A day in our life in Colombia

 

We set sail for Colombia on the 13th May, exactly 5 years from when we set off from Port Solent, so it was an auspicious day. We had a great sail down over a couple of nights and were excited to experience a new country and culture.

We have now been in Colombia for almost three months and we are loving it.  What a lush, vibrant and colourful country.  The people are very friendly, the food is delicious, the scenery stunning and its bloody inexpensive.  What’s not to love?

We arrived in Santa Marta and stayed in the very well-equipped marina there for a couple of weeks, with a foray into the mountains to visit Minca in the rainforest. It certainly rained a lot while we were there.  

 

Never seen a dog wearing a nappy before.  Marina Santa Marta

Greg can't believe the beer prices - one of our favourite bars - Mienpras

Empanadas

Great views from the balcony of Siembra - our hotel in Minca 

Did I mention it rains a lot in Minca?

High in the beautiful rainforest outside Minca

Sadly the coffee picking season isn't until September so we just learned about the process rather than seeing it in action at The Finca Victoria coffee plantation 

We then moved to Cartagena and we have settled into living here for a few months, so that it now feels very much like home.

A typical day starts about 6am with us glued to our phones over a cup of tea.  Everyone in the UK has been up for 6 hours already and Twitter is busy reporting the latest disasters from the morning news round.  We like to annoy each other by reading out astonishing bits of news that the other has already discovered. 

Then we get ready to go to the gym.  We have discovered a great, well equipped gym called SmartFit in the shopping mall which is less than 20 minutes walk away from the marina.  Not only does it have masses of up to date equipment, but also offers classes as part of the £17 a month package.

Our daily journey there and back has developed into a routine and as a result we are now part of the community along the route.  There are endless cheery smiles along with 'Hola', 'Buenos Dias', 'Buen Dia' and  'Buenas', to exchange with our regular acquaintances.

First we leave the marina and greet the security staff.  Security is taken seriously in the Club de Pesca marina.  There are always guards on duty, the gates are manned and there is CCTV everywhere.  We feel very safe, but then again we feel very safe walking around town too.

Security is good at Club de Pesca

Colombia is a country that thrives on recycling and repairing things.  Nothing is rubbish. There are numerous people pushing carts around and they collect plastic and cardboard, presumably to trade in for a few COP (Columbian pesos). Anything being thrown out, disappears immediately.  

This guy spends all day collecting up plastic and cardboard

Every morning we see this guy with his trolley in the road by the marina, loaded up with cardboard and plastic bottles. We assume he gets some small payment for delivering it somewhere.  If so, it seems like a good scheme to encourage recycling and keep the streets clean.

The streets here are very colourful, with extravagant murals everywhere.  this one is in the road by our marina

One of the many fabulous murals in the city

Next we walk by the park where there is often an outside gym set up.  We could probably join this, but its already too hot for us, I need aircon for exercise, otherwise I give it 5 minutes before collapsing in a listless heap.  We are very impressed with the outdoor exercise that goes on here though, with Zumba classes and team games taking place everywhere in the mornings and evenings.

Crossing the road is like playing chicken.  Its an adrenaline rush.  There are endless streams of cars, motor bikes and yellow taxis, constantly zooming along bleeping their horns.  Taxis are very cheap here.  It costs 8,000 COP or about £2 to go anywhere in the centre of the city.  Confusingly constant horn beeping seems to be associated with numerous attempts at communication….

•  Get out of the way, you are in the road
•  Coming through, not stopping for anything
•  Watch out, I’m about to spray this massive puddle onto you
•  Do you want a lift, I’m available?
•  Looking sexy today girl, (oops, perhaps not, on closer inspection 😊)

On our route there is a very busy junction with a bank and cash machines on the corner.  Cars and motorbikes are constantly stopping to get cash or go in the bank, but have difficulty reversing out into traffic on the main road. One man has created his own job there.  He stops the traffic and then waves cars out into the road, and he also has a stash of cardboard which he puts on customer's bike seats so they aren't too hot to sit on when they come out of the bank, all for a small donation of course.  The Colombians without paid employment have to be very entrepreneurial to survive here.

The man running his bike seat cooling business is about to guide a car out into traffic. 
He stores his valuable cardboard behind this grill, otherwise it might be taken by one of the recycling guys

Within a few hundred metres we have passed numerous stalls selling what seems to be breakfast here.  Coffee in flasks and baked arepas and empanadas.  These are like little pies made of mainly corn/maize dough then deep fried, with different fillings, especially cheese.  The vendors are along all of the streets but have the same pitches every day and their regular clientele.  Greg is trying them all before settling on his favourite. I haven't tried them, it feels a bit like having a 'Greggs' for breakfast and I'm allergic to cheese.  

 

This guy has a very popular stall in the mornings

The pavements are shocking.  You often have to walk in the road because lampposts are blocking the pavement and there are numerous holes and other pitfalls to catch you out.  It’s a miracle my step counter on my phone doesn’t suggest that I have a balance issue, because the number of trip hazards is staggering. Its impossible to manage here with a pushchair or for someone with mobility problems.

lamp posts are usually in the
middle of the pavement

We have a favourite bit of pavement.  It's been broken ever since we arrived.  Someone chucked a couple of old tiles in it to try to help navigate it.  Then about three weeks ago the workmen arrived to fix it.  ‘Oh good,’ we thought.  They started by making the hole much bigger, including digging up a bit of the road.  Then they must have got bored or pulled off the job because they just abandoned it.  The cordoning off posts are just lying forlornly in the hole.  The situation is worse than before.  We are bemused. Can’t imagine you would have much luck suing for any trips you might have.

Before the work started - some tiles added to help when it rains.
Notice the road is in OK condition

 

After the improvement works!
Now apparently abandoned with a massive hole in the road that fills up with water

Further along the route we will pass Maria. She is homeless and very thin.  She sleeps in the same spot on the street every day and I have seen her washing herself in a puddle on the roadside after it rained.  At first, I thought she was an old lady, but I’m not so sure.  Anyway, I have adopted her in a manner of speaking.  I bring food, sometimes clean clothes, and money on a regular basis.  Understandably she is always very happy to see me, but now I am worried about whether I have created a problem for when we leave.  We have made enquiries and there is no social security system to take care of old people who are homeless.  In fact, there is no social security system that we would recognise. There are a lot of very poor people here and all are constantly looking for money and food. 

 

Maria lives here.  She washes in that puddle 

Along the same stretch we say hello to Jose the fruit seller, the newspaper seller and a guy selling cold water from a polystyrene box.  We try to buy freshly prepared pineapple from Jose every day on our way back from the gym and we sometimes buy water on our way to the gym, just to be helpful although we would prefer to refill our bottles with tap water.  I explained to the newspaper seller that I don’t speak Spanish, so he has stopped trying to get me to buy a paper every day, but shouts 'Good Morning!' very loudly and proudly in English when I say 'Buenas'.  

 

Jose preparing pineapple to sell in individual slices 

His fruit is always very good quality

Now we are at the traffic lights.  The man with the dancing life sized puppets on a frame dashes out into the stopped traffic and presents his little show then rushes around hoping for some tips before the three lanes of traffic roars off around him when the lights change.

Standing on the roadside waiting for the lights to change we are bombarded with motorbikes beeping their horns to offer a ride to anyone who wants to be a pillion passenger and go anywhere, and the bus services which tout for trade anywhere along the route, not just at bus stops.

You will notice there is a lot of water on the roads.  It rains a lot and the drainage doesn't cope well at sea level.

Crossing the roads is a wet experience. I find flip flops are best, its like walking in hot bath water

Once we have crossed this major junction, we pass the spectacular Fort - Castillo San Felipe where the numerous hat sellers are preparing for the next onslaught of tourists.  Anyone without a hat is immediately approached to buy one from the selection balanced on their heads.

The hat sellers are ready for the tourists to arrive

We now weave through some back streets, saying hello to the guys who spend all day sitting under a tree outside the car repair shop, up a residential street, hopping around the numerous piles of dog shit left by the homeless dogs that roam the city overnight, and saying Bon Dias to the ladies who are busy sweeping their little bit of front pavement.

 

Now we are at the gym for a couple of hours, working hard and fruitlessly trying to defy gravity and time!

 

The journey home involves a trip via one of the supermarkets which are very good here.  There is an excellent range of fresh food which would undoubtedly be in the organic section in the UK, and you can get virtually anything else you want at very low prices. Our shopping bill is about a third of what we were used to in the UK.

Our afternoons and evenings are then spent doing either boat chores or wandering around the city, sightseeing and trying out bars and restaurants.  

We pass through Centenario Park on our walk into the old town. We were delighted to discover sloths living in the central park in the middle of the city, alongside monkeys and huge iguanas. We have never seen one so close up in the wild.  It was an absolute delight.

We were lucky to catch this sloth coming down one tree,
before crossing the path to climb another

The old part of the city is fabulous, with stunning architecture and interesting shops.  

Beautiful buildings 

       

Interesting shops 

The old bull ring has been turned into a shopping centre called Serrezuela, employing stunning architectural changes.  Every evening at 7pm there is a light and fountain show which comes from the central floor, which you can watch for free. It also has great air con and lots of bars and restaurants on the top floor, with views of the city.  Great if you need some respite from the heat!

The city is stunning and great fun at night.  Colombians love music, dancing and partying, so its not difficult to find places to join in.  

Roof top bars are fab here especially at night, as long as it doesn't rain 

Getsemene is a very colourful part of town, full of great bars and restaurants

 

Lunchtime tacos at Maria Benito

Best sushi at Mr Miyagi near the marina

We have met a few fellow sailors and liveaboards, although there are fewer people living aboard in the marina here than anywhere else we have been.  There are quite a lot of people on anchor.  We hadn’t realised it was possible to anchor here.  Everyone we have talked to says it is totally safe, they have had no problems and the anchorage is right in the centre of the city.  But we are finding it quite liberating being in the marina; we don't have to do everything together which tends to happen when dependent on the dinghy, so we are free to go out independently which is pretty much essential after 5.5 years of living aboard 24/7/365 

BBQ in the marina with friends from sailing yacht Anu on our 34th wedding anniversary

Labour is very inexpensive here, so it’s a good place to get labour intensive work done and we have had our decks re-caulked, our stairs re-varnished and our cockpit cushions remade since we arrived in Cartagena.  The only problem is that it is harder to source parts and materials here.  

Some things can be ordered on Amazon from the USA with no transport costs, but not everything is on Amazon and has to be ordered in.  We had a bit of a nightmare with our deck caulking.  We bought the caulk in one of the chandleries here.  The guys stripped out all the old caulk, taped up the teak and then discovered that the new caulk was dried up and presumably well out of date.  we ended up living under tent and netting for almost three weeks until the new caulk arrived and the rain stopped for long enough to finish the job.

We lived under this lot for three weeks!  It felt like a ghost pirate ship

Decks are much improved. 

We were recommended a good craftsman to make our cockpit cushions.  He brought lots of samples.  We chose the one we wanted and he telephoned in  our presence to make sure it was available. All good at this point.  Then the cushions arrived, not in the fabric and colour we had chosen, not even our second choice fabric and colour, but one that we had discarded.  Why? Apparently the others were not available, so he decided to go ahead rather than come back to us for approval.  

We were upset for a day or two, but now we have got used to them and to be fair, they are very well made and do look good.  It's just a really weird way of doing things but is apparently quite typical.  

Greg making sure his beer can matches the soft furnishings

And breathe!

 

 

Goodbye to the Caribbean

It’s a while since our last blog and the reason may be quite a surprise to some of you. The truth is that although beautiful in so many ways, after three seasons, we have become quite bored with the Caribbean and haven't felt we had enough new exciting material to report.   

It’s a fantastic place to go for a holiday for a couple of weeks, or to get away from it all and unwind.  We however are not on a short break from work and we are pretty much relaxed most of the time, having been retired and sailing continuously for the last 5 years. 

There are only so many times you can marvel at a white beach, a line of palm trees, beautiful, coloured seas and stunning sunsets before they become just part of the day to day.  When we first arrived we were so shocked that people ever built houses without big windows facing the sea, but now we know that when you see the view every day, it becomes less awesome.

You only have to look up the top 10 places to visit on any Caribbean island and at least the top 7 will be beaches or sea view look out points.  Add the fact that neither of us is into sunbathing – we try to avoid the sun most of the time, that reduces the list of interesting things to do.  We know that we would never buy a house here.  

Sheer Rocks - view from one of our favourite restaurants 

Princess Diana Beach Barbuda - probably the nicest beach in the world

I know this sounds really ungrateful, but we prefer to be honest about our experiences in the lifestyle we are leading. 

What we have missed is having a blend of those beautiful sun, sea and beach aspects alongside some city buzz, wider choice of restaurants, different culture, art and historical places to see and visit.  The Mediterranean offered that balance. The Caribbean much less so, and is probably too quiet for us.

People talk about port rot in the Caribbean – which usually refers to people who have arrived, found it beautiful, enjoyed the pace of life and just stayed; using their boats as apartments with great sea views, but rarely moving them.  And why not? Staying for years and becoming part of a  friendly liveaboard community is undoubtedly right for some people, but not us.  We chose this life for the travel and as a result we have realised we need to keep moving; staying too long in one place doesn’t really work that well for us – when we get bored, we argue.

So, once we had decided that we would be moving west before the start of hurricane season at the end of May, and after 2 years of Covid with no visitors, we suddenly found ourselves with multiple arrangements for friends and family to visit before we left. We also needed to make sure that we had some essential maintenance work done on Viridian before heading west and into the Pacific, so between January and May it has been non-stop juggling of work schedules and visitors.

We had been in Grenada for hurricane season and our friends Ella and Rutger came to stay before we left. This is their second trip to the boat, so they were prepared for the experience, although Rutger did re-visit his breakfast on our trip from Grenada to Carriacou.  We had a great week, snorkelling, hiking and of course eating out.

On our way to Carriacou.  Ella has her sea legs already

Picnic at our favourite Grenadian waterfalls at Mt Carmel 

After Grenada, we headed north, spending time in some of our favourite places from previous seasons.  One of our favourite islands is Mayreau, with a population of only 270, everyone is very friendly - we even got invited along with the entire island to a wedding out at Ranch Escapade. 

Following our extensive experience with local rum punch at the wedding, after which I fell in the sea in the dark, getting into the dinghy; we had the brilliant idea of doing a survey of rum punches from the bar at the top of the village right down to Shirley's bar on the beach. 

We started enthusiastically with a little spreadsheet in a notebook, giving marks for appearance, taste, alcohol content, size, ambience of bar and value for money. We also took photographs of each one and congratulated ourselves on what a lovely useful chart we could make and put on our blog for others to use.   

Rum Punch 1 at the Reggae Bar at the top of the hill  An excellent start with good decoration.

The Sunshine Bar - Rum Punch 2 met with huge approval although there was no umbrella

Bar 3 Robby's bar is very quirky

Not bad Robby but a bit small was the verdict

No idea how it happened, but somehow we lost the spreadsheet somewhere between the fourth and sixth bar.  

We made it to Shirley's bar on the beach which is owned by Owen, the island's Chief of Police (there is only the one police officer).  We excitedly told him about the survey we had been conducting and he was clearly impressed but insisted on escorting and assisting us into the dinghy in the dark when we returned to the boat.

Shirley's bar (Owen's mother in law is Shirley) - our favourite bar 

And the rum punch is pretty good

Following a much needed 'day of rest', we then headed to Martinique and embarked on the first of our boat upgrades – a new fridge/freezer which I was very excited about.  

I had been in charge of measuring and ordering the fridge and the worktops and was confident that I had the height, width and depth correct, so imagine my horror when the old fridge was removed and I saw underneath it.  I had failed to take account of the curve of the boat where the bottom of the fridge would be, so the depth measurement was totally wrong and the very expensive fridge freezer, ordered by Caraibe Marine specifically for us and delivered from Italy, would not fit.

Add to this the language issues when ordering the fridge in the first place which led to what I thought was the big fridge drawer turning out to be a freezer drawer and the little drawer was the fridge.  What a mess! 

For those who like before and after photos - this is the galley before

As you can see the worktop is cracked.  The original fridge-freezer was a top and front loader
Note the microwave on the left, neatly fitting in its tailor made space

Zut alors! Forgot about the hull. 

After a lot of swearing and jabbering by a load of French blokes all crammed in the galley, (big fridge guy Patrice, little fridge guy Gabriel, carpenter Serge (think French Victor Meldrew), and Caraibe Marine's senior manager - Gaiton), it was decided that the worktop would have to be raised on that section and a new frame built to accommodate the new fridge, which also meant the microwave door then wouldn't open so losing that space and the microwave as well.  Also, the worktop needed specialist involvement and several costly extra visits to the boat at each stage as things kept changing.  At this point we had no fridge so Greg couldn’t even get a cold beer to drown his sorrows!  He was not amused.

Serge did a lot of swearing in French 

Greg then had to return to the UK for a couple of weeks, so I was left in Martinique to resolve the mess of my own making……

One night, I had what I thought was a brilliant brainwave; I would surprise Greg by installing another fridge dedicated to beer which would compensate for the now depleted fridge capacity. I got Patrice round the next morning to join me in scoping out the project and we decided to put it in a wardrobe in one of the guest cabins which is mainly used for storage.  He was certain my husband would be thrilled to have such a wife who installed an expensive beer fridge for him as a surprise.

 

The new beer fridge in the wardrobe

Unfortunately, I had not thought through the electrics and power consumption and obviously Patrice wasn't concerned with such matters - he was just pleased to have another sale.  The boat had to have new wiring to accommodate it and instead of being thrilled on his return, Greg was furious and demanded to know how we were going to manage the extra power consumption, which I had not factored in at all.  It was not a happy time.  I like to call it ‘fridgegate’ but if I mention ‘fridgegate’ it starts another row.  Typing it here is evidence of how dangerously I like to live.

New fridge -  higher than the cooker and rest of units
with big freezer drawer at the top and little fridge at the bottom :(

The after shot of the worktop

Whilst we were on the dock, we realised that Caraibe Marine in Le Marin was also a good place to get rigging done, so we decided to have all the standing rigging replaced which was a bit of an ouch financially but was the right thing to do for peace of mind when travelling further west and into the Pacific.

We also decided to finally replace our water maker after 5 years of throwing good money after bad at the original 20 year old one.  We purchased an Ecotec water maker which can convert 160 litres of salt water into fresh water per hour. That was an excellent decision.  The relief of having a working water maker on board cannot be underestimated. It means we should be self sufficient going onwards which is crucial on long passages.

Then finally as we thought we had done everything and drained the bank balances, we discovered that we needed a new windlass for pulling up the anchor.  Although still working, our old and original windlass had almost rusted through and could have left us in an unsafe situation should it have failed on anchor.  So again, we now have new equipment which should see us safe as we continue our travels.

In the nick of time by the looks of it

Although it was an expensive and stressful time on the dock getting all the work done, we met and made some new sailing friends who were also getting work done in readiness for their Pacific plans and also met up with friends from previous seasons. We love the fact that we continually meet and re-meet people in different places, as we all travel at different paces but eventually we intersect again. 

 

Congratulations to Pete and Libby who got engaged. 
Great to see them again on their new Swan -  Starlight, also getting ready for the Pacific

As is always the case, making arrangements for guests when you are getting work done is always a tricky balance.  Work almost always over-runs or something breaks, or the weather is unfavourable.  We have learned our lessons over the last five years, so when our son Ed and his girlfriend Anna decided to come, we asked them to fly to Martinique where we were having the work done, so that if it over ran we would at least be on the island they were flying into.  We had a great time visiting waterfalls,  snorkelling and spending time at the Martinique carnival.

 

Looking a bit bedraggled after a downpour at the carnival 

Ed taking the helm

A relaxing break from the pressures of work in London 

We then had a small window to get to Antigua and prepare before Miranda arrived for a 12 day holiday.

 

Always happy in the sun

She wasn't expecting that lurch on our way to Barbuda!

I miss this

Greg's birthday coincided with Miranda's visit which made it very special.  We met up again with Jenny and Rowan on their beautiful new catamaran PolePole and agreed to meet in Barbuda for birthday lunch at Nobu on the beach.  

Greg enjoying wearing his birthday present from my mum Betty

Fabulous birthday lunch at Nobu with Rowan, Jenny and Miranda

Greg modelling his birthday present from Miranda

Our friend Sue flew in on the plane that Miranda flew out on.  That was our first back-to-back guest situation which we would ideally not do again, as we needed time in between for recuperating, washing, and provisioning. Sue however was a very easy guest, mucking in and helping out as much as possible, always with a big smile.  We had a lovely time.

Cocktails at Nobu with Sue

Our final guests of the season, my brother Andrew, sister in law Wendy and my niece Abigail arrived in time for Antigua sailing week.  We put our bikes and spinnakers in storage to make a bit more room on board which was a good decision.  Greg was racing every day with the team on SY Voilactus, so we explored Antigua and watched some of the racing.  It was a fun week to be here as there were parties and events happening each evening. 

So great to spend time with my bro!

And with my gorgeous niece Abigail

 

Greg and Wendy enjoying the craic at Sheer Rocks

 

Trip to Stingray City 

Greg on the podium with the Voilactus crew - glad they had a good race week

So as we said goodbye to our final guests, we also said goodbye to the Windward and Leeward islands and set sail for Colombia, via a re-provisioning stop over and quick catch up with Naomi and Guy on Zambezi in Bonaire. 

It's hard to believe we are leaving as our third hurricane season looms, but we have had a great time, and now is the right time for us to move on.