Cartagena

            What a fine city!  We spent six glorious weeks there.  There is a lot to see and do – we did a lot but not all of it.  We walked many miles, rode buses, rode motorcycle taxis, and rode in car taxis.  This is a very large metropolitan city.  And at night, lit up like New York City!  I have lots of pictures but we never had good enough internet connection for me to download any!

            Centro is the World Heritage Center of tourist attractions.  There are museums, forts, old buildings, and street vendors.  The upper floors of many of the old buildings have been renovated to upscale living quarters.  We spent many hours walking the streets and visiting museums here.  Getsemani is next to Centro and very old also.  This section of the city is home to many hostels and funky artsy type buildings.  These were a very short taxi ride or a fifteen to twenty minute walk for us. 

            Also within walking distance were several shopping malls.  It was fun to go there since I had not been in a mall in over 2 years!  One store in the closest mall was like a Colombian Wal-Mart, called Jumbo.  One day, Jan, Darrell and I went to a couple of malls looking for items that we couldn’t find in the grocery store near us. 

            The grocery store was about one and a half blocks from where we docked the dinghy.  It was like a nice Publix.  The biggest challenge was learning the names of items in Spanish.  It was a nice store and there was a customer service representative named Diana who spoke great English and was a help to us many times.  There was a laundry facility in the store and I took in 11 kilos of laundry.

            On Wednesday nights and for NFL Playoffs and Super Bowl (insert sad face here), we walked 6-10 blocks for pizza.  They served great pizza and good cold beer.  The sound for the games was in Spanish but we enjoyed the company and food while watching the games, even if Denver did lose the big one!

            Darrell decided to take up woodworking here.  After observing some skilled marine carpenters, he decided to do some things for Alibi.  We had been wanting a way to secure the TV when we are underway other than stuffing pillows all around it.  He designed and built a beautiful table to lock the TV to the bulkhead.  Photos to come.

            We met a guy from Kentucky here in the grocery store.  We took him and his girlfriend sailing (her first sail).  They took us out dancing.  At the club we went to, they played several songs in English.  You had to pay attention or you would have thought you were in a club in the USA.  FUN times, even if we did stay out past our bedtime!!

            Of course our Spanish vocabulary has improved a lot here.  We still have a long way to go but we can communicate.  The down side is when they answer, they talk so fast and they use words and phrases we are not familiar with.  Conversing on the telephone gives me a panic attack!!  LOL

            After six weeks, too much growth on the boat bottom and topside dirt and pollution – it was time to leave.  We ran the water maker a minimum because the water in the anchorage was not great but for a city this size, it was good. 

            On March 1, we sailed about 20 miles south to the Rosario Islands.  Beautiful Bahamas-like turquoise and blue water.  NOW, we know where all the tourists were coming on the commercial boats coming and going from the harbor at Cartagena!

            After a few days there, we were joined by Celtic Rover and Sea Schell.  Then a German flagged catamaran named Aluna came into the anchorage.  We were staging for the next hop to Panama.  After nearly a week there, we had the weather predictions conducive to making the 100+ mile run.

            March 7, we sailed to Tintipan Island to be ready for Sunday’s winds to take us to Panama.  We have daily talks set up with CR and SS via the SSB radio since they did not leave with us.  This morning, Bruce told us that we are going too fast for him.  So after traveling together for two years, we are forging ahead and not waiting for them.  It feels very weird.  Hopefully, somewhere down the way, we will see them again!

***  We have not escaped from Celtic Rover - either we slowed down or they sped up but we are still together!  And GLAD about it!!  And so sorry this is so late - never knew I would not have internet for so long!!