returning home

After the end of october I was not able to fly anymore because of the baby and my eight months of pregnancy. during the month of november I stayed home in florida and esteban in cartagena getting the boat ready to sail back home in december.

Peter flew from london to sail the boat with esteban from cartagena to florida. there were two possible routes planned. the first from cartagena to san andres, then the north of honduras towards yucatan in mexico; a stop in isla mujeres and then a final sail through the gulfstream from mexico to key west. the second was identical to the leg we had done several years before when we departed.: due north from cartagena to jamaica and then from there through the windward passage to bahamas and finally bordering cuba all the way to miami. peter and esteban finally decided on the second route. it was shorter and had less days and miles of not so favorable wind direction. they left club nautico on december 15 and had to come back that same night. the wind from the north was stronger than predicted and they could not make any progress out of cartagena. so they went back enjoyed a last unexpected club colombia (beer) and sailed back out the next morning. the sail was rough as expected. to us, this was unbelievable. the single most difficult leg of our entire circumnavigation through all the oceans in the world was the leg from cartagena to jamaica. it was tough when we did it southbound back in 2009 and also tough now in this northbound direction. we had rough single storms in other places but they never lasted more than a day. the problem with this leg is that it really had no storms or really nasty weather, it is simply unpleasant with big waves and a lot of wind from the wrong direction for five days straight. that is why we hope not to have to sail this leg a third time.



mompox

during one of my weekend trips we decided to go to mompox. this is a city in an island made by the magdalena river. it is beautiful and forgotten, mostly because to get there is so difficult. it is in the middle of nowhere far from everywhere. getting there was challenging and made us feel like traveling back in time. we rented a car in cartagena and drove south east for several hours through beautiful roads. we went through small towns near the main road all with loud music playing from huge speakers from the small houses. I bet the speakers are bigger than their sofas or any other piece of furniture inside the house. and they are pointing towards the road! Its like hey are aimed to entertain the village itself and not the people inside the house. (this is typical from the coastal living culture in colombia).

we enjoyed the trip as always, just as much as the destination. we arrived in magangue, a city with lots of motorcycles and a lot of traffic. this was the place where we were to get the ferry to cross the river to mompox. after driving around the city we went to look for a port, as one normally would when trying to find the place where a ferry usually docks. we drove up and down the river banks and kept asking where the ferry docked and people would signal south… and after several minutes driving in that direction we would ask again and people would point north as is we had passed it already. so we drove up and down and were getting a bit frustrated to see we were missing it… but there was nothing there.. we just saw a little cliff and the river itself. to our surprise that was it. no port or sign or anything. the ferry just comes and somehow docks against the cliff and the cars drive down a little pebble path and get in and out. very simple and totally not sophisticated.

we got in, were on the ferry for 40 minutes and arrived in the other side. there we drove another couple of hours until we finally reached mompox.

What a beautiful place. quiet in the evenings (although loud and with a lot of motorcycle traffic during the day) with beautiful churches and houses with internal yards. We stayed in a very charming bed and breakfast called Bioma. the owners were very good hosts and we felt very comfortable in this little boutique hotel. we enjoyed the town so much that when the weekend was over we were sad to leave. even though the trip was long we were happy we made it. not many people go to this town because the difficult access, but having done it, we think it is well worth the effort!



back in colombia

after a short but great vacation in san blas, we sailed back to cartagena. I went back to florida and worked during the week and flew to cartagena every other weekend to be with esteban in the boat. sometimes we would make trips to bogota or other cities in colombia or simply stay in cartagena. our boat was in the club nautico marina in manga. even though the marina has been in a never ending construction phase with no facilities and a rather disorganized and dirty site, we enjoyed having the boat in the dock with the AC on all the time,- to alleviate the crazy hot temperatures of the colombian coast. in the meantime my belly was growing and we anxiously waited for our boy to be born in december. we also picked his name after a fairly short list of favorites. Morgan is what we chose. it means man of the sea. we love the meaning!

more travels

to panama and back...

we sailed again to san blas in panama. some 240 miles west of cartagena to one of the best and most beautiful places we saw in our voyage.

we stayed in san blas several weeks with family. it was awesome, except for the weather which brought many bad storms… we had some nasty squall every other day. but still it was as beautiful as we remembered it from our first visit back in 2009 before we crossed the canal. we ate a lot of lobster, although substantially more expensive than a few years ago. the fishing was not so abundant this time; in fact the kunas were not selling fish anymore. we met other boaters but the place now seems to be packed with sailors that bring backpackers from colombia rather than families cruising around. definitely a different atmosphere from what we remembered. maybe this is common when you visit the same places a second time around. or maybe the place has really changed. the fact is we did not feel so welcomed anymore by the locals. they expected money but not in exchange for much. I guess they are and feel entitled to charge for people cruising in their paradise…   

 

after panama, we sailed back to colombia and are still here in cartagena enjoying land life.