always vital Lithuanian professional basketball player currently on leave for the
off season from his team in Germany were locked and ready to go to the marina where
we had hoped to hire a boat to take us to Isla Grande directly. We successfully got on a
boat but didn't quite know the captain had no idea he was taking us to Isla Grande.
Fortunately we were able to get the information across and he knew exactly where on
the island to drop us off. No real need for socks allowed door to door service to be quite
the amenities as we hopped off the boat into the Caribbean water with or bags over head
hoping that our 10,000 peso (about 3 dollars) deposit would ensure that the boat would
return for us the next day.
After checking in we quickly learned that stable power,
running water, and any semblance of Wifi would not exist. The Golden Frog hostel
was an awesome little house with no doors or windows just open air format with a living
room that was essentially a covered balcony. Eager to enjoy the slow relaxing
atmosphere around us we hopped into a few hammocks and began to forget about time
for awhile.
When we were ready for lunch we learned that it was already too late to
order from the hostel so we had to go into "town" for lunch. A 15 minute walk along a
dirt path through the forest led us to the property of the restaurant owner Pola. Passing
her animal cages and passing the free range chickens and pigs we arrived at the
restaurant. With only 2 tables both under a canopy in front of her restaraunt/house
overlooking the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean. she cooked up freshly caught fish
and a little special side of vegetarian food for me. Breaking the cardinal rule of not
waiting an hour before swimming we jumped into the water for a quick swim. Having
been such great customers we were told that dinner would be served at 6:30 back at the
same spot. Happy stomachs agreed and we would return for dinner and head to the
cock fights with her! This was a big fight as her family members had a chicken in the
fight. After we dried off and headed back through the forest to our hostel we lounged
around enjoyed the simple things and chatted with everyone else in our hostel. Ready
for our dinner we navigated back to Pola's using only a cellphone flash light to guide us
along. Not fully realizing it would be difficult to eat outside again in the dark we were
pleasantly surprised when instead of dining outdoor we were invited in Pola's home
made of concrete bricks to dine at her kitchen table under the single light that hung from
a tin roof that covered only certain parts of her home. Bathrooms? Don't count on it,
Lighting? Lost for 30 sec in middle of dinner. Despite the ambiance; the food and
experience were amazing.
After we finished dinner our new American friend Ben who
was living in a tent on Polas farm and her children offered to lead us to the village where
the fight would take place. Another unmarked walk through the Forest found us in the
middle of town at the fighting ring where everyone had gathered for the main events. As
the eight of us reached town you could see the locals coming out of their homes to see
what the gringos were doing here (One of the children guiding us had gotten tired so our
Lithuiana was carrying the young child). As we took our seats around the ring we met
one very excited child whose dad's chicken was competing. After almost 20 mins of
betting, prepping the chickens and getting the right music the fight started. The fight
lasted nearly 10 minutes (10 mins which none of us enjoyed) the young child's chicken
had lost.
However he was happy to help lead the way back through the Forest to our
hostel where we had planned to be taken to the Blue Lagoon on the island. After
meeting at the bar and sharing some Whiskey Shakes among the crew (essentially
just whiskey and coke poured into ones mouth then you shake it up) we were guided
back Into the forest for a 30 minute walk where we exchanged more cultural differences,
played guess the accent performed by George and carried on along the way. Finally
once arriving all the flash lights were turned off and the pitch blackness was only
disturbed by the light from the stars allowed us to jump into the lagoon which magically
lit up with each stroke. We spent roughly 25 minutes in the lagoon before heading back
to our hostel to hang out which was as described be Aoife to be a "fizzer" of a night
before crawling into our "mozzy" (mosquito) net covered beds.
Rich having ordered breakfast the night before for us had us up early again. With only a
few hours left before our scheduled 12:30 pick up some people decided to kayak
through the mangrove while a few others from the house swam out into the caribean
with snorkle gear and SUP boards after a bit of exploring we decided to just rest wading
out in the water as boats passed by here and there. After sometime we decided to swap
activities before hoping to get a shower before our boat ride back. Having No luck with
running water we packed up and headed back to the beach to await our rescue from the
Benedicion Edi. Only about an hour late we were relieved to have had a ride off the
island since another boat wouldn't come until the next day. After climbing into the boat
and become the butt of nearly every Colombians jokes we were ready to go. Little did
we know what the rough waters ahead had in store. Our captain, well equipped with his
snorkel mask on, plowed full steam ahead into massive waves that made the boat feel
like we were in the log flume. A treacherous ride that even the Colombians on the boat
feared that the Bendecion may hold the same fate as the Titanic. After about 30 minutes
of what in retrospect was one hell of a ride we arrived at the boats first stop on our
journey home. Playa Blanca, Baru Islands which is known for its beautiful beaches. We
hopped into the choppy water and off to have lunch served by the first mate of the ship.
Having had a bit of a stressful journey Corey quickly threw down 10,000 pesos for a
back massage on the beach. Soon after by choice or force each person in our group
received in chair massages at our lunch table. Quite skilled at their jobs as hustlers and
masseuses we were all quite rejuvenated by the experience.
As time to leave Playa Blanca came a few of the shipment jumped into the ocean and swam out to the boat.
Engine trouble seemed no problem for the boats men as he dismantled the engine and
reassembled it. Just to make sure the boat would be able to return to Cartagena. As we
saddled up for another 45 minutes of wave thrashing the boat salesman reassured us
that the boat was nearly double over a safe capacity and that this was how accidents
happen. Comforted by his words our journey home was rocked by huge swells and a
captain who seemed to have little care for the enjoyment of his passengers. After a few
stops for some engine tweaks and gas fill ups we got back just in time to make our
scheduled 4 hour bus ride from Cartagena to Santa Marta. Now we weren't quite
expecting first class accommodations on our journey but we were mostly all picked up
before our bus sped off leaving Mike and Aoife (our British IT friend) at the hostel.
Fortunately this was just to avoid the congestion our on boarding caused in the street.
The bus made about an hours worth of what seemed to be the bus drivers friends
shuttle before packing the bus full. With air conditioning and salsa music on full blast we
were on our way to Santa Marta! The driver seemed late for something as he passed
every car he could on his way. None more entertaining then when we passed an
ambulance with its lights on. We were all feeling a bit more assured knowing that if
anything happened now there was an ambulance just behind us. After unloading our
bags we were off to have dinner in the downtown area. Our hostel was an old cartel
house with secrets all around.
As were about to hop in a cab the front desk told us not
to get into the car and he would call us a taxi since it was quite a dangerous area.
Everyone had planned to meet up at Agave Azul for dinner but once we arrived we
found out the restaurant was permanently closed. We settled down at an Italian
restaurant had some dinner and drinks before heading to another bar recommended by
our waiter before turning in for the night.
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