Cartagena, Colombia Part 1

Welcome to the northern tip of South America!! Cartegena, Colombia..  My first impressions are very good!  I didn't expect such a modern good looking city from the boat. 

After breakfast we are waiting on the bow of the Independence and I ask Kevin how did he enjoy his journey?  I got quite a response!!  It's the perfect combo.  A big smile for the greatest time in the San Blas Islands, the finger refers to the last 2 days of hell... Good answer.

We have motorcycles to sort out, so the first job of the day is to ferry the non-motorcycle passengers to shore so they can be free to move on. Lucky dogs!!!

After they're gone, the captain tells us that we are not taking the bikes to shore today until our bikes and passports and passed through the agent.  He wants to charge us $75 USD to do this.  We all have enough border crossing experience not to have to pay him to process paperwork for us. We politely declined. ;-/

We were not going to stay another night on this boat, so we went to shore as well to organize a hostel.

This is where Kevin decides to give the captain (who is driving the dinghy), a proper Scottish mouthful!  He was still really ticked off about the life jackets situation and the captain is still standing by his argument that he has plenty.  Why then.... have seen only 8!  If we needed fast access to them, where are they?  We are on the dinghy leaving the Independence still totally unaware of all these life jackets he claims to have.  "I will get them for the passengers if they need them... " That's not good enough!!!  Go Kevin!!!!!!

Once we were off the dinghy and enjoying our leisurely illegal entry into Colombia, the bikers all went their separate ways except Patrick, me and Kevin.  The plan is to meet up with the others tomorrow to unload our bikes from the Independence.

The best thing we can do at the moment is start our mad search on foot for a place to stay.  There are two areas most recommended.  One is the old town.. expensive.  And Getsemani neighborhood... much cheaper.  Guess which one we chose? 

Our first meal off the boat and even better our first meal in SOUTH AMERICA!!!! Life dreams are coming true..!!!!

So far, we are thinking Colombia is pretty darn cool.  We ran across the other boys still searching for hostels as well.  We joined up and found a place down a road that had enough rooms for all of us.

This was our street, loved it as soon as I saw it. I'm glad we chose the Getsemani neighborhood.  It's not recommended as the safest place to stay, but we never had a problem and loved the location and character.

After a big big shower, we set out to explore more of the old town Cartegena at night.

Which way do we go???
 

Kevin said "Even at this angle it's a long way to the bottom of South America".  He thinks it looks big.. I think it looks small. Every time I see this I can't help to sing, "It's a small world after all.. "

The next morning all the bikers congregate at the dock to return to the dreaded Independence.  While waiting, we saw another dinghy loading motorcycles for the opposite direction and they are from the more famous Stahlratte aka Steel Rat.  We originally wanted to take this boat as well, but it was well booked in advance and we were not willing to wait.

Anyway, Kevin went right over to discuss their loading/unloading procedures, because we thought it was really strange to drop us off right in the middle of a city and country without going through the immigration process.. and of course the life jacket issue, etc.  When he told the Stahlratte guys our storm experience they couldn't believe it.  They, as well as most other boats, watched the weather reports and chose NOT TO SAIL THROUGH THAT STORM!!  Ugh!

That waterlogged boat we are returning to this morning is preparing for the new passengers boarding this afternoon.  (How they are going to get all the bedding including mattresses dry from SALT WATER in one day is beyond me) Plus there is an issue with the wooden floors warping already.

Anyway, that is why he sailed through the storm, more passengers = more money.  I understand that, business is business.  But not when you put the lives of others at stake.

We're picked up by the captain and back on the boat now... Oh man, that smell!!  We packed up our bike gear and my green t-shirt I found on our little paradise of one-tree island is still in our cabin.  Kevin looks at me, aren't you keeping it?  I said, no.  It's smells it's full of holes, I don't need this shirt in the limited space I have on my bike.  He asks, "Can I have it?"  Sure!  Not sure why you'd want it but go for it!

Now for the scary process of hanging my bike over a very deep ocean by a rope and then lowering it into the wobbly dinghy below.  Sorry for the overload of photos again in this post.

This shot made me laugh.. it's a Kevin photo taken in my time of wanting to get to the deck below as fast as possible to catch my bike if it falls.... yeah right!!

I screamed a couple times on this one.  The waves are not horrible, but they are choppy enough to make me feel I could lose the bike just from being nervous.

The photo below is not my best angle, but it was the best way I could stay balanced with the bike.

Now Kevin's bike .

Oh man.. don't drop it!!!!

Here comes Kevin.. He is all smiles, no where near as nervous as I was.

So.. check this out.  The police show up!  We knew that it was wrong for the captain to have us unload on a standard city dock.  He says he does it all the time, and we don't know any better. 

To make a long silly story short, as this captain never fails to surprise us, the police go out to meet with him and charged him a fine for exactly that!  Unloading foreigners AND motorcycles onto a city dock!  I wish I knew how much the fine was.  I wanted to pipe up and say.. can you do a Maritime inspection while you're out there???  Any boat safety standards apply in Colombian waters?

The police were cool with us though and we did as they asked which was to ride to the Customs office after all bikes are unloaded and ready. After a few hours, we had each and every bike off the boat.  Need to give the captain some credit, not a single bike was dropped in the drink. All in all the captain was a nice man, just a little loopy.

Kevin (above on the concrete fence) is taking this photo below..  Little girl black dog was hanging around us all day.. She makes another appearance in the next blog.

We made it to Customs!!! Let the process begin!!!

Don't get too excited.  We arrived the Customs office (Aduana), only to find them closed for lunch.  Damn.. it never fails!!!!! Might as well have our Colombian South American lunch too.

So here's the complete motorcycle team.  Annie from Scotland, bought a Harley Davidson in Florida and is riding south solo... Good on ya Annie!!!  Next is Sam, Dan's good Australian friend who lives here in Colombia, Dan from Oz on KLR, David from the USA on BMW 1200gs, Guillaume from Montreal Canada on KLR, Brad from the US on a bright yellow Suzuki V-strom, Patrick you all know,  from Canada on Suzuki DR650, Kevin and me!  Missing in this shot is Conor from the UK on a Red Suzuki V-Strom.  He is as bit overwhelmed from the heat and humidity and sitting outside with the coldest glass of water we could find.  I don't think I've had a photo of all of us together yet, so I wanted to introduce a bit better. By the way, my first Colombian meal ended up to be "Cuban" rice. It was fantastic and I've never been there either!
 

Welcome to Colombia....  Hasta luego! ;-)

Panama to Colombia Part 2 - Kayaking San Blas Islands

With bikes already on the boat, the riders are picked up at the dock in the morning to board Independence for the morning voyage. And then we wait for the remaining passengers.  He goes back with the dinghy to pick up the backpackers who board the boat last.  The good news?  The bikers got to pick cabins first.  The bad news?  All the cabins are bad, so it wasn't that exciting..

You can see the bikes take up nearly the whole back of the boat.  It's an 85 footer, yet still I was impressed we made them fit with the small space that is usable on deck. With the bikes tied on with every spare piece of rope and tie-down strap we could find, the boys are convinced that once we are sailing, the ropes need to be adjusted due to the movement.

They were right!  We were imagining that if one bike went over the edge, it would take the rest of our bikes with it!  But they were all diligent in checking the straps regularly.  That's David from the United States on a BMW 1200gs and Conor from the UK on his Red Suzuki V-Strom.

The plan is to have a vacation from our vacation.  We are headed to the San Blas Islands which we get to explore for the next 2-3 days as part of our journey to Cartegena, Colombia.

The first island was the Grand Island were the captain dropped anchor and let us explore for 3 hours.

Being the big island, there is a village here.  We wandered and explored. 

And not far down the beach I see these gorgeous kids playing.  I couldn't help but stop to have a little chat.

They are SO friendly!!  I asked to get a photo with them and they attacked me like their long lost Aunt.  I love them!!

More exploring.. I took this photo below of Guillaume, Patrick and Kevin.  Three Canadian boys who never met in Canada, but are living the high life in San Blas Islands, Panama.  Kevin loved this photo. As soon as I took it, "You'll copy that to me, right?"  Hmmm, I'll think about it... of course you ding dong!  ;-)))

We find the Americans and the Aussies on the beach.  I just realized a difference in personalities.  All of us on motorcycles got to the island and set off to explore as much of it as we could.  The backpackers were happy just to plunck themselves down on the beach.  I felt kind of bad for the American girls. They continuously complained quite loudly about the motorcycles being on the boat.  In fairness, these backpackers are on a holiday and I might agree that the boat would have been more comfortable in holiday mode without having to crawl over bikes to get to the back deck..  We simply wanted to get from one place to another and this is our transport.  But they are literally on their vacation and fly home the day after we arrive Colombia.

Finally found a little boat to take us back to the big boat.

Needed to get back in time for dinner and the captain wants to sail during the night to our next stop.  I have to admit the staff of 3 for this boat were wonderful.  They all work so hard and they fed us very well.

Patrick and a few others were keen to jump off the boat first thing in the morning.  The showers are so gross, this is the best plan really.  Kevin noticed a kayak on board and asked the captain if we could use it.  And now he's waiting on me! 

We spotted a tiny island that had 2 palm trees, and decided to kayak there.  It was so exciting.. How often in your life do you get to have your very own island!!!

This is such a nice break from the motorcycle. Sorry, I might get a little carried away with photos now, but it was such a fun day I want to keep them as memories in my blog. ;-)

This is just awesome!!  It's wonderful to be away from an over-crowded boat.. Included is a bit of adventure by paddling the kayak through the sea.. Kevin went snorkeling with my camera for a bit.. and then I think he told me a minimum of 50 stories... Plus, we got a sun tan, which I can't usually do in my motorcycle suit... H A P P Y !!!!!!

Eventually, and I mean like hours later, we decided to get back in the kayak to check out the bigger island the captain intended us to visit.

Patrick has a super zoom lens and sent me this photo of Kev and I leaving the island in the kayak.

Here we found my favorite Aussie on the beach... Dan!   He's been away from home for over 10 years.  He rides a Kawasaki KLR with surfboard attached!  The boy knows how to live.. hey?

Aha!  We can get some coconut!!  Kevin is traveling without his machete in the kayak, so we have to let a local woman prepare one for us. Great opportunity to learn, hey Kev??  (I don't see any green ones in her pile.. ;-)

The coconut is so refreshing!!  What was even more refreshing was the wine we poured into the empty coconut and then drank that too! ;-)))  I am thinking by the look on our faces, we are quite proud of this achievement!

Everybody is happy.  Holidays in Panama!!

No.. Kevin!  I've already heard that story...!!  Tell me another one... ;-)

The girls are floating around and I love the shipwreck in the background..

We were so incredibly hot and to avoid bugs,  it just felt better to hang out in the water..  This is totally our day in paradise..

Suprisingly, nobody wanted the kayak.  We left it on the beach for others to use, as we'd been away so long on 2 tree island, and we felt a bit guilty for hogging it.  But they didn't want it!  So while sitting here, we spotted the one tree island.  Since we've already been on two tree island, wouldn't it be better to go to the one with only one?? ;-))

We went back to the Independence and confirmed with the captain about how much time before we sail.  Kev took the opportunity to load up on wine and Pringles.. smart move!  While there, a group of islanders came out in their canoe to sell the captain lobsters.  I don't eat lobster, so it didn't matter to me, but all the others were excited.  We know what's for dinner tonight and we know that it's very fresh!

We paddled on over to one tree island and set up camp.  You can see by the branches on the one palm tree....!!! that the wind has kicked up quite a bit.  But still a thoroughly enjoyable place to hang out.  I think I like the sand on this island better.. ha!  How is that.. our own island is a major special treat.  But today we got two islands to ourselves.  Amazing!!!!

So... it's getting late in the day.  With the stronger winds I was getting a bit cold.  We decided to take a walk around the island to warm up.. ha!  When I got to the other side of the island about 30 seconds later, I found part of a green t-shirt sticking out of the sand.  I pulled it out, shook it off and put it on.  It didn't smell too good.  It's certainly been there a while, but as soon as I put it on I felt better.  Think about that for a moment.  I am cold, I need something to wear.  I am on the tiniest island in the middle of nowhere.  A shirt just happened to be waiting there in the sand for who knows how long. In a few words, "Ask and you shall receive.." ???  Or.. "Anything is possible" ??? I know, that's a bit deep, but had to throw it in.

One last photo on the island.. again sorry for the overload.. need to show off my new t-shirt.  I love the color! ;-))

It's time to paddle back to the boat.  The wind is more, the waves are higher, but we still paddle back in far less time than I expected.  What a gorgeous place on the planet to be today....

Conor sent me this photo as we arrive back to the boat.

Once on board, everybody it seems was watching Kevin and I in the binoculars, or photo lens.  It really surprised me.  One told me that they thought it would be super hard in the wind for us to make it back alone.  The Swiss couple came to me and said they were thoroughly impressed how Kevin and I paddle together.  Excuse me?  She said that they watched us a lot today and noticed that we paddle totally in sync.  (I wouldn't know as I was always in front, but we did cruise at times).  She explained further that she believes this is a sign of a long and lasting relationship if you can be in sync like that.  Again... excuse me??  She was very sincere and I thought it was really cute, a theory I had never heard before.  She was really concerned as she said that she and her husband have tried to kayak on numerous occasions and they just go in circles.  I thought they were a fantastic couple.  I get how she came up with the analogy, but I don't think that is a theory I would live by.  And I don't think they should be so hard on themselves over kayak technique!  I am sure they will last.. really sure... ;-)

I told Kevin about this conversation later that night, and he said they came up to him on the boat and told him the same thing. We thought it was sweet and chuckled a bit.

Now.. the group is on to the lobster!

 

One of my best days EVER, I will always remember... thanks Kev! ;-)))