunrise.  Only about 30 minutes in we were hit with a rough storm, there was a torrential downpour and very rough seas for the next 5 hours.  Our boat was surrounded by lightning and thunder; I actually saw lighting strike into the ocean about 10 feet away from me!  It was unbelievable watching it strike down and then spark every which way when it hit the water.  Dramamine to the rescue, the storm passed and we all prayed silently for calmer weather the rest of the trip, so as not to jinx anything.

Another couple hours peacefully sailing through the San Blas Islands and we arrived at the two Chi Chi Me Islands where we anchored and promptly hit the perfect teal water.  San Blas is made up of 365 islands, one for each day of the year.  There are a couple of islands that are more populated but the majority have nothing but palm trees and white sand beaches, there are often one or two huts made from dried palm leaves where Kuna, the indigenous population lives.  It is truly a deserted paradise...although don't worry, a young Kuna girl rowing past in a canoe pulled out a cell phone, and we heard a TV in one of the huts!

Snorkeling, Heidi and I spotted jellyfish, sting rays, and tons of other interesting tropical fishies.  Heidi claims to have discovered a new species of Starfish, the ‘Star of David’ starfish (she is a Marine Biologist so she should know).

Day 3

We stayed at Chi Chi Me for the day, Heidi and I walked around both islands and swam out to snorkel around a sunken ship we heard about.  This ship only sunk 3 months ago, and the story makes it even creepier.  The captain apparently sailed into the reef and GLUG…GLUG…GLUG… he then proceeded to kill two other men and steal their boat to try and escape.  It wasn’t until he was in the next port when he killed another captain and stole a second boat that he was caught and is now in a Panamanian Jail.  Since his capture it has been discovered that the first sunken boat (which we explored) belonged to a man who went missing from Miami four years ago… 

As we were sunning, exploring, snorkeling and doing boat dives Captain Isreal was out catching our dinner.  He and another Captain came home with 2 huge fish weighing close to 30 lbs each.  We feasted on tuna and grouper on the island where the Kuna family cooked us coconut rice and grilled the fish.  It was incredible, the night ended perfectly with a sky full of stars.

Day 4

It was up bright and early to hoist our sails and meander around more of the San Blas Islands.  We arrived to the last island in the archipelago where we spent more time snorkeling and exploring.  Here there seemed to be larger schools of fish, and in the deeper waters some pretty big guys.  Heidi’s second claim of the trip was to have seen a parrot fish the size of a dolphin, wow (unfortunately her picture was blurry?).  The highlight for me here was seeing a school of little teeny jellyfish, probably 20 floating past.

This was also the day I couldn’t hold it any longer…#2 was essential.  It was the worst experience of my life on the boat and I’ll leave it at that.  Anyone who’s been in my situation can imagine the details and share in my misery.  After dinner we set sail again, this time forward to Colombia, we would be on open seas for the next 40 hours.

Day 5

This was probably the most exciting day for me as in the early morning we spotted dolphins!  They surrounded our boat - jumping and playing in the bow and wake.  There were at least 25 of them, it was incredible to watch their sleek grey forms underneath the clear water darting in and out to the boat and leaping into the sky.  I couldn’t miss one second of the action to go below and find my camera, figured it was better to commit the incredible experience to memory forever.  At one point I saw 7 dolphins jump together in a perfect line, breathtaking.

The rest of the day was spent sunning ourselves on the boat, chatting, taking turns driving, and looking onto vast miles of open sea.  Nigh fall came and a full moon guided us into our final evening of sailing.  Captain Isreal said that Heidi and I were the best sailors of the group, and even said we give Otto a run for his money!  Heidi and I drove in the middle of the night for a few hours so that Otto and the Captain could get some sleep. 

Day 6

It was a peaceful morning of sailing through Colombian waters.  We reached Cartagena at around 10am sailing past the Colombian Island of Boca Chica and Playa Grande.  As with most things down here, immigration was to take all day - despite the fact that ‘immigration’ is a few old men sitting around the docks.  Isreal was fabulous and handled everything for us.  Our passports got dropped off at our hostel at 6pm; who knows where they journeyed for the day, but they returned with 60 day stamps to enjoy the rest of Colombia with us.