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Volcanic Scenery, Hiking to El Pico (The Peak) in Providencia Island, Colombia

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February 1, 2016: In order to see the island, we decided to rent a scooter for each of us (50,000 Colombian Pesos = US$16 Per Day/Per Scooter). I was a little worried because I haven’t driven a scooter before. It is the main transportation vehicle in Providencia. The road is good and empty so I was ready to learn a new skill, driving a scooter. However, the rental store didn’t let me rent one, a first time scooter driver. I was actually disappointed when we ended up renting a Kawasaki Mule, sort of a cross between a golf cart and an ATV (90,000 Colombian Pesos = US$28 Per Day) instead of scooters.

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My Experience with a Dentist and a Doctor in Providencia Island, Colombia

Posted on by by Posted in Caribbean Islands, Central America, Medical Service Experiences, Sailings, South America

I consider that I am active and healthy. I also do regular exercise and try to eat smart even in remote islands. However, since I started sailing in June 2014, I have been seeing doctors in each country we stop at. The two main problems I have are: (1) a tooth crown that won’t stay on, and (2) a skin problem on my palms, and soles of my feet that began not long after I started sailing. The two crowns I have are not even two years old. I paid a lot of money for them back in Florida when I was working as a computer programmer.

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Sailing from San Blas to Providencia, Colombia

Posted on by by Posted in Caribbean Islands, Central America, Sailings, South America

El Nino, for us, means more possibility of Cyclones in the Pacific. Because of it, we were unsure of our next destination. Finally, we made a big decision postponing going to the South Pacific for two years. That means we are not crossing the Panama Canal in February, 2016. It is disappointing; however, it brought us many options. Looking at a world map, we picked Providencia Island, Colombia for now. Providencia is far away from mainland Colombia. It is near Nicaragua. We read good things about it, especially about the nature.
It is about 270 miles to sail from San Blas to Providencia.

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Sleeping with Jungle Sounds in Sapzurro, Colombia

Posted on by by Posted in Caribbean Islands, Sailings, South America

Overnight sailing from Tintipan Island to Sapzurro was so pleasant. We were thrilled that there was enough wind to sail even though we had to motor for a couple of hours at the beginning. Sapzurro is located at the tip of Colombia right on the border of South America near Panama (Central America). There are no cars in this village. Visitors access here by foot or by boat. According to the ‘Moon Travel Guide’ book, this town suffered greatly from drug-related violence during the 1990s and early 2000s. We felt safe and enjoyed cool forest fresh air at night even though it was warm some nights.

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The World’s Most Crowded Island, Santa Cruz Islet in Colombia

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At Tintipan anchorage, I found out about the world’s most crowded island. Let’s say that my walking step size is one meter. The best way to describe the size of this island is that the length is 200 steps and the width is 60 steps. Multiplying the length (200 meters) and the width (60 meters), the total area of this island is 12,000 square meters. There are over 1,200 people living on this island. Basically, one person’s living space is about the size of three steps by three steps. It is not far from Cartagena, less than 50 nautical miles.

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Anchorage: Peaceful Night or Wild West?

Posted on by by Posted in Caribbean Islands, Sailings, South America

The moonlit and the sound of a remote drum woke me up. After sleeping deeply and sweetly, I felt refreshed and recharged when I opened my eyes. I decided that I should get up and look out in order to see what was going on with our three boats. We had left Santa Marta Marina with two other sailboats from France and sailed/motored to Puerto Velero yesterday. While sailing together, we periodically spoke to each other on the radio. I thought that it was very nice to listen to the French converse on the VHF. John sometimes teases French people by saying that the best French food ever invented,

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Easy Trail but Go Slow – Hiking to Iguaque Lake in Colombia

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I once read that Colombia is roughly the size of Texas and California combined. Colombia is also a mountainous country which means winding roads. The roads are sometimes a bit rough, and there is a lot of construction going on, they wind along the mountains and valleys. There is no direct path from one town to the next.

Even though we are staying in Colombia for three months, we narrowed down our inland travel. I wanted to hike the El Cocuy National Park (the highest peak in the El Cocuy is 17,550 feet) but I substituted it with ‘Laguna Iguaque’.

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‘Lost City’ Jungle Hiking in Colombia

Posted on by by Posted in Sailings, South America

Doing the Lost City Hike was the top on our things to do list in Colombia. It sounded mysterious, visiting a lost city in the jungle. It is only available through a tour company. We did the Lost City from October 27 to 30, 2015 with the guide, Edwin Rey who has been working for TurCol company as a guide for 25 years. ‘I saw all’, he said. His father was a part of the ‘Lost City’ discovery team and his son is now studying ‘Archelogy’. ‘Lost City’ was destroyed by ‘Gold Hunters (?)’ when it was found in 1975.

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A Family business that does great business! (Boat Repair in Santa Marta)

Posted on by by Posted in Boat Projects, South America

We recently had a lot of boat plumbing issues and have made many trips to a hose and fitting supply store Correas, Guayas Y Ensambles S.A.S., located at Carrera 11a. No. 11-23, in Santa Marta.

It is a family run business that specializes in hose assemblies both hydraulic and water, they also do cable assemblies. They have a huge inventory of parts and have been able to solve so many of my problems. If they do not have it, they know where to get it!

The owner and his son both speak quite a bit of English and with our little Spanish communications were possible.

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Evening with Colombian Families, ‘No Posible Ingles’

Posted on by by Posted in Boat Projects, South America

Our boat projects are almost completed.

We cheered when the ‘Water Maker High Pressure Gauge’ was successfully installed. At first, we thought we had to send the parts to the USA. Sending and receiving parts takes more time and also may involve 28% import tax. Magically, a local hydraulic store solved our problem (*Store Name: Correas, Guayas Y Ensambles S.A.S., *Address: Carrera 11a. No. 11-23, Santa Marta, Colombia).

With pleasure, we invited the owner of the hydraulic store and his workers and their wives over to the boat for an informal evening of drinks and snacks.

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