Twenty nautical miles south west of the bay of Cartagena are the Rosario Islands, an archipelago of coral reefs protected as a marine park with a regular Armada Nationale presence.
We arrived cautiously towards the end of the afternoon and made several attempts at anchoring. The beauty of the islands are breathtaking and particularly beautiful at sunset. Sitting in the cockpit watching the storms on the mountainous mainland light up the sky was awesome.
But first…….we jumped in the warm water for a much craved for swim. Visibility was not great as there is a lot of sediment suspended in the water, much of the coral is dead but there is evidence of regrowth and few fish. Time to get the SUP out which duly had an outing the following morning. Debbie is still increasing her confidence in this sport but each day makes a difference.
We were advised that we would be visited by fishermen and jewellery sellers. We ordered two large Spider Crabs for Sunday and parted with most of our money on beautiful necklaces. Getting to know individuals by name helps with declining the goods from others without offending them. So Miguel fished for the crabs; Luiz sold us the necklaces and Simon charmed us with his two beautiful younger children, who were thrilled to receive a “Pin the tail on a donkey” game and two of the friendship bracelets made by Nick and Luc from Boomerang.
The pleasure of seeing these kid’s eyes light up at their gifts and the reverence in the way they held them made our day. Simple gifts that produce this kind of reaction make the giving of presents so much more meaningful. Simon sold Stephen two coconuts at an inflated price which were under ripe and rendered about 50mls of coconut water. Leo gave him his old slippers which made him very happy. Like most people who have very little, they are so grateful and the following day, Simon brought Debbie a gift of a necklace and Stephen, two more coconuts…….free this time. Garbage, trash, rubbish etc is a problem on the island so Simon collects from the boats (for another 20,000 Pesos) and puts it on the weekly trash boat to Cartagena.
We explored the islands by RIB, with a watchful eye for the reefs and found the EcoHotel Las Flores which sells ice cold beer and wine. Credit cards are accepted here and we’ve been told you can get cash back here. Mosquitos are an issue so we liberally coated ourselves in oil which seems to work everywhere else……not here! They love body oil and the following day three of us had a few bites.
On advice we decided to visit the natural Aquarium on San Martin de Pajares Island. Tourist boats from the mainland flock here every day but we timed it just right. “Natural” is not what we would call it. The marine creatures were in tiny seawater enclosures with an hourly dolphin show, performing tricks. For Debbie, it resembled a rustic “Seaworld”, she would have loved to have spoken to someone regarding the research that is claimed to be happening here - but our Spanish not up to it. We are lucky enough to see some of this majestic marine life in their natural habitat and although Debbie is not interested in getting on a soapbox she was not impressed. To see Dolphins jump, somersault and ride our bow wave is incredible. To see two dolphins jump to command, wave at the crowds and belly flop on a pontoon for fish treats is a travesty. It was warming to see that after a while the dolphins ignored instruction and did their own thing.
Bubbles and Amelie decided to take their RIBs to Baru Island which is infact on a peninsula of the mainland. With the help of Navionics on the iPad encased in plastic we navigated our way through the tributaries of Mangroves, like a scene out of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” into the town. We were delighted with seeing three donkeys swimming from one bank to the other. The township was busy with children going home for lunch from school, young males on gleaming motorbikes and women with babies attached to their hips. We were hoping to find a bank and supermarket. The bank had closed some years before and the nearest bank was Cartagena. The supermarket composed of a counter with a few onions, sweets, drinks, mops, spanners and buckets. Eventually a local man with some English approached us and helped us find cold beer while he cooked us a meal of red snapper in his home. His friends came to visit trying to sell us their wares and generally we were the spectacle for the day. Everyone was helpful and kind, guiding us back to our dinghies with the addition of a village tour. Leo’s dollars were much appreciated.
Bubbles welcomed Babe and Skylark to the islands by having drinks aboard. We swapped news and later Leo introduced us to game of cards, affectionately called “Aunty Katie’s”. Without reading glasses, Debbie struggled to see the various suits until Karin provided her with a magnifying glass…….now she feels really old.
Halloween seems to be a huge celebration here despite the Catholicism, there was a party ashore that lasted until way past dawn. We believe that there are elections coming up and one evening we were subjected to a breathless, hollering woman who broke into song every now and then.
The weather remains hot but we have experienced some systems travelling through the area. One hour it is flat calm with not a breath of wind, the next hour it blows over 20 knots and the waves pick up. Several days we have been unable to lower the dinghy until the evening (two of these days we didn’t get off Amelie) but that encourages us to chill; play board games, write the blog and chat to the others on the VHF. We were speechless one overcast morning to see waterspouts surrounding Islas del Grande, sucking up water from the sea and moving slowly along the channel between the mainland and the islands. We were on standby to move quickly if the wind changed and they travelled in our direction. Instead we encountered torrential rain for a few hours. Amelie’s decks are gleaming.
Bubbles and Skylark left the anchorage within a day of one another, leaving Babe and Amelie to explore the Islas del Grande by foot. Most of the tropical forest path was shady which was a bonus. The island is part of the national park with 800 people residing on the island. Many shops for the needs of the local community were dotted throughout our walk, well stocked and appeared to be thriving. The Island was beautifully clean and they are heavily into recycling. The people use drift wood to make signs, maps, trash bins elevated from the ground and recycling stations. We were greeted at the various settlements we walked through, stopping at another Ecohotel for a much needed drink. We continued on to the resort of San Pedro, which is in keeping with the island. All four of us were relieved to see a varied menu and enjoyed a remarkable meal with views of the sea.
On our way back to our dinghies we bumped into an elderly couple who were exploring, we enjoyed sharing our experiences as we walked along the paths. At one stage we were befriended by a dog who guided us…….generally to dead ends, he eventually got fed up with us when we took control of the navigation. The fragrance from the flowers on the bushes and trees filtered through the late afternoon air and before we knew it we had arrived back at the dinghy dock.
Babe left the following morning and Amelie was alone in the bay. Debbie took the SUP out for a lengthy paddle and several dips were required throughout the day.
Our plans change continously which is one of the treats of living on a boat, being retired, no alarm clocks and just the two of us to keep happy. We wanted to return to Cartagena for the day but the price quoted was astronomical. The decision for us to return to this beautiful city for another week was made. We need to do a generator service after 50 hours and the marina is an ideal place to do this. Stephen has run out of cigars and getting very low on his pipe tobacco, the gin is low and we are down to the last tonic water plus the choice of fabulous bikinis in the city is an attraction. Debbie intends to visit her new friend, Cesar for a trim before she leaves Colombia. We missed the museums last time so we will try to fit some of them in.