A short report before I was going to Central America. I had won two or three more days in Cartagena because of the weather, we could not go sailing. I didn’t want to stay all the time in a big city, I asked about alternatives.
The best and cheapest one was to go to Isla Grande.
As always, some information about Isla Grande:
Isla Grande is the largest island in the small Colombian archipelago “Islas del Rosario”. The island has about 750 inhabitants who live in the only place Pueblo. People live in simple wooden huts. There are no sewers or roads. Administratively, the island belongs to the municipality of Cartagena.
I booked only one night in a hammock I was afraid that the Italian captain, Franco, would sail away without me if I come to late =) safety first =)
The excursion was a mix of wonderful experiences with very nice people but also disappointment and annoyance. I will tell you the storys =)
At the way to the island I met some spanish girls, they helped me with the language =) At the afternoon we swam, ate, drank and have a lot of fun =) all was perfect, caribian style =)
But it changed very quickly. Our hammocks were set up at the windiest part of the island. The later, the worse. I’m not lying now, the wind was so strong that the hammocks were vertical.
I also thought that the hammocks are similar to those in Minca. Equipped with mosquito net, cushion and blanket. but they were just hammocks for the beach bar operations. They were definitely not meant for an overnight stay. but I didn’t have anything else. Impossible to sleep, strong wind, it was freezing cold and you ate a lot of sand =) shit
It was too early to go to sleep and I was afraid of this night =) So I decided to go around the island. On the way home I met two German couple who were just starting a fire. They were real backpackers, with tents and cooking equipment. No hostel, hotel, not eating out, a real backpacker life!! I was already a little jealous =) and they were damn nice, I really like you =)
We made a campfire, drank beer and had very good conversations. After a while, local farmers children came to us and sat around the campfire and listened to us. Just beautiful, like in a movie!! The end result was, good talks during cold beers and pleasant warmth. Thanks!! I meant that with wonderful experiences. After hours I hiked back to my cozy bedroom =)
When I came back everyone was gone. The bar was locked. The spanish girls were gone, no people, no backpack. The lights were off and no people’s soul was visible. My only companion at the time was the wind =)
I chose the best and widest hammock and made myself “comfortable”. I curled up like a caterpillar, or like in the film “Avatar”, the hammock rolled over just like that. Despite everything, I could hardly sleep. it was really too cold and too windy!!
The next morning I met the spanish women again, my friends. They told me that they booked a room because it was too windy =) they said that they could not find me. such a stupid excuse, assholes. But never mind, it´s getting better =)
What will you do on a Caribbean island when you have two freshly printed diving licenses in your pocket?? –> right –> drink beer =)
I went for two dives. A nice, very small scuba diving school, wonderful!! But before we could start the dive, my octabus flap had to be repaired =) but what should go wrong? =) =) No risk, no fun!!
It was beautiful, the first dive was about 12 meters. We dived along a canyon, on the left side about 12 meters and on the right side about 60 meters, I looked into the dark side =) The second dive was at an other spot about 20 meters, it was an canyon too. I saw many lobsters, small colorful fish and many corals (and the best: I never used the octabus =) )
I came back to my “accommodation” at the afternoon. The spanish girls told me that my taxi boat is gone because they changed the departure time (because of the weather). I didn’t dare to stay on the island one more night. I had no internet and I didn’t know exactly when the Italian captain wanted to leave. After two hours of discussion I was able to take another taxi boat to Cartagena. I had to pay for the trip again. However, I later realized that the change in the departure time had already been made a day before. Unfortunately, the nice Spaniards didn’t tell me!
However, I had a large consolation plaster. The german couple I meet yesterday took the same taxi boat to Cartagena. HAPPY END =)
Be First to Comment