Colorful Colombia
The two night trip from San Blas Islands, Panama to Cartagena, Colombia was calm and fun. Flo and Fran, the hitchhiking couple we met in Cuba and took to Mexico joined us for the trip, helping with watches, chatting, cooking and playing games with the kids. We were all excited to see a new place but we were delayed entry into the port of Cartagena because our draft was recorded wrong and they required us to have a pilot on board. Luckily, our pilot quickly realized the mistake and was very friendly and helpful. We had to spend an extra evening at an anchorage outside of town (never welcome after night passages) but made the most of it with ribs, rum and mexican train.
Cartagena is a vibrant city. We walked everywhere, explored the shops, enjoyed the street entertainment, watched sleeping sloths in the park, visited an old fort, and enjoyed really great food at some cool cafes. The anchorage is tight and the Cullo de Pollo (chicken ass) winds blow up without warning. Gus was on the boat one evening when it happened and luckily Russ and Jordan were nearby and able to get back to help as the anchor dragged. All ended fine, but it’s a scary situation and reminds us we can never become complacent.
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While in Cartagena, Rosie and I joined our boating friends from Shelter Bay - Farah, Shawna and Lexi and Jake, the token male — on a weekend trip to Medellin. Such fun to have some time off the boat with this group! We had a great AirBnB in a cool neighborhood and we made the most of our two days in the city. We met up with my family’s exchange student from 1999 (?), Sara, and her daughter Emma for brunch, took the cable car to Parque Arvi, were awed by the sculptures in Plaza Botero and the Museum de Antioquia, and spent fun time just hanging out. When we weren’t touring the city or eating and drinking delicious things, Rosie and Lexi did gymnastics and photoshoots. There are too many pictures to include them all! It was a wonderful weekend with great people.
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Shortly after our return to Cartagena, all three boats made our way to Santa Marta, a bit more east along the coast. The marina and Santa Marta became our home, our neighborhood, our city and our community for the next six weeks. Santa Marta is a quieter town but with everything we needed. Local coffee shops where cappucinos are $1.25, a yoga studio, a mall, walking trails, markets, shops, museums, restaurants, a boardwalk and beaches (that locals use but didn’t quite entice us).
We hosted Sara, Dani and Emma for a weekend on the boat. Sara came to Atlanta for a year of school when Christina was a senior in high school. It was nice to spend time with her and get to know her family better and they were lovely guests. With them, we took a day trip into the jungle to Minca, where we hiked to a waterfall, and Jordan and I opted for the motorcycle ride instead of the van back to town. Best decision EVER!! Minca is a cute town full of hostels and hikers, more delicious food and really pretty hiking trails.
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Back in Santa Marta, all the kids could talk about was Halloween! The marina staff let us set up a day of festivities, using their outdoor cafe for pumpkin carving, a movie night, a scavenger hunt and then many boaters participated in the trick-or-treating. It was a huge success with at least twenty-five boat kids from 8 boats. Rosie, Julie and Oceane were all ‘Wednesday’ from the Addam’s family spinoff show, but they took it up a notch with their rollerblades.
Our days in Santa Marta took on a home-like feel, with a rhythm we really enjoyed. I would run with my friend Elke - from Austria - each morning or go to the gym. We would walk and kids would rollerblade to get cappucinos and croissants. After some homework, all the boat kids would meet to play and we wouldn’t see them for hours. Rosie and Julie tirelessly rehearsed their dances (they performed a great one at Halloween). Jordan and the boys wore SWAT vests and ‘patrolled’ the marina. Jordan and his friend Mathieu are both obsessed with the Titanic: they talked about it, built and played with models, and endlessly shared Titanic facts. Several families played beach volleyball one evening because the parents on SV Inuksuit were former Olympians and pro players. The girls setup a babysitting service in the Captain’s lounge. Everyday by late afternoon we would all meet at the cafe or the pool and watch the sunset. Rosie says I’m making it sound too good. But it was good, and in many ways, having a rhythm to my days is something I miss in boat life.
But Santa Marta is also HOT and unbearably humid and it is a developing country. Every day was a hundred degrees and 95 percent humidity. If it rained, the streets smelled of sewage and salt swamp. There are a lot of stray dogs and cats. And there is a saying in Spanish that translates to “Don’t Give Papaya” and means, don’t make it easy for people to take advantage of you: don’t hold your phone or money out on the street, don’t leave things sitting around. But, as with everywhere in Colombia, we never felt unsafe and the people are the nicest and the food is so good, and inexpensive.
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To escape the heat and take advantage of really cheap in-country flights, we flew to Bogota for a weekend. What a welcome change to pull out all of our long pants and sweaters and layer up for the 50 degree fall weather. Actually, the kids have grown so much they needed new warm clothes. Bogota is a huge city sprawled atop a mesa at 8400 feet and it was a huge surprise. The area we stayed in and explored was green, with bike paths and parks, nice shops and restaurants. My friend Vivi, who is from Bogota and was living in Santa Marta with her family while they work on their boat in the marina, connected me with her mother. Well, Inés doesn’t just live in Bogota, she was a tour guide for years! She picked us up in her car and took us to all the best sites. She knew how to avoid traffic and where to park. She rushed us to the best parts of the Museo del Oro when Jordan became impatient and hungry. She was, literally, amazing. The cable car to Montserrat was really cool, then we went to the historic La Candelaria district, toured the Museo del Oro, watched men trade emeralds on the street, and had the best lunch at a spot we would have never found on our own. What an incredible day and how lucky we were to have Inés, with her local knowledge and infinite patience, to show us the best of the city.
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Alas, we returned to Santa Marta and had to decide which direction to go. It was now November and we needed to figure out where we would spend the holidays, and with whom, and lay out some sort of plan for the future. Our friends raved about Aruba and since the wind was perfect to go in that direction, but would soon shift for the season, we decided to take advantage of the conditions, knowing we could always come back east to go through the Panama Canal when the winter winds kicked in.
Leaving a land of abundance in terms of inexpensive food and diesel meant a big shopping trip to the nearest PriceSmart in Barranquilla. We rented a car and got to see what some of the more developing areas outside of the cities looked like on the way. We passed right by the Shakira statue so OF COURSE we stopped for a photo. In Barranquilla we spent one night and two half days stocking up on groceries, Christmas gifts and things we wouldn’t be able to buy anytime soon - skateboards, rollerblades, and other goodies at Decathlon. On our way out of Santa Marta we filled our 6000 liter fuel tanks to the brim. It should last us until April.
From Santa Marta, we parted ways with many wonderful boat friends that comprised our community for the last six weeks. Sailors don’t read each others’ blogs so I won’t name them all here, but it was a really cool time to be able to live the boat life, with easy access to land, freedom for the kids (and us), a built-in community and to have an easy cadence to our days. There were several places in Colombia that made our list for “possible places to live”. Thank you, Colombia - we will be back!
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Note: Sadly, in Santa Marta we said goodbye to Gus, who had been with us for 13 months and was a part of the family. Jordan said he felt “devastated” to lose his “best friend”. Gus - we will all miss you!
Shortly thereafter, we brought Kyle on board. A former 8th grade science teacher and with lots of time on his own sailboat, Kyle is a welcome addition to the Big Em family. We celebrated his birthday shortly after his arrival in Santa Marta.
