Caribbean Vacation

Well, after more than two months of working, it was time for a vacation!  It is a real drag but someone has to do it.  My real excuse was that I had to wait for my passport here in Colombia, and there was nothing else I could do…  I decided on the Caribbean coast and islands.

I wanted to visit Ciudad Perdida in the mountains near the coast but it was prohibited by MSF – blowhards…  So, I ended up flying to Cartagena on the coast (flying being expensive but a requirement of MSF as well).   The city was founded in the mid-1500´s and has amazing  history and a beautiful walled city and fortifications.  It is quite tourist-y these days but worth a visit nonetheless.  The beaches aren´t the best but nearby is Las Islas Rosarios and Isla Baru where there are nice beaches and good swimming.

After a couple of days I was off to Santa Marta - about 4 hours to the East by bus.  Also on the coast, Santa Marta is popular with the beach crowd but has little else to offer within the city.  It is, however, a good place to catch a ride to Parque Tayrona a little farther East.  Here, about a 30 minute walk or pony ride away, one finds the best beaches on the Colombian mainland.  Rent a hammock, kick off your shoes and enjoy a cerveza!  Beautiful.  A little more effort (1 1/2 hours through the jungle) gets you to Pueblito – an ancient city that once housed as many as 5000 people.  It wasn´t Ciudad Perdida but hey…  Met a nice fellow from the Basque country of Spain here and heard all about the Running of the Bulls Festival. Brush with Greatness (almost):  He hails from the same town as Miguel Indurain!

After a couple of days of touring around the Parque, it was back to Cartagena and a flight to the island of San Andres.  These islands are about 750kms North of the mainland and only about 250kms from Nicaragua.  They are much more akin to other Caribbean isles than Colombia complete with Jamaican-sounding English, lots of dreadlocks, and pastel stilt-houses on the beach.  San Andres has some nice beaches and some good pirate legends but strikes one more as a combination tourist trap, duty-free zone, and shipping port than island paradise.

While San Andres leaves a little to be desired on the ambiance side of things, Providencia is all that you´d imagine a tropical hideaway to be: tranquil, friendly locals, amazing beaches, crystal-clear water, and the 3rd largest coral reef in the world – after Australia and Belize (or so I was told)!  For about $24 a night I stayed in a nice room with a porch not more than 20 yards from the beach – what a shame!  Another real highlight is Roland Bar – Roland, the proprietor, is a hardcore Rasta and runs the only gig on the 2nd nicest beach on the island.  Every night is reggae till you drop and quite the scene.  Shared some drinks with a couple from Santiago, Chile.  Also saw the first fight I´ve ever seen involving dope smokers on both sides and some of the raunchiest dancing ever, all courtesy of the locals - good times!  Providencia is not the easiest place to get to but if you want some peace and quiet on an island paradise you´ll be heading in the right direction!

Now I´m back in Bogota where it is raining and about 50F – reminds me of Seattle – and already missing the sand and surf!  Hopefully the passport will get here this week, and I´ll be off to NYC for a work visa.  Shooting to arrive in Thailand around the beginning of April – we´ll see…

All this gallavanting around did have a downside: I ended up with a $120 credit on Avianca Airlines that I´m not going to be able to use.  So, if you know someone who is going to be travelling down this way, I can transfer it to them for a good price.

See some more pics at:  http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=56h73xft.72fb4l2x&x=0&y=-jdqa8p&localeid=en_US

Here´s hoping Spring is springing in the Great White North.

rick

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