Tag Archives: Colombia

Jan 09

Settling into to Colombian Lifestyle

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                                   View of the Marina, from the balcony

Leading up to the holidays, the winds increased as they usually do in this part of the world, so there wasn’t even white clouds in the sky. It was going to be a green Christmas.

Every place we visited, we have met very interesting people who we have became good friends with. Our first evening here we met Danny, a man who is visiting his son Stewart and his family. Many nights we meet him on the patio to watch the sunset, and play dominoes, always an exciting time of the day. Stewart, has welcomed us into his home, and at least twice a week we get together for what has become to be known as Curry Night on Thursdays and roast beef night on Sundays. We enjoy his company and his cooking. You never know who will drop in. Some times the table is full but Stewart always makes room for more. He’s a good man even though he talks funny…..LOL.  My contribution to the roast beef nights, are usually Carrot cake. They seem to love it, so maybe we will keep getting invited. Natalie; is Stewarts and Yuris’ daughter, she is very interested in baking, so I have shared my recipe with her so she can continue to bake her favourite cake when I  leave. She is a natural.

 

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                                      Dominoes on the marina patio

  The view from their terrace has a 360o view of the city below. A relaxing place to spend time on land.

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                             Looking east over the Sierra Nevadas

                                

    Ineke and Mike, aboard svConari, are three year members of the Stewarts curry club. They sailed in three years ago and have never left. Its home for them for six months away from England’s’ cold winter. They are a wealth of information, on where to get products or services in Santa Marta. They know, and have traveled most of Colombia. Every boat that comes in, is sent to them. They provide a great service. The marina should be paying them. Great people with amazing stories of their travels, all over the world.

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New Years Eve we decided to go out for dinner and maybe some dancing. Here in Santa Marta the community spend the evening at home with their families. A large group from the marina went out. Most of the restaurants were closed and the others had waiting lists. We finally got seated. The restaurant had to borrow tables and chairs from a closed restaurant to accommodate us. After a few drinks we ordered dinner, the power in the area went out, no dinner for us. We walked around town till almost midnight before we found a burger place on the pier that could serve us. Happy New year was over a burger, a very good one at that. We all headed back to our boats. We learned later…….. the parties don’t start till 1am.       

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We have made so many friends, and I’m sure we will make many more it will be hard to sail on.

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Jan 04

Minca, In the Sierra Nevadas

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The days on the Caribbean coast have been sweltering with very little wind, so the time was right to visit the mountains which surround the northern coast. We met our driver at the office, and after paying the equivalent of about $4, we were assigned a jeep carrying 8 passengers, we set off for the high country.

Minca, a small town nestled into the side of the mountain, lying approximately 14 miles away from the big city, takes about 35 minutes to reach. The area has many things to do with nature all around. Motorcycles, known as Moto T’s are waiting to take you to whatever adventure you choose. Swimming in the cool streams, hiking to the waterfall, or bird watching are the main activities. There is also a coffee plantation or a brewery offering tours, we chose to walk to Marinka waterfalls, a 1 hour hike through the rainforest.

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Nov 03

Getting to know Santa Marta

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Santa Marta was the 1st Spanish settlement in the Americas, thus making it the oldest city on the continent. Tucked below the worlds highest mountains, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta with snowy peaks, Pico Simon Bolivar (18700 ft.) and Pico Cristobal Colon, 26 miles from the sea shore combined with the Caribbean sea at it’s feet this place is very unique of its kind. These mountains are home to indigenous peoples such as the Arhuacos, Koguis, Wiwas, and the Kankuamos. The energetic city with its productive harbour, colonial architecture, fun night life, interesting history, and too many things to do, will result in a longer stay than planned.

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The only risk here, is…………..We might never want to leave.

Oct 21

Santa Marta, Colombia

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First off, let me say that the internet, or more the lack of internet has not been good to us lately.

We had planned to leave Aruba on the Saturday, October 15th, but the wind changed and was gusting 25 knots, a little too high for our first passage of the season. The Colombian coast is considered one of the worst passages in the world for sailors.  It was forecasted to lessen, so we waited til Sunday. Everything depends on the wind and the direction which it’s coming from, so it seemed that we were checking the forecast every hour. We also had the help, that it was a full moon making it easier to see.

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After completing some last minute chores, we moved over to the town dock to deal with the officials. When the paperwork was finished we were given 1 hour to leave, we were ready and just wanted to get underway. Off we set, the last islands of Venezuela 57 miles to the west, which we needed to go around, in the dark. As we closed in on the coast of Colombia we were give lightning show, with bolts streaking across the sky. 10 miles out, we stayed perfectly dry.

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Snapshot 1 Dolphin (10-20-2016 9-32 PM)

(Taken from Video)

Except for some countercurrent and wind off the headlands we had a nice sail all the way til the last island coming into Santa Marta Bay. There we  met waves coming directly at us with high winds. Our speed slowed down to less than  2 knots, making little headway, we only hoped that we could make it in before dark.

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The process of checking onto Colombia ended up being a 2 day affair, with us being confined to the marina property. The cruisers here had scheduled a BBQ, but the rain changed the plans. We did attend, sitting with new friend under a small shelter.

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This morning we given the green light to go to town, mostly to stock up on food so off we went with map in hand to find the the stores.

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We treated ourselves to a breakfast at a Panaderia (Bakery), 2 empanadas, Potato roll, a piece of something like a pizza, 2 Macaroons, washed down with beer………total price, less than $10 Canadian. Very easy on the monthly expenses to stay here. In the upcoming weeks we plan on doing more exploring, it seems to be a beautiful country.

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This will be our home for the next 4 to 6 months while we explore the interior of the country.