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Sunday-Tuesday October 6-8, 2019
Sunday I was on the go early to watch MotoGP and Moto2 at David's. I did not take any photos because I knew that I would have lots to show later.. Why?? Because it is our 4th Anniversary and we were leaving Cali at 5:43pm for the Carribean island(s) of San Andres, within view of Nicaragua.
I only brought the Canon T7i because I did not want to be changing lenses in humid conditions all the time. That was a good decision.
We drove to the Cali airport and parked in the open lot. I covered the windshield with our backseat waterproof cover to help keep the heat out of the car. They quoted us a reasonable price to keep it for a little more than 2 days.
Things did not start off well for the trip when they whacked us 225,000 pesos more as a visitors' tax...!! Nobody bothered to tell us about such a thing so I was not very happy at them for taking our spending money.... That was only the beginning of the rip-offs.
We were met at the airport by a taxi to take us to the Yellow Moon Hostal about 10 miles (1/2 hour drive) 2/3 the way up the coast which is edging onto San Luis. We had selected this hotel because of the good write-ups about the owner, Uncle Taga, and the private beach across the road. He has a sprawling building with about 6 small rooms to rent. The yard is huge and fenced and has this low grass that never grows if you walk on it.... We were supposed to bring some home but they never did get it to us. The room had no AC but it did have a nice ceiling-mounted fan above the bed. With the patio door open and the room door open, the breeze was very nice. We were assured that it was very safe because this is a small island and any thieves are subject to vigilante justice. The room we had booked was on the main level next to his but he recommended we take one on the second floor for a better view, especially of the sunrises. We opted for that without question.
Taga was a very big man with bad legs because of his weight. He hates to see doctors, he wears half a mustache for some reason, and is a veritable fountain of knowledge. He freely admits that all his problems are because he loves to eat, usually a 1/2 chicken dinner in the evening. He loves to mingle with the guests and offered us free beers and coffees. We tried to follow his recommendations but many fell apart for one reason or another.
That night we walked about 3 blocks to a restaurant that did awesome baconburgers and hot dogs and came back, showered and hit the sack. The water in the shower was always only a trickle, gravity fed.
Monday I was awakened by a flash of lightning that was accompanying the sunrise. So I sat on the balcony with the Canon and my phone. I shared a few shots to my Facebook friends. Recovering shots off my phone is a royal pain.
Taga had arranged for us to meet a tour operator at 11am to go on a boat tour. We just missed the bus and that cost us some time so we didn't arrive on the downtown beach until almost 11am and contact with the woman was most unhelpful. We didn't know the town, just went where we were told and she was not offering to come and find us... So we just grabbed the nearest tour from a huckster. They all said they offered the same things for a $13 tour each until 6pm or so.
They crammed a boat with tourists, all ages, and first took us to Johnny Cay, a small island offshore with a lovely beach, many iguanas, expensive food and drinks, and only benches to sit on. They unbelievably said that they would return for us at 2:50pm... Then they didn't come until after 3:30pm so we had 4 hours of real discomfort and lots of hot sun. Neither Cristina nor I were planning to do anything in the water (me, because of the camera). We were not happy campers at the abandonment...
They packed us back in the boat and we went to sit off an island of mangrove trees, while the young guy made a pitch for a tour to show people an area of seven colours in the water, caused by different effects. No takers.
Then they took us to two adjacent islands, dropped us off at the one with a small beach but very shallow water for a long distance inhabited by a few manta rays. Apparently the other island had an aquarium (that cost extra) and the only way to get there was to walk through chest-deep water... That wasn't happening, so we had another 1.5 hours of discomfort. I had to buy a Miller beer just so I could sit in a real chair in a bar.
There were paragliders in the area pulled by boats and some creepy crabs.
They loaded us up again and took us a very short ways where 2 of their guys dove in and came back with starfish and manta rays. Some of the tourists jumped in the water to touch them, etc, just like we had done in the Cayman Islands many years ago.
Then the sales pitch was on to go another short distance to visit the third largest barrier reef in the world and a derelict ship that had run aground, but everyone had to agree to pony up 10,000 pesos each, x 40 people. Since everybody else acted like gullible sheep we had no option. So we sat so far away in the dusk that we really could only see the waves hitting the reef... What a ripoff! And I couldn't turn around to get shots of a magnificent red sunset behind us.
One things that did hit me was the curve of the horizon, following the curvature of the earth. It was very noticeable there. Finally we got back to shore.
We ate a bit and grabbed a full bus back to the hotel. The bus fares were about 75c each and we had to stand almost the whole way home.
I decided to tip Taga for all his help and he was most gracious and I had another beer. I mentioned that I was thinking of trying his private beach, barely lit up by streetlights, and he surprised me by saying that he would join me! His one doctor that he listens to has told him many times to use his private beach as therapy. As it is, he rides his motorcycle across the road because he can't walk far (his kids do everything for him). I walked down and put my Crocs at the edge of the water. We ended up swimming, wading and yakking for 2 hours. He explained that this was actually the worst time of year to visit here because the water is full of weeds from Mexico in September and October.... I am not a fan of weeds floating around me but it wasn't really that bad... Then we saw something floating toward us, both of us thinking that it was a package of cocaine. I went to get it and was shocked to see one of my Crocs!! The other was nowhere to be found, despite searches that night, and in the morning. We had a real good laugh over that, but now I was shoeless...
Tuesday, we left early for downtown on the bus to catch a land tour, but the tour was booked up they said. So again we opted to get ripped off with gringo pricing (according to Taga because we again did not go to his recommended person...) and rented a Kawasaki Mule quad to tour the island at our leisure. They wanted 140,000 pesos until 6pm, then asked for another 30,000 pesos for gas. I hate this nickle and dime crap of add-ons that are not initially mentioned. Then we discover that the Mule has no horn, no mirrors, and bad brakes, even though it had only 3900 kms on it. It really is a noisy, slow beast that I would never consider buying.... I couldn't believe that it could be legal to be on the road. My neck got a workout checking behind me continuously.
Our first stop was at a shoe store where I picked up some cheap thongs. Touring on our own was a good decision for us because I could stop whenever and wherever we wanted and check out side roads, like the one to Captain Morgan's Cave. That looked like a tourist trap so we didn't go in. Taga had told us of a couple of places to check out but we couldn't find them. His directions and distances left a lot to be desired.
So we left the town of San Andres at the north end and started to circle the island. Around San Andres town there are many nice beaches fronted by new hotels.
I hadn't realized exactly where San Andres Island was, because the mention of Nicaragua threw me off, but it is really a ways from Colombia itself.
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| Bottom left hand corner... way past Costa Rica and Panama! |
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| The right side has beaches. Left side is volcanic rock. |
The whole left side of the island is disappointing, and not very clean, as is usual in Latin America. There are sporadic beaches on the right side. I really didn't take any pictures as it was mostly boring....
We stopped at our hotel for an hour nap then checked out with our carry-ons in the deck of the Mule.
We roamed aimlessly around downtown in circles for the last hour having an ice cream, etc. When we turned in the Mule early, we asked the fellow if he could take us to the airport because it looked like a long walk. He agreed and jumped in the back and gave easy directions. We have him a tip of course.
There was a long line-up at Latam to check-in but it went quickly. It was only when we got on the plane, almost last, only to find people in our seats with the same seat designations... WTF. Luckily there were a few aisle seats open so we just napped on the way home.
Our car was still nicely covered as we had left it. It cost us about $20 to park the car for the the 2+ days. It was the only bargain of the whole trip.
We got home around 10pm after an easy night drive to extremely happy dogs, and were very glad that Claudia and Sara had looked after everything nicely while we were gone.
So now I have spent all of Wednesday working on photos and this blog, so don't expect more today.
I hope you enjoy the pictures. I won't caption the obvious ones..
That was the day’s excitement.
Al
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| Sunset above the clouds on Latam flight |
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| Uncle Taga was a fun to be with. |
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| Bad night shot of part of the Yellow Moon Hostal |
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| Good food a few blocks away |
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| My bacon burger made to order. Delicious! |
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| Cristina's hot dog... |
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| Sunrise Monday. A little bit of lightning I did not catch. |
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| Sunrise panorama over the private beach (which is really public). |
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| My fave? |
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| Sunrise panorama. How cool is this? I love palm trees. |
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| Our nice room, fan, fridge, TV, balcony |
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| Hostal on the left, beach on the right |
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| Panorama of the place |
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| Downtown San Andres |
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| Boating out to Johnny Cay |
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| Four hours of watching iguanas mostly |
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| It is another volcanic island |
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| The Carribean turquoise water is so beautiful |
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| Cris navigating around the small island |
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| Most used the lovely beach |
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| Only benches to sit, no chairs |
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| They fight over food |
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| This guy fed them and petted this guy who enjoyed it.. |
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| Food fight |
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| So ugly they are beautiful, and harmless |
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| A crab at Aquario |
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| The aquarium is over there. Idyllic sight... |
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| Groups around manta rays |
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| Some day I will do this |
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| I need a waterproof camera though, lol. |
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| Holding a manta ray for viewing and touching |
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| My recollection is that they like their tummies rubbed |
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| The world's third largest barrier reef |
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| Sunrise building |
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| Five unwelcome equine visitors to the yard. |
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| This cloud looks like a bird? |
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| The colour is building |
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| A Tuesday sunrise panorama again |
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| Their owner came and chased them home |
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| Our Kawasaki Mule for touring |
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| Nice open view and breeze forward |
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| Big hotels front on this huge beach |
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| Gorgeous sandy beach |
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| This must be really busy on the weekends |
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| I loved the look of this restaurant |
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| Happy Anniversary dear! |
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| This sign sure made me chuckle. Rocky side of the island. |
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| Coast Guard boat to chase down drugs |
