06May
Whilst I was having my Spanish lesson at 8am, this chap (William) came up and asked to speak to me later about Salsa. So when I finished, I chatted to him. He had overheard me asking reception about salsa classes. So he has offered to take me out tonight to teach me salsa. I was a little wary but he seemed really sweet. Later I searched for a bank to use my emergency credit card. Couldn't find it but did a little shopping, sight seeing along the way.
I met the captain of the boat I am to sail in. He was in the area when I rang. He collected a pup that he was going to bring on board and then to the boat. The boat was ok and he explained the set up. There were 3 Israelis there too. They had yet to decide.
At 8pm I met William and he had his uncle Raphael as well. Both of them are from Bucaramanga, which I had passed through a few days ago. They are both owners of their own companies and sell, market their wares throughout Colombia. It is only in the past 7/8 years that they have been able to travel. Before that, it was not safe to travel due to kidnappings and guerrilla activity. But now, travel is pretty safe. William is married with 2 kids but adores salsa. We went to dinner, then to Donde Fidel, which is THE salsa place to go in Cartagena. It has great fots. I had been there a few days ago for a drink one afternoon. However as it was not the weekend, there were very few people. Raphael left about 10 and William tried to show me salsa steps using his hands on the table. Then we tried to salsa, when a few other people got up to dance. It was nice and I got the 4 time salsa pretty easy. The 6 time, well lets just say there is a bit more work. We left there about 11.30 and hit another place nearer the hotel which is the second best place to go. That was a lovely place too.
07 May.
Woke up exhausted. Was yawning all the way through my Spanish class at 8am and it was hard to take it in. Breakfasted at the cafe negro, then went in search of a swim suit and a bank. Well tried my card in 3 banks. One didn't do cards, one did but didn't have the machine for my type. The 3rd let me know that my second emergency card doesn't work. How crap is that. One very nasty mail needs to be written to mastercard and John Lewis.
I met William and Raphael for dinner again but was too exhausted to go to salsa. I packed and went to sleep.
08 May.
I came down to the hotel lobby, to find a message had been left from the Irish guy that was to sail on the same boat. We agreed to share a taxi to the boat. He is called Eddy from Derry, N. Ireland. We then met Chris from near Hemel Hempstead, England, 2 Argentinians, Jerimiah and Ischermo from Buenos Aires and a Brazilian called Jose from Sao Paulo. The crew consisted of Lucho (el Capitaine: Colombian via Chile), his girlfriend Johanna (Colombian), and the first mate, Leo (Argentinian). we had to wait for hours to sort documentation out but eventually sailed around 4.30pm. oh yea, Lulu, the pup and Matteo, this split personality dog, who Lucho had got 3 days earlier to bring to his dad who had recently lost his own dog. Nice labrador but I think he had been abused in his job as a security job. He loved Leo but veered between being friendly or just barking the hell at anyone who passed him on the boat.
I have never been seasick but I was this first night. I was feeling a little queasy but was ok until I went down to the cabin when the heat and the fumes got to me. Oh boy within 5 minutes, I had to rush up and get sick over the edge. I was the first but most of the rest of the guests followed suit either that night or next day. I was ok though once I got sick. The sailing was a bit rough as there were lots of high waves. At about 1am I went on deck. Matteo was near the back of the roof of the cabin. He was exhausted and his poor legs were trembling. I dont think he had sat or lay down for 5 hours. I doubt the dog was ever on a boat, as he was incredibly nervous. I stood there for maybe 45 min just holding him and stopping him from sliding. Eventually I got him up on the roof on top of some covering, which allowed him to rest. He was so scared he didn't bark at all. I felt so sorry for him. He has been thrown into such a different, scary, unbalanced world and god knows what he had before.
We had 2.5 days of sailing continuously. The captain slept for most of the first 2 days, as he caught this bug. I then got the bug, as did his girlfriend and Jose. The others escaped. So the seasick stopped but the sickness began, as did the coughing, the fever, associated headache and the exhaustion. GREAT!! What a start. Except Lucho and his girlfriend got the best bed on the boat. I had a little corner, which was on the side of the boat. It was an oven, especially as the seating I was lying on was plastic or leather. Either way it made me sweat like a pig. So woke up dehydrated and feverish every few hours. I tried to sleep outside but then got too cold which gave me a cold on top of the bug. I tried the floor and that was not too bad one evening but I got moved to a better place but that was only one evening. The rest of the time I had my little oven.
Jose didn't fare much better and he was a fair bit bigger than I. On the second morning, we had the most fab company. A school of about 10 dolphins swam with the boat for about 30 mins. They were so beautiful. That was such a special moment. They were just having so much fun jumping in and out of the water.
After 2.5 days we arrived in the San Blas islands. We anchored off this uninhabited little island. It was just beautiful. Leo took us over in the little dingy and the second day I swam over and back. Matteo loved being on the island and was a different dog not snarling at anyone. He loved it there. We stayed 2 days there, I didn't feel like snorkeling, as my breathing was a bit impeded with coughing but apparently it was nice. Us guests, entertained ourselves by sleeping when we could, a bit of sunbathing, chatting and having a few rum and cokes in the evenings. Eddy had a guitar so played that too which was nice. Most nights we had food cooked for us and some lunch times. but other times, we had to fend for ourselves. It was a bit irratic. Leo was fab and tried his best but he had too much to do and seemed to do most things even when Lucho got better.
There was no shower just plastic bottles of water to wash off the salt so I think we are pretty smelly and my hair is in a right state.
We had a nice few days, then went onto another beautiful island but this had a restaurant and a few houses. Some Kuna came out in their canoes to sell us their wares, mostly molas which are a type of embroidery on cloth. Sometimes these were just squares or they were on shirts etc. Many were very beautiful. The kuna Yale are the most autonomous indigenous people in Central and South America. They self rule and no one is allowed own property on the San Blas Islands, except them. They have managed to keep their traditions intact despite exposure over the centuries to foreign influences and many of the women still wear the traditional cloths which of course includes embroidered shirts. They also were lots of rings of coloured beads from their ankles to their knees. They are a pretty special people.
13May
The last day we again sailed most of the evening. Didn't get much sleep again. but we landed in Portobelo, a nice enough town and we said goodbye to the crew and to Jose who was going to take his motorbike to the nearest hostel and sleep before continuing. the rest of us 5 waited for the bus to colon and then onwards to Panama city. Jeremiah went off and then there were 4. We went to a hostel and then to dinner. Getting to bed was such bliss for us all. Although we all felt we were still on the boat.
14May
We moved to a really nice hostel, called Luna Castle today, pretty cool. . We lost Ishermo, so now we are 3. Eddy had to do some things. So Chris and I went to a mall with Ryan, this mad Canadian and Tio a Belgian who sounds English. Ryan and Tio kept us entertained throughout our walk in the mall. Ryan was on the look out for a Panamanian girl to date, as it is his last night in Panama. He thinks Latin girls are nicer than white girls. He was so entertaining. Tio and he make a good team. The mall was like any you would find in Europe or more so America. I ended up having a cinnabon danish and a shake. oh well...
We whiled away the rest of the evening waiting for a girl that Ryan met in a shop and arranged to meet. She didn't turn up. I can't believe he was surprised. She tried to get him to buy her a 7 dollar ring and they hadn't even had a date yet.
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