Another Day in Paradise

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Counting down our days on the island, and we are starting to run out of activities. This morning we were back in the speed boat headed for Santa Cruz del Islote. We can view this island from our deck. The resort charges a nominal fee to go there and all the proceeds are given over to help support the island. Its significant population compared with its small size results in its being the most densely populated island on Earth. Forty-five families live in 97 houses on approximately 12,000 sq yds of land. Primarily a fishing village. There is a restaurant, which also serves as the port, a few stores, a school, a couple of churches and a solar array which was installed 3 years ago. A lovely young woman gave us a tour around the whole island - doesn't take long.

Outside of its size and population notoriety, it has an aquarium stocked with a couple of sharks (nurse sharks), groupers, and some turtles and a few other fish.  Tourist are welcome to hop in and "Swim with the sharks!" As hokey as it was, we just had to jump in there. There were two nurse sharks hunkered down on the bottom -- never moved, never even twitched when Geoff stood on top of them!  We swam around with the fish for a while and then coaxed the young couple who came with us to do the same. We ordered some coconut water from the local coco loco bar. Well we can cross that activity off the bucket list. 

It was time to head home -- back in the boat we went. I am pretty sure that we have covered most of the activities here. There is a tennis court but neither of us is any good at that plus it is so incredibly hot! A large tour group from Belgium just showed up on the afternoon boat. Better go secure our place on the beach. 

Plenty of room down by the ocean. Took a swim and hung out on the gigantic float for a while. Bumped into our Toronto buddies from biking and Denise lent me her snorkel. Only trouble was the snorkel was on the wrong side and the mouthpiece was kind of awkward. I took it back to her and asked if she had been using it long. "Well for a while" - "Did you know that the snorkel is on the wrong side? The snorkel should always be on the left" - "Oh is that why it's uncomfortable?" Well, we straightened that right up.  

Went back to reading until Happy Hour. Walked up to the bar with Rob (husband of Denise) and chatted with him some. We watched the evening's catch come in. Looks like dinner was here. Waited to see if there would be a sunset but no luck again tonight. It seems the clouds come in every evening at this time. It's uncanny.

Tomorrow we do nothing but chill -- oh maybe a snorkel or two.  We hear that we are missing yet another Nor'easter back home. This is the third one since we left home. I hope the roof stays put!!

Next time... And another day in paradise

Exploring

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It was a bit overcast when we woke up this morning. Took our time getting to breakfast -- not in a hurry to do anything.  Afterwards, we headed down to the dock, which is right by the room. The speedboat was loading up to take folks back to the mainland. Said goodbye to the nice French couple. 

Right by the dock is a marine pool with lots of turtles and various fish. Martin was around so we asked him what the purpose of all this was - hoping that it just wasn't for the tourists viewing pleasure. Of course, had we read the sign, we would've learned that they exchange turtles for chickens. They are saving them from extinction because the local people use the turtles for food. They tag them and keep them for a month before releasing. Then get a new batch from the

fisherman and exchange the caught turtles for chickens (easier to grow). There are also grouper, cowfish, and a snook hanging about. They are in there to show the people that these are the fish you cannot catch. They are also on the verge of extinction. We were sorry to hear about the grouper. We have eaten many a grouper burger in the Bahamas -- now they need to be preserved. The hotel is building a bigger pool out by the beach bar and will relocate these guys to a better space.  

Also asked Martin about this humongous tree outside our room. Some of the branches extend close to 60 feet out. He told us it is some kind of fig tree over 100 yrs old. It is a beaut! They had to build huge crutches to  hold up three of the branches. 

Headed down to the beach to do some local snorkeling. The kids who were building the sand castle have left but they did a fine job! Waited for the sun to come out, which it did, and went up to the dive shop and grabbed some gear. First we headed out to the left by the pier. Saw some small stuff but nothing really exciting. Swam back, read, and hung out for a bit. Well, let's try the other side by the rock wall around the resort. Also, not a lot to see. So back to the beach we went.

It is almost lunch time. Thinking about doing the bike tour this afternoon. Didn't take much thought. We headed down to reception at around 3:30 to wait for our tour leader. Another couple from Toronto was joining us on this adventure. The mountain bikes were one speed but with good suspension. We rode around the resort and then out through the gates to explore the rest of the island -- of which there isn't much. To

the left is a public beach and to the right is a small fishing village. Our Toronto friends decided to get a beer at the local store. There is a small population here, many of which work at Punta Faro. There are a few other hotels on the island as well. Although we have been told, not as nice as ours. I am sure that is true.



Another shower and we were off to the beach bar for happy hour. Life is getting a bit too tough to take!

Next time... Another day in Paradise

Under the Sea

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Well we've done it. We booked two more nights in Paradise - hoping we'll get some money back from the other reservation - but we didn't want to lose the room here. So that's settled. Besides we are not to keen to take the two hour speed boat ride any too soon. Yesterday, I was conjuring up images of Lost - it felt like we were the new cast.


Took some more touristy pictures of this place. It is really wonderful. No hoopla or funky shows. Just peace and quiet. They keep and grounds and beach immaculate.

Went down to the dive center after breakfast for our morning snorkel. It took about 15-20 minutes to get out to the reef in a small speedboat. We were joined by a couple of young honeymooners from France. The water was wonderful. And I have to say the snorkel gear was excellent.  The coral has seen better days, however. What fish there were, were of the small variety. To name a few: trumpet fish, big eyes, parrot fish, mutton snappers, sgt majors, and others that we can't name. The little snappers were nipping at my hands. 

Had a nice chat with the new bride on the way back. The four of us plan to do the phosphorescence plankton swim tonight. You can only do that when there is little to no moon -- so we are in luck there.


Walking back from the dock, we stopped by the bar and chatted with Alejandro, brother of Martin. This is a family establishment. He told us the history of the property. It started as a summer home for the family and eventually turned into a small resort. He explained the problems with the current government and trying to hold on to the land.Apparently, the government has proclaimed all islands property of the government unless proof of rights from back when the Spanish were here.  They have been fighting for 20 years to keep their rights and are still fighting. This hotel provides much employment and financial assistance to the local community. If they are forced to shut down, it would defeat the whole purpose of the goal to promote tourism. Politicians are so short sighted - especially the corrupt ones.

Strolled back to our casa, showered off and got comfortable on our private dock. Every so often the speed boat comes by and picks up or drops off folks coming and going. The coconut committee is always there to greet them. 

Lunch came and went and it was back to the beach. Talked with a couple who brought their own snorkels and they said the fish right around the resort were worth checking out. Looks like that'll be our activity tomorrow morning. Didn't do much of anything until Happy Hour. Went to the inside bar with all of our electronics and tried to catch up with the world. That didn't last too long.

Pretty soon it was time to go meet down at the dock for the plankton swim. There were about 14 of us -- 12 of us were 20 somethings.They were Germans, Brits, French and two gals who never talked. We were the only Americans. It was a long wait till our guy got his stuff together. We were all handed life jackets and piled into the same small speedboat we took snorkeling. My first concern was that this thing had no light. Sure enough, our captain starts the engine and pulls out a flashlight -- OK. The clouds disappeared from the sky as it grew darker and the stars grew brighter. 

We soon came to a lagoon where everyone jumped in with their vests. The bio-luminescent phosphorous plankton effect was amazing. Every time you moved, the water just lit up with sparkles. The water was quite warm and it was lovely just to lay back and watch the stars and look at the twinkling of the water. Absolutely amazing feeling. Tried to take pictures but really could not capture anything.

Stuff like this really makes you feel like a kid again - so it didn't really matter that we were not 20 something.  The ride back was chilly and wet but so worth the evening's entertainment.

Took our fourth shower of the day and went to dinner in another garden. Three bathing suits in one day!! Now that's a good day at the beach.

Next time... More exploring

Punta Faro Here We Come

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Before I begin, let me say that both roofs, on the house and shed, are now fully repaired!! Thank you Al and Tim. Could not have asked for more efficiency than that - especially with more weather on the way. All Geoff has to do now is put Kilz on the guestroom ceiling and paint it. No biggie (I think). Oh, and we still need to fix the fence. Steven should have that done when he gets back from Belize.

Woke up with plenty of time to walk to the square to get some more water and bug spray. So far we haven't really seen any mosquitoes  - but that doesn't prevent me from getting bit -- how does that work??!! Took some neighborhood pictures - although the casa we return to in a week is not all that far from here.  When we return, I will write more about Cartagena and it's colorful history.

Our new driver came right on time. Angela, our first woman driver and she is a hot ticket. Liked her right off the bat. We drove through the old city down to the Regatta Hotel to register for the boat trip to Punta Faro, a resort on Isla Mucura. Got a good look at Boca Grande, the beach side of the city. Lots of huge hotels, Miami style, with the beach across the street. Very busy and somewhat crowded. People peddling everywhere. Oh that reminds me, traveling yesterday, Henry mentioned that the folks who want to sell you stuff while you are in traffic are mostly from Venezuela. We saw quite a few interesting items for sale yesterday -- a facet, some bike parts, baby wipes, and of course, all sorts of food and drink.  

Anyway, Angela drops us off at the Regatta (we will see her again when we return to the

city). We register, then are told to wait for the bus to take us to the boat. There is now a small group of us. The bus comes and takes us back to where we pretty much started from. Our hotel was right near the port. We paid the port tax and boarded this 33 passenger speedboat. We had a total of 14 people including crew so it wasn't crowded. However, two hours in a speed boat on open ocean going close to 30 mph - there's not much to do. Not like you can get up and walk around, or even talk for that matter, the engine noise is pretty loud. So we sat back and enjoyed the ride. 

Eventually Punta Faro pulled into sight and it was a thing to behold.  No mountains or hills or ecohabs. There is a welcoming breeze -- when we left Cartagena it was stifling. We were greeted with coconut water -- straw through the fruit and a welcoming talk from our host and owner, Martin. There is no music, so as not to distract the tranquility of the place (however, I was hoping for dancing at night -- oh well) - there are no keys - we are all family and so on and so forth. All the meals are included and we started today with lunch -- excellent. That's a good sign. Everyone is very attentive, it is a bit overwhelming. We are hut people, and not used to the finer ways of life. Guess we will have to get used to it - ho hum. They even chopped the meat out of our coconuts!

After lunch, we were taken to our room. Oy Vey! This will not do. I had asked several times for an ocean view and was told by our agent that none were available but that the garden view was lovely. The garden view is a view of the communal path that everyone walks by. This is the only view with no privacy whatsoever. You have to keep the curtains closed all the time. Back to reception. There was a lot of conversation between the desk clerk and Martin. Finally Martin comes out and goes through this unnecessary explanation about their room structure and says there is only one other room available. Let's go see it.

Fully private, ocean view, ac, with deck and hot water shower that is to die for. We'll take it!! We negotiated the price a bit for the three days we are here. This room is so beautiful that the thought of going to another ecohab wasn't cutting it. After much back and forth of going to another island after this, it was finally arranged that we would go to Playa Scondida on Isla Grande -- more rustic huts.  Back to reception we went to find out if we could keep this room for two more nights (by the way, I asked our agent about doing this as well and was told they were fully booked). Martin said, of course. I am not sure what is going on here -- why we were told one thing to find out something entirely different.  In any case, we are now trying to cancel our previous reservation and just stay put. Which, after traveling around so much, would be wonderful. It may be a minor miracle that this suite was available, but it could not have come at a better time. 

The wifi is broken here for now so we got the guy at the desk to call our agent and try to arrange everything. With all that business done, we went back to our room to do some wash and then it was off to the beach. Perfect white sand, not crowded at all and again, lots of attention - especially when it was happy hour. They have an activities board so there is other stuff to do than just hang at the beach. We are looked forward to taking advantage of it all! Looks like we found ourselves a piece of paradise.

Dinner was in the garden by our room. After dinner, we wondered around some more. We are getting the lay of the land here and checking more stuff to do. Wifi is back, such as it is, so we are back in communication again. All in all a very good day indeed. Looking forward to our time here at Punta Faro.

Next time... Under the Sea

Stopover in Cartagena

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No dinner last night, we were far too full from lunch. Stayed in and watched some more of Poldark. We managed to eat some of the hummus we bought yesterday for breakfast this morning. Didn't feel like trekking down to the restaurant. Good thing too, because, our old pal Henry showed up bright and early. The senora came down the hill to get us at 8:30. We scurried to get our stuff together. Tried to pay the tab and was told everything was taken care of -- ok -- works for me. Nice people. 

The three amigos were back on the road. This time for about a 5 hour drive. The  most tedious part was going through Barranquilla. The local streets were packed. We rode through the commerce section and then the upscale part of town. Construction is everywhere which didn't help the navigation.  We certainly got the city tour. Took us a while but once we made it out we were on our way. Of course, Henry didn't

know where the hotel was. That's now three for three. We are always searching for addresses. Luckily I was able to get on my phone gps. It was quite a hoot navigating him through the small streets of Cartagena -- not speaking Spanish did not help at all. Finally we arrived and we all had a good laugh at our antics.

This place is small, but lovely. Our room is huge and the a/c is welcomed after the jungle. Not sure what to expect on the island tomorrow.  I have booked us on the free city walking tour which starts at 4:30 -- we have about an hour. That should be interesting.  We come back here next week and maybe we will do the biking tour then -- not sure.

So the walking tour was a bust. We found our way to the clock tower and met the group. The toe tour woman was very nice except her partner was sick so she had to do the tour in both English and Spanish. This got to be very tedious and it was hard to follow what she was saying half of the time. To give her the benefit of the doubt we both were pretty tired from traveling all day. This free tour group is another women only organization -- there seems to be quite a lot of those in this country. We lasted till about the second plaza, gave her a generous tip, and said good-bye.  Think we'll stick to the biking tour when we return.

Making our way back to the hotel through the narrow streets of the city, we took our time meandering through the shops. Got back, rested, showered, and were off again. Asked for the ATM at the front desk. Got the map -- tackle that problem after dinner. First place we went was the restaurant next to the hotel. Sat down but the vibes were really strange, so we left and walked down the road to Oh-La-La, a French Bistro. Very comfortable, the music was great and the food was just fine -- and it wasn't fried for a change!  Had a nice meal and a good chat with the owner about some of the photos on the wall. 

Time to go to the ATM. We found a shopping/eating area that was very lively with people although all the shops were closed. We wondered around looking like lost sheep until this policeman came up to us and pointed to the ATM "Banco?" Geoff said "How could you tell?" The guy touched his head -- smart! We got the cash. On the way out we stopped and talked to the computer repair guys who were fixing their stuff half inside the shop half outside. Geoff was trying to explain to them about Linux!! Fun conversation. Said adios and realized that we were locked into this area -- they closed the gates. Again we looked like deer in the headlights -- the cop whistled and opened up the gate to let us out. 

Snuggled back in our air conditioning, we are gearing up for our next adventure. Buenos Noches.

Next time... Punta Faro

Hiking to the Falls

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First we want to say a big Happy Birthday to Geoff’s brother, Pete. Hope you have/had a wonderful day. Would send a card but stamps are scarce.

Miraculously, we were able to get our softphone app (this is free with our voip provider) to work on the cell phone as well as the notebook – so now we can make a call from anywhere to anyone using our own phone number. Whatsapp is a great alternative but both parties have to have the app installed. Plus when people call our house it will ring here – amazing. There is one hitch – you have to have a decent wifi signal. The first call we got was from the insurance guy. He will be looking at the property soon. Will talk to him again Friday.

Back in the forest, it was time for dinner. Trekked down to the restaurant. We were the only customers again. The two lady tag team was still there – no sign of a cook. Ordered dinner and looked up stuff to do in Minca. Nothing different than what we already knew. If we get bored enough tomorrow, we might venture out and walk to the waterfall. See how the weather goes. Right now it is very overcast. If nothing else, we will definitely take a walk into the small town and check out the neighborhood.

It is awfully noisy here in the jungle. The birds and insects are really intense. It is ok when they are melodic but this morning at around 5am, one sounded like a lawn mower! Literally. It went on for quite some time and they finally stopped. Not before, I was wide awake, however. Now it is about 6:30am and there is all kinds of music and traffic noises coming through the trees and the birds are back to regular bird noise. The sun is out so no excuses about bad weather. We lolled around the hut until 9ish and decided to dress the part for a hike and a swim – just in case.  

Since it was a hike to breakfast, we might as well be ready instead of having to trek all the way back to the hut. Again, we were the only two at the restaurant. You’d figure someone would show up for breakfast – it’s included! It’s starting to feel like the Twilight Zone around here. Anyway, we made some phone calls while we waited for the food since the router was staring us in the face. First call was to wish Pete a happy birthday and catch up on family news. Next, I called the contractor. We had told him to go ahead and re-shingle anything that wasn’t under the solar panels. He told us we really didn’t need to do that. He was going to fix the mess on the house and re-shingle the whole shed. Those were original to begin with. The real good news was that Al and Tim were going to do it tomorrow and Saturday because, guess what, another Nor’easter is expected on Monday. So we should be all set. As for the fence, our fence guy (who is also a friend) is sailing around Belize right now. He wrote and said he would look at it next week. All this puts our minds to rest. Called a few friends about the house, finished breakfast, and we were on our way.

It’s about a 10 minute up and down walk to downtown Minca. Not much to write home about. Lots of tourist tours being offered, cafes, and small local shops. Well the “not going to hike anymore” rule didn’t last too long. The guilt of doing nothing was getting to us - we felt that we had to earn our hammock time somehow. So, we took the turn to the waterfalls. Far to compelling not to go up and take a look. It felt good being without a guide for a change. I know they can be very helpful and informative but it is also fun and exciting finding out things on our own. Also, life was a bit easier in walking shoes instead of mud boots or sandals. I’m sure it took us longer than the advertised hour to climb up there. Once there, we ran into a few young folk, but it wasn’t

crowded at all. There isn’t a whole lot of real estate around the pool. Geoff dove in first and I took my time getting used to the water. It was a bit cold but nothing like Maine in June, plus after the hot walk it was very refreshing. Most of the kids left but I wound up talking to this woman originally from Dublin now living in London, who was traveling by herself. She looked familiar and we probably saw her in Cabo when we were in Tayrona. She rented one of those hammocks in the tent city which basically looks like a refugee camp. Chatted until we started turning blue and it was time to get out of the pool. Dried off and headed back into town. On our way down we saw a whole lot of people going up. Looks like we got out of the pool just in time. It is going to get crowded up there.

Went into the Lazy Cat Café, which is the place to go we were told. Nice and cool by a stream. Had a great lunch and ordered take out for dinner – we’re staying put tonight. Back in our hut now. I snagged the fan that was in reception because no one ever used it. It’s a god send up here. The sun is shining brightly and it just started pouring rain. Time to look for rainbows.

Next time… Stopover in Cartagena

Minca EcoHabs

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Another day, another, hut, another hammock! That's life in Colombia lately.  Our old friend, Henry (driver who met us at airport) picked us up late morning.  After about a two hour drive, most of which was, of course, straight up, twisty turny but paved for the most part, we arrived at our Minca home. We are high up in the Santa Marta hills. Not exactly like the website but it will do for two nights.

We checked out our surroundings and headed across the jungle to the hotel restaurant only for them to tell us that it was closed. But the signs everywhere, even the menu, say noon to 2:30. It was barely two o'clock. There aren't a lot of options here for food, if any, so we were going to get fed one way or another. After a lot of back and forth in languages no one understood. It was settled that they would feed us something. David, from reception, who speaks some English, explained that the cook was away and would be back by dinner time. Surely someone can fry up a plaintain! And sure enough we were seated and they lovely ladies prepared us a snack.


Took another route to get back to the hut - more road than rocky terrain. Might be better in the dark when we have to go back for dinner.  That's about as much adventure as we are up for at this point in our trip.  The major thing to do here in Minca is to hike up to the waterfall but I think we are waterfall-ed out, or another coffee farm tour. Maybe I should've thought this out some more before we came??? 



So it looks like we are just going to swing in our hammocks until Friday morning when we are off again. This time one night in Cartagena and then on to an island - hopefully a flat one!!


Next time....????