Day 1
I love the ocean. I love the water, salt and sand. I don't love boats. Boats make me sick with their nasty smell of gasoline and the rocking slowly in the rough waves. I was therefore grateful that the trip out only had a few stops and the water was very calm. About 50 minutes total.
The beach was less white and the water less clear than we expected it to be (or less than the brochure depicted it). Nevertheless, it was very clean and the water was still quite clear. We were going to stay for two days so there was no sense in whining about it. I didn't waste any time getting my butt sun screened, down in the sand with and open book. It didn't take long for my dad to drag me out of my reading coma and to play some frisbee.
The day passed fairly quickly this way. I drank a few beers, read my book, realized it was a kids book, got pissed off, continued reading anyway, then eventually moved from the beach to the patio dining area. At about 4pm the rest of those on the boat left; they were only at the island for the day. We were the only people left. As such, we had the entire hotel to ourselves.
Lets go ahead and be clear here - the hotel consisted of very few rooms and was at most a 2 star place. It had the thatched dining area (with palm leaves as the roof), only a few lights on the patio, a small salt-water pool...nothing major, for sure. It was supposed to be a more "budget-friendly" place. As such, we were also the only gringos there.
This set-up was actually kind of nice. We made friends with Rudolpho (Rudy, as I called him), our waiter, housekeeper, and bartender. Also, we could basically custom order our lunches and dinners. Rudy was super nice with me and that night he asked what I was going to eat since another server had told him that I refused the meat at lunch. He was great...he had the chef custom make me a veggie and rice plate that night with a salad. It was remarkably awesome.
I spent the rest of the evening playing backgammon with my parents and making cuba libres (rum & cokes) from a water bottle I smuggled the rum into.
Day 2
I woke up early and went out to the patio area to read my book with some cafe con leche. Literally this means coffee with milk. Don't be fooled, this is no Starbucks latte. Its phenomenal in a way I cannot explain. Breakfast was scrambled eggs with arepas and queso fresco.
At around 10am the boat of day-trippers arrived. Today my dad and I were diving. Problem was, it had rained all morning and the sea was very turbulent. Even the waves on the beach were surprisingly large.
Don't get me wrong, I don't get sea sick that often and I haven't actually thrown up since I was about 10 years old. But giant ass sea waves and a rocking boat just don't make me happy so I was nervous. We got our gear ready and I waited by the pier for the boat to load. I made sure I was the last one on.
The dive itself was nothing special. There was some great brain coral and lots of cool fish but overall it wasn't as exciting as I'd hoped. The coolest part of the dive were these two big colorful lobster we saw in the rocks and some giant lion fish. Quick note on the lion fish though - they're evidently destroying the Caribbean wildlife, they belong in the South Pacific so apparently people are requesting that you kill them if you see them. We didn't kill them. We didn't have knives. Apart from that, we had a great bottom time, a little over 50 minutes (and I still came up with 1200psi). Twas a shallow dive. Only hit 55 feet and it was only for a few minutes.
*sigh*
Frisbee on the beach, I have discovered, is quite dangerous. I have 3 flesh wounds to show for it. My dad and I played after the dive and after lunch when we got back to the hotel. On day one, I managed to puncture my foot as I ran over some dead coral on the beach. Today, however, the frisbee itself cut into my hand and cut into my foot during the game. My dad also received a cut on the bottom of his foot and a cut on his hand during this game. Additionally, he went head over heels and landed on his ass when he tripped chasing a frisbee. Bahahahaha. Hilariousness.
I suppose now it was about 4 or 5pm so showers ensued and we placed our dinner order. I finished my book and began another one. By the way, how freakin awesome is that? I finished a book in 3 days! For fun!!!! *ahem* So we brought some rum out to accompany our pepsi and began the night. Today we weren't alone. There were three others with us tonight. Still pretty secluded, though.
All through dinner we watched a lightning storm while we played games. I guessed it would probably hit the island. Sure enough, it did....at 4am. I haven't heard thunder like that in at least 3 or 4 years. Not since I'd moved to Lubbock anyway. It was like listening to bombs drop. Incredible. No sleep though.
Day 3
8:30am - I couldn't force myself to sleep any longer with the sun up and people audibly moving about outside. No doubt they were cleaning the debris that was torn down in the thunderstorm. So I wandered outside with my new book and began to read while sipping my cafe con leche.
Today was much more relaxed than yesterday. I spent most of my morning reading my new book. Yesterday the boat guide came over and said that we could take a day trip to another beach. Considering the surf was still pretty far up and the waves still quite large from the storm, we took him up on the offer.
11:30am - I was in my bathing suit and sun screened up ready to get on the boat. Instead we walked about 10 minutes across to the other side of the island and waited for a boat there. The trail out was a little mucky and the air was still thick with the storm. After waiting a few minutes at the other side our dude eventually got the boat over to us and we headed out.
He said we were going to a "playita", literally, "little beach". We started going through pathways of mangroves where the water was still murky but on the other side it was ocean as usual. The tiny little beach he pulled up to was very secluded. It was called "Playa Bonita". Original, I know. Still, it was everything we had hoped the hotel would be. The sand was, in fact, white and the water was a perfect turquoise. My kinda beach ;) I swam more there than I did at the beach we stayed at. I hardly touched my book. I spend my time laying in the sand and trying to absorb the scenery around me.
Lunch was at 2pm so we didn't stay long at the beach. I think we left at about 1:45 or so to head back to our hotel. We needed to eat and pack by about 3:30 when the boat left. It was sad leaving the beach. I could have laid there all day just staring at the ocean and feeling my feet sink in the sand when the waves crashed in.
Still, at 3:30 we left. I sat next to the video guy for the boat and behind the boat guide. He was a nice young guy. Couldn't have been older than me, very cutesy, fun kind of person. As we were entering the harbor in Cartagena we passed a large stone statue of a woman. I leaned up and asked our guide man who she was. She was the Virgen of Candelaria...Patron Saint of Cartagena; July 16 is the holiday they celebrate her. The guide and I chatted for a bit in Spanish. I liked him quite a bit, actually. I regret not talking to him earlier. I wonder about his story now. He was an attractive, young guy and he spoke Spanish that was easy for me to understand.
We docked around 4:30 or so and took a taxi home. The shower felt amazing. Though, the first shower after a trip back from an island is always an adventure. You start washing and all of a sudden there is sand in some weird places. This evening has been pleasantly quiet. Dinner, some Obama-watching and wine. I expect I'll be in bed fairly early.
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