Another day in paradise

Saturday was my first full day on the island, and it started out a bit sloppy... we had stayed out until 3 at the birthday party of a friend of Julianas at a surf-themed bar in town. At one point I tried to dance with the birthday boy, but it was WAY too intense for me... possibly the most intimate dance on earth (and this after living in Colombia for 6 months...)

After our slow start and fresh tropical fruit salad, we headed into town to buy my plane ticket to Providence. At first it was a fantastic start, as they said the ticket cost the equivalent of $100 USD round trip. Makes sense. The flight is like 15 minutes, maximum. Instead, they led us to an office 5 blocks away, the woman holding my passport and credit card, and without consulting or confirming, ran my credit card for the $210 charge. Oh well, what can you do.

We went to the main beach and laid out in the sun for an hour or so, overlooking Johnny Quay and enjoying the famous 7 color sea...

We headed back to the house for a pasta lunch and then headed to the West side of the island, to a spot called La Piscinita, the little pool, chock full of fish. I tried once more to get some good use out of the waterproof camera. Improving every use...

Only drawback of the Piscinita visit, apart from my lack of skill and or ability in diving down and not being immediately shot back up to the surface (this may be an indication of my body fat content.... yikes) was the demon. There was a worm shaped jelly fish like creature that was see through but for tiny yellow dots, which were equipped with venom. I was stung a few times and thought nothing of it, but just before getting out of the water it wrapped itself around my right wrist, stinging all the way around, and then down my arm, torso, leg.... Painful! Plus, it is SUPER itchy 2 days later... I have been putting mint-alcohol mixture & cortazone on the worst bits, but.... This picture does not do the bumps justice, but real documentation will, as usual, have to wait until I am back in Ibaguè and have my computer.

Juliana and I walked about a mile along the western coast of the island, observing the sunset and waiting for a bus to pass... This picture is literally nothing compared to the camera shots. Just you wait! This is like a teaser, eh...

Well that is all I have for photos until Thursday, because my phone is acting up and I can no longer upload photos to my blog, but I can fill you in on what happened since then.

Sunday we went to Johnny Quay in the morning, a small island off of San Andres blessed with palm trees, white white sands, and gorgeous turquoise waters. We were there all morning, and then headed back at 1.30 for a traditional lunch. I ate red snapper, salad, coconut rice, and bread fruit (something between yucca & potato). Yum! I also ordered a crab soup to go, for dinner.

Sunday afternoon we went snorkeling in Julianas backyard, and stumbled upon a recovering reef full of tiny fish and corals! Exciting! I slowly got better at diving down, and at taking pictures.

This morning I flew to Providence, spotting not just a double rainbow at the airport, but then a circular rainbow that we flew through on the plane.... CRAZY! I got to a hostel Juliana recommended, and then walked to Santa Catalina, another small island connected to Providence by a bridge. I walked to the western point, which is home to a tiny little beach. I stepped in the water, ducked my masked head down under, and was in awe. Better than the reef Juliana discovered, and HUGE, and shallow, making my ineptitude at diving less of a bummer! I took probably 500 pictures of tropical fish. It was a bit scary snorkeling alone, but there was a woman on the beach after a while, so no worries.

I went back to the hotel, went to lunch (fried fish, bread fruit, salad, coconut rice.... sound familiar), and then took a quite post-food nap at the hotel, before taking a mototaxi to the south west bay. I tried to snorkel there, but I got super scared because it was all sea grass beds, and for some reason I thought there might be a snake hiding in them. Sure enough, as I was heading back, I stumbled upon a snake!!!! Ah!!!!

I bathed in the sun and am now thoroughly crispy. Tomorrow it is off to Crab Quay!

Tropical Paradise

This morning I left the host-siblings' apartment for the airport. I had a jolly and friendly conversation with the taxi driver in the 40 minutes it took to arrive at the airport.

I had to buy a tourist card to get to San Andres, equivalent to about $25. Bit of a bummer, but what can you do, right? It was a 2 hour flight, and I read and listened to Jackson Browne's solo acoustic tour CD, thinking of home & family.

We landed at 1, and I was off in a taxi to Juliana's house. Building wise this place is so similar to Colombia in general. But in between the clusters of ugly cement boxes there was white sand, palm trees, and turquoise ocean. Gorgeous!! Juliana is living in a 3 bedroom house right on the best beach on the island. We had lunch and then she headed to work, and I headed to the beach.

I spent the afternoon on the beach with Juliana's neighbors, Shannon (9) & Aron (7). I tried to head out to take some steller pics with the new waterproof camera, but a combination of mini-waves, depth, and my unjustfied fear of underwater threats (sharks, etc.) made the few pictures I did take pathetic... Hopefully today will make up for that, and justify the splurge purchase of the camera.

Last night we met up in town and drank coconut mojitos and mango margaritas in a surf-themed bar owned by two artists, so Caribbean... It was Omar's, a friend of Juliana's, birthday, and we laughed all night long. Omar asked me to dance, but the slow but heavily sexual San Andres dance style was a bit too much for me...

Today we're going snorkeling in a place famous for tranquil waters and loads and loads of fish. Wooo!!!! :D

Nabusimake reflections

Jennifer and I left her friend/our host's house in Barranquilla at 8:30PM Saturday night, after an hour or so hanging with Anthony and his friend at Carnavalada, an outside theater event equally as rambunctious as Carnaval itself. We had called at around noon to confirm that we would be able to catch a bus for Valledupar Saturday night. We arrived at the mini-terminal and requested two spots on the next bus to Valledupar. Without looking up from his keyboard, the agent said that buses stop running at 3:00PM for Valledupar. Steaming livid because of the drastic inefficiency that characterizes transportation in Colombia, I followed Jennfer around to a few buses on the side of the road as she asked if they could bring us. Not one was positive. I finally got tired of dragging my suitcase in the uneven, dirt road, and said we should just go to the terminal.

After talking to every open counter agent at the Barranquilla terminal, we realized we wouldn't make it to Valledupar in a bus Saturday night. So instead we bought tickets to Bosconia, a town 3/4 of the way to Valledupar. We arrived there at 1:00AM, and it was a super sketchy scene, we sat on the side of the road, luckily with other people trying to get to Valledupar, including a woman from the city, waiting for a taxi. Finally one pulled up, already half full of suitcases...??? We took it, and spent the next two hours laughing at the car, which must have had serious transmission problems, because it wouldn't go beyond 2nd gear, and on hills it felt like it would overheat/break down/die at any moment. Once we hit the city, the car died every 29 meters, and he had to turn the ignition over and over while coasting down the sleeping roads of Valledupar.

He brought us to the parking lot of the bus company that travels to Pueblo Bello, the next stop onthe journey. It was 3:00AM, and the gate was closed, so we yelled until the humungously obese guard woke up and let us in. We sat for 2 hours waiting for the company to open. Finally when people started arriving, a man came & had coffee with us (though Jennifer soon deserted me, leaving me super uncomfortable with this dude to get a contact for our return trip Thursday). He basically insinuated that he wanted to marry me, and I found myself making up a false husband of 1.5 years. Haha!

We headed out around 5:30, 4 women including Jennifer & me in the back seat row of a 4-door pick up truck, and Jennifer instantly fell asleep on the ther woman's shoulder. I opted for the window, but the road became supremely bumpy, and I'm sure I arrived with a welt on my forehead.

Pueblo Bello is a tiny, single street town in the middle of the Sierra, the beginning of the South American Andes. We had breakfast - eggs & beans & fried arepas - delicious! We then H headed for the office of the company that would deliver us to Nabusimake, the land where the sun is born, center of the Aruhaca people of coastal Colombia.

The ride to the village was the most uncomfortable travel experience I have ever had, and that is saying a lot... We traveled probably 15-20 miles into the mountains, but the "road" is dirt and cracked and mountainside and rock and needless to say, UNEVEN! We bumped our way there for 2 hours.

We arrived midday Monday to the village. We left Thursday morning at 5:00AM. I will write about those days, and post some of the few photos I was allowed to take, when I am back in Ibagué, the 17th. But until then, it was a very interesting, enriching, exciting, and inspiring visit. :)

Slight speed bump

Despite confirming with the bus company over the phone today at noon, we arrived as instructed at Simin Bolivar, an alternate stop for buses, to take one of the buses leaving "every 30 minutes until 11:30PM", & were informed that buses stop trips to Valledupar @ 3PM... Headed to bus terminal for more official info, & were told that no buses to Valledupar left at night. So instead, we are heading to Bosconia, from there we'll get a taxi to Valledupar, bus to Pueblo Bello, & jeep to Nabusimake. What a planes trains & automobiles experience, with a ground-transportation twist.

Marimonda & La Gran Parada

Marimonda is the character of Carnaval in Barranquilla. Not quite sure the history behind the character, but it is all over the place. Looks a bit like the genitals of a man, & Jennifer confirmed that there is something relevant to that interpretation...

We arrived at the Carnaval parade at 12, and right off the bat were offered scalped tickets to enter the stands set up along the main avenue. We paid the equivalent of $13 for the day. We'd been told the can be as much as $100, so something must've been fishy about our tickets, but we got in & got front row seats!!

Jennifer & I bought masks at the market we went to, reminiscent of the Mardis gras masks that I had years & years ago.

We waited for the parade for an eternity, but it finally began around 2, and got better and better as the time passed. The crowd also got more and more animated, and intoxicated, as the time passed. Mostly it was a similar parade to the one I witnessed in Peru, with dancing & gorgeous flowing dresses, but it also featured demons and strange creatures, safari animals, and the occassional famous cameo ie Woody from toy story, mad hatter, Hugo chavez, t-pain, and the like...

We leave tonight for Valledupar, Pueblo Bello, and finally Nabusimake. I'll be out of touch until Thursday. :) wish me luck & admission from the elders.