OUR FAVOURITE PLACE FROM ALL OUR TRAVELS IN 2022
As the year 2022 comes to a close, we find ourselves in the very quiet Vista Mar marina on the Pacific coast of Panama, reflecting on our favourite places in 2022, and excitedly planning our journey for 2023, which will include crossing the Pacific.
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| There is plenty of space in this marina, no need to book |
We have been in Panama for three months and have enjoyed the Caribbean side in the San Blas islands near to the Colombian border, and to a lesser extent in the Bocas del Toro islands to the North, near to border with Costa Rica. Maybe it was the fact that we were there in rainy season, and boy was it rainy in Bocas, that meant we liked Bocas less. The San Blas islands are home to the Guna Yala people who live independently and are self governing. They live a very simple life, mainly trading fish and embroidery, in particular their hand made molla designs. They come with items to sell each day. We bought quite a lot of delicious lobster, a flag and a molla.
This is the flag of the Guna Yala territory
A molla.
I didn't have the heart to negotiate, and later discovered
that I paid twice as much as anyone else
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| The indigenous people live very simple lives |
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| We met up with Darryl and Alicia on Medea and played shithead every night |
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| I didn't last long lying here... far too hot, but what a great idea and scene |
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| A pilgrim arriving in the church after a gruelling journey |
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| The evening procession with the pallbearers carrying the huge plinth bearing the statue of black Jesus The Nazarin |
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| We were treated to a display of dancing and learned about basket weaving from grasses |
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| We went to the Embera villages and a waterfall on dugout canoe |
After San Blas, we went to Shelter Bay and then embarked on an overnight sail to the Bocas del Toros islands. In the late afternoon we hit something very hard, which we believed to be a massive piece of wood, which stopped us in our tracks. We were motoring because of very light winds, but after the collision our engine wasn't working, so we returned under sail, very slowly, to Shelter Bay marina, arriving in the dark without an engine. Greg skillfully got us moored up without further disaster, then in the morning he dived to look at the prop, hoping not to encounter the crocodile that lurks in the marina waters. The culprit was a massive piece of industrial plastic, wrapped around the prop which had obviously stopped it from turning. Luckily, once removed, all was well and we set off again for an overnight sail to Bocas.
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| Greg re-emerging with the offending plastic sheeting |
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| We found the frogs |
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| and we found the parties |
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| Sadly amongst the partying is some bad news. Caranaro island Bocas is being heavily eroded by rising sea levels - the palms are disappearing. We are noticing a lot of worrying signs of climate change on our travels |
Transiting the Panama canal in December was a bucket list activity for both of us, and we were excited to experience it. We were buddied up with a massive container ship in each of the six locks, although thankfully not attached to them. We were assisted in rope handling by our friend Richard, and two professional rope handlers as well as a transit adviser. It cost £2500 to transit and took two days, including an overnight stopover in Gatun Lake.
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| Our lines and fenders arrived in advance |
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| the lock gates were enormous |
Our lock buddy
I think my most exciting moment was when I realised we were on the web cam at Miraflores lock and found out that people in England could actually see us going through the lock in real time. We rang family to tell them to look at the web cams and had a crazy conversation with Ed while he was watching us on the web cam and he screenshotted us waving at the cameras. The transit was strangely tiring because we had to cater for all of the handlers and advisers and had been told that they expected good cuisine. Well those of you who know me will have realised that was not a challenge to be ignored. Needless to say, we ate very well.
Me watching Ed, watching us live on my phone and the web cam
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| Here we are on the web cam ahead of the ship we were sharing the lock with. We went behind her on the upward locks, and in front on the downward locks |
We had been advised to go through the canal early and not miss out Las Perlas islands on the Pacific side of Panama, so we came through before Christmas and headed for Las Perlas. Strangely, we didn't really feel excited by them; they reminded us of the Rosario islands off Colombia which are not as fabulous as the Caribbean islands or San Blas and the snorkelling is very limited. Maybe we are just getting too spoiled by the beauty and breath taking places we have seen in the last 6 years and our expectations are now hard to meet. However our experience of the Pacific so far, is that it is absolutely teeming with large shoals of fish and we have friends ahead of us who have encountered numerous whales. We are hoping to see some stunning marine life and to catch some fish to supplement our diet enroute to French Polynesia. If we can't catch anything here, Greg should hang up his rod.
Almost everyone we meet is keen to leave Panama. Mind you, some of them have been here for years but even those that have been here for a few months seem very keen to get going. It feels like Crewe station - a place to pass through, but not necessarily stay for a long time.
Considering Panama is at a major crossing point for the world's shipping, its hard to understand why everything boat related seems so difficult to source here and why everything is so expensive. Many people have been stuck here waiting months and months for parts, and have missed their weather windows for onward travel. Our advice would be to pick up as many spares as you can in the Caribbean and get as much technical work done there before you get down to Colombia and Panama. If you need work with cheap labour that doesn't require a lot of spare parts or high level skills, Colombia is your place, but if you need any technical parts they are very very hard to source and take an eternity to arrive. That problem seems even worse in Panama. This is especially the case if you have a European boat rather than one splashed in the USA. We are now almost entirely reliant on bringing spare parts back with us from UK, and its important to have spares of spares for the Pacific.
So, in 2022, we have spent time in Antigua, Barbuda, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Carriacou, Bequia, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Bonaire, Colombia, Peru and Panama and hands down the stand out place to visit and spend time was Colombia. If you have never been, add it to your list. It is surprisingly fabulous and all the stories we heard about it being dangerous. proved to be unfounded from our experience.
We stayed for over four months and in that time met a lot of people, sailors, people who had retired to Colombia and Colombians. It became clear why its a place of choice for retirement for many American citizens, a bit in the same way that Spain has been from Brits for many years. What a vibrant, colourful and friendly place it is. Here are the main reasons why Colombia is our favourite place of 2022;
1. Its interesting
There is nothing boring about Colombia. Every day is interesting and for those of us lucky enough to be travelling with funds from our home country, it is possible to choose what you do every day. There is a blend of city buzz as well as opportunities to spend time in remote areas of mountains, lakes, coastal waters, and rainforest.
The old and the new in the city of Cartagena
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| Rainforest and mountains in Minca |
Wildlife
2. Its cheap
The average wages here are about a third of the UK and prices reflect that across the board, in shops, restaurants and when paying for work to be done on the boat. We have had deck caulking, new cockpit cushions, new curtains, boat bottom cleaned, boat stainless steel and gelcoat cleaned, and sails repaired all at very good prices.
New curtains being fitted
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| New cockpit cushions are a big improvement |
Yellow taxis are everywhere and are strictly regulated for price. a normal ride costs approx £2 anywhere in the city.
3. Retirement made easy apparently. It is apparently easy to be granted a retirement visa in Colombia if you have proof of pension and the tax burden is negligible. If you are land based rather that boat living, property is cheap to rent and buy. We met quite a few people enjoying their later years here.
4 . It is not in the hurricane zone which is a major plus for those of us travelling by boat. It means you can spend time here at any point in the year, although the humidity is pretty bad in the wet season.
5. Its colourful - we have been struck by the vibrant colours of everything from the street art, the clothes, the buildings everything feels very alive.
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| Typical restaurant with colourful furniture and staff wearing traditional colourful clothing |
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| The Sheesha tourist buses are all very colourful day and night |
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| The street art is spectacular |
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| Umbrella street in Getsemane |
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| Guatape is a very colourful town |
6. The dancing and nightlife. If you like dancing, this is a great place to spend time. everybody seems to love dancing and they don't need a designated dance floor to do it. Spontaneous dancing often breaks out in bars and on the streets.
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| Tucandella doesn't let the lack of space stop the DJ |
We just came upon this crowd of people dancing spontaneously in the middle of the day, outside the metro in Medellin
Its easy to find classes for Rumba, Zumba and Salsa. The gym also does classes which are excellent.
We also frequented some good night clubs including Tucandela, Sirena and the best of the best in the old town was Cruz Cruscada.
Roof top club at Sirena had a good DJ
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| Roof top nightclub in Cartagena old town opposite the clock tower - pricey drinks |
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| Some people have a nightclub experience being driven around the town dancing to very loud music on the Sheesha buses |
7. The food
We love South American food. The supermarkets are well stocked and extremely cheap and restaurants have a great range of healthy and tasty food, also at 'silly not to' prices, which makes a nice change after the eye watering prices in the supermarkets and restaurants in the Caribbean.
People eat a lot of fruit. There are fruit sellers pushing their barrows of prepared fruit on every street and many people even eat fruit in the evening when out on the town, rather than buying a bag of chips after the pub.
Mr Miyagi -my favourite restaurant for sushi
Greg's favourite lunch restaurant - Maria Benito
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| Greg made this Pisco sour after a cooking lesson |
There are exotic cocktails galore, some taste better than others, but the price makes them worth trying. This one looked better than it tasted at Celele
The meat counter in the supermarket - note the price - about 65c per 1lb
Colombia is THE place to provision big time if you can
8. Safety
Its possible to anchor safely in Cartagena for free but pay for docking the dinghy at either Club Nautica or Club de Pesca. There is no dinghy dock where you can safely leave a dinghy otherwise. The dinghy docking fee also gets you access to showers and laundry and the marina restaurant at Club de Pesca.
The marinas have great security and we felt very safe at all times. Out and about in the towns there is a strong police presence and things felt under control, certainly in the central, business and tourist areas where we spent most of our time. We walked everywhere and didn't encounter a single problem. Colombian people seem very friendly, willing to help and keen to make sure you like and have a positive experience in their country .
Our very safe marina in Cartagena, Club de Pesca was right in the city centre
- you could not have asked for a better location
9. Medical treatment is good quality and inexpensive
I have taken advantage of some of the services rather than wait to get back to UK. Firstly I went to an optician and got new prescription sunglasses for reading I had excellent service from the Visionarios, the glasses (Raybans) arrived promptly and were half the price of Vision Express.
Inspired by my optical success, I decided that after over 5 years in the sun, I should find a specialist dermatologist and get all of my freckly, vulnerable skin checked for any signs of damage. The optician helped with translation and made an appointment for me for the next day! I had a full skin check, seven moles removed, four sent off for biopsy which came back all clear thank goodness and follow up appointments. All very efficient and total cost less than £100. I have been prescribed factor 99 sun cream now though.
Next stop the dentist. If only I had discovered Maria Arriez sooner. In the same specialist centre as Dr Nancy, the dermatologist, Maria did some cosmetic work on my teeth which is a big improvement. She speaks perfect English! If I had more time I could have had a new bridge to replace the one I've had for almost 50 years and is in need of upgrading. The costs are tiny compared to UK. So, if any of you are travelling this way, I recommend giving her a call.
10. Fitness
There is a good attitude to fitness in Colombia, with many outdoor gyms provided for free and outdoor fitness classes run in the early morning or evening when the temperatures are cooler. There are modern gyms with air con as well. We joined the SmartFit gym in the mall in Cartagena for £13 per month and went virtually every day.
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| Orlando at SmartFit, causing me pain on a daily basis |
11. It is easy to travel to access to other places. Air travel is easy and also not too expensive, so we took the opportunity to visit other places while we were based in Cartagena.
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| Greg enjoying the view of the lakes at Guatape and testing a Margherita |
We took trips to Medellin
View of part of Medellin from the cable car
Too much graffiti to take in at Comuna 13
and to Cusco and Machu Pichu in Peru from here which are easy hops by plane.
We treated ourselves to the Vistadome train to get to Machu Pichu from Cusco
well worth it - the scenery was spectacular
Literally achieving a lifetime ambition on my 68th birthday
Interesting to learn how the shape of the windows protect from earthquakes
Our new pal - baby alpaca clothing on sale everywhere
12. Sewing services
Like everything else, clothes and shoes are inexpensive in Colombia. I bought quite a few new items and also used the services of a dress maker. I bought an outfit which I absolutely loved, so I took it into a recommended dress maker and asked if they could make a replica in a different colour and fabric. I chose and provided the fabric which cost me £3.50 per metre. There are loads of fabric shops here. Hey presto, took it in on Friday, got a WhatsApp to say it was ready on Tuesday. It fits perfectly. I am so pleased. l also discovered they can make fitted sheets and mattress protectors for weird shaped beds on boats, so I got a mattress cover and fitted sheet for our guest cabin in the forepeak which is a trapezoid shape I believe.
So all in all, Colombia was definitely the experience to beat in 2022 and its pretty high on the list of best places we have been since we set off six years ago. If 2023 is half as good a year, we will count ourselves very lucky.
Wishing a happy and healthy new year to you all.
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