Colombia, Cartagena de Indias – Dec 2006
We had never intended to visit Colombia, as many scary stories about pirates and corrupt authorities had put us off. However in Trinidad and Curaçao we met many cruisers who highly recommended a visit to Cartagena, the historic Spanish colonial city, which is apparently safe. It also seems that heavy US Coastguard patrols along the Colombian coast have vastly improved safety. As we had already missed out some very attractive Venezuelan islands, we decided to try Cartagena de Indias.
The sailing was similar in conditions to the previous trip, although we had a big squall south of Aruba at night with winds up to 45kts and torrential rain. Luckily we were in a safe position, and we were only using our twin headsails which we reefed up pretty small for a while! We used our radar to check on things while we were blinded by rain.
The sea was pretty lumpy but not horrible, although we had one good roll which threw Lisa on top of me, and threw several “safe” items out of their safe places and crashing across the cabin! My personal cassette player found its way from a shelf on one side of the saloon to a similar location on the other side of the boat, behind the tap of the sink!
We arrived at 2a.m., knowing the harbour entrance was buoyed and lit. The Bay of Cartagena has two openings, the closest one being a 50ft gap in a bay entrance almost a mile wide. The entire bay entrance is booby-trapped with a wall which is just underwater, a ploy by the Spanish to foil attack by English ships! Now the small gap which has been broken in the wall, with a depth of just 11ft, is shown by port and starboard markers. For the timid or in rough weather, there is a commercial shipping entrance to the bay a few miles south.
Inside the bay we followed instructions into the harbour and to the anchorage. The sailing instructions were not all that easy to interpret but we went in slowly and finally found all the anchored yachts. They are always difficult to spot at night, only some yachts show lights and even then the shore lights drown out the visibility.
We anchored carefully and held ok.
The signing in procedure here is done by an agent, it is very easy as the Club Nautico organises the agent who is a friendly guy. However it costs about 55 USD per boat.
The Club Nautico allows you to use its facilities for a small fee, and internet access is available from the anchorage although for surfing it is slow and frustrating. There are two internet cafes just up the road from the club which are pretty good and cheap at about 2500 pesos (60 pence) per hour.
The Club has a bar, food, laundry, TV, reading room, book swap, power points, water, showers, dinghy dock, some marina spaces, etc. It does not have a pool which is a shame because the harbour water is not clean.
The weather in daytime is often hot and muggy, however in the anchorage there is often a breeze which is nicely cool by evening. The hammock we have on deck is popular.
Near to us is a container port, with modern cranes and loading facilities, fascinating to watch.
Local boats tear through the anchorage but I haven’t seen any accidents – yet!
Just up the road are ATM’s, a supermarket, internet cafe, etc. On the front are some chandleries, and on the road behind there is a great kids play area.
On the way to the old walled town there are places to eat and a bridge with a view, before you get to the really pretty streets near and in the old town. Everywhere in the centre is brightly painted in warm colours, and many buildings have old-fashioned balconies with beautiful wooden balustrades overflowing with potted plants and flowers. The old town feels a lot like St Malo in France as you walk in, although the style is very Spanish, and here you get hounded the minute you enter until the minute you leave by street vendors and shop owners, some friendly and some pushy. The place is stunningly pretty even if we ended up spending a bit more than we intended. Prices although high by Colombian standards are low for us. We didn’t find all the shops I expected, although they must be somewhere. We are a bit limited because our small amount of Spanish is rather rusty and the accent and some words here are different too. Only in the old town do many vendors speak some English.
We decided to spend Christmas here as there are lots of kids on boats who are around at the club and there were some good activities in the pipeline. Today Wed 13th December, Daniel prepared and decorated our Christmas tree, he did a great job. It is on the saloon table as last year. Now to start wrapping presents!
The local supermarket looks promising for turkey etc., the choice is good. We will leave for the San Blas islands, Panama, after Christmas. There you can buy nothing, except the famous molas with USD cash.
One day we went for the day to the beach at Boca Grande, the hotel district, where beaches line the shore of the open sea. We took a taxi and found a spot on the beach, before we had even sat down we were inundated with sellers of food, hats, t-shirts, and massages! The sea is too rough for little children and is full of sand and weed close in but it was nice to swim in …warm and clean slightly further out.
I went shopping in the old town one day with our friend Linda. Bliss!! No moaning kids in sight! We went to the working part of the town where the shops and markets are, and found a wealth of stalls selling just about anything you could have thought of. Prices were good in general too.
Christmas Day we spent on board the boat, allowing time for opening and playing with presents, and preparing, cooking and eating our Christmas lunch. It was a lovely day.
The cruisers organised a big lunch at the Club Nautico, but aside from turkey, it did not bear much resemblance to what we normally have in England. Most of the cruisers are American, and lots provided mashed potato, pumpkin pie, and salads. Only one boat, our friends who are from Wales, provided roast potatoes, out of over 100 diners! We decided to give the meal a miss.
A few days after Christmas we did a final big shop, signed out, and left in early evening of 30th December for the San Blas islands of Panama.
The crossing was rolly with a following sea of four metres or so and not much fun for those down below, but we did have plenty of wind. We arrived in the early afternoon the next day at Porvenir, where you can sign in at the western end of the island chain.