Panama to San Andres Colombia

Good-bye Panama

PHOTO LINK—->> Last of Panama onto San Andres, Colombia

Back in Panama from Bermuda our main goal was to depart for San Andres, but the weather just would not cooperate. We left the dock of Linton Bay marina and anchored up nearby.

Our time was spent completing jobs that needed to be done, swimming, snorkeling and such. We took advantage of the calm conditions to dingy around the nearby islands and along the shoreline, stopping to snorkel and swim. We also needed to pick up supplies so this required a 2 hour bus ride to get to a Rey supermarket in Sabanitos, which is the nearest. Plus there is an ATM in Sabanitos which is essential to get $$$ as everything is in US $$s. A shopping trip takes up most of a day. This time we treated ourselves to a ride back with our taxi buddy Victor so we could also carry piles of groceries and crates of beer.

Then we did a fuel run. Now this is a really novel way to get fuel. You go by dingy to the fisherman’s dock in the village. Then walk with fuel containers to the red house – yes house – at the end. There a family member will expertly siphon by mouth from one big plastic container into liter plastic bottles the desired amount of fuel, be it gasoline, diesel or what ever. This is on the porch, the fuel containers/barrels are kept in the front room of the house where you will also see babies being cared for, children, TV playing and life going on as normal. Just another day in Panama!

Portobello

After a week we decided to head to Portobello where we needed to check out just before we headed off. The short journey to Portobello was lovely. There wasn’t any wind, as was now usual, so we were able to motor along the shore checking the nearby bays. Playa Blanca was the main bay we looked into, expecting a large white beach we were surprised by a small strip of sand under the trees with houses above and cows grazing. It’s never as you imagine.

In Portobello we picked up a few needed supplies, did a few remaining chores and again swam and visited nearby coves. In one cove where we swam there were some very large mango trees laden with fruit. The large black monkeys were feasting among the branches. Still the days were flat calm, no wind and hot, hot hot! We really wanted to head off……

Finally John felt we could head off, probably having to motor for the first part, but leave we did.

The crossing was 238 miles. We did have to start by motoring, and the seas were a bit steep, but we were finally off. The first 24 hours were fine, we even caught a nice tuna, Chico had fresh flying fish from the deck and then the wind and seas picked up. We did not want to arrive at night so we were constantly trying to slow down. On reflection we should have just done a fast sail and then hove to. Our last 12 hours was terrible, the seas were large, the wind was higher than anticipated, stuff got thrown all over in the cabin. Trying to lay down Chico and I were catapulted across the aft cabin several times. Anyway John did hove to behind a cay 15 miles off San Andres and at 6:00am we started to head in. By 8:00am we were anchored up behind the reef in San Andres, John napping and me tiding up the mess.

San Andres, Colombia!

Both of us are very impressed with San Andres. It is a lovely colorful island. The people are very friendly and there is no trash all over everywhere as in Panama. (At least not in the town)

San Andres is only 150 kilometers off Nicaragua and some 800 away from Colombia. It is 10 square

miles and part of a small group of cays. It has an English history that started with the Puritans who were also involved in New England. There is a history of piracy, Henry Morgan being just one notable pirate to hide away there. There is a short Spanish history in Colonial times, then settlers from other Caribbean islands also settled including many former slaves from Jamaica. Plus the island has been part of the Republic of Gran Colombia since 1821. The actual islanders are the Raizal people whom are the decedents of the original settlers.

The Colombians from the mainland who descended upon the island when it became a duty free port in 1953 now way out number them. The people of San Andres put a stop to this finally.

The main and only harbour: Bahia De San Andres, is on the weather side of the island. A line of shallow reef and a few cays protects it. This makes the anchorage sheltered, but having a lovely breeze, which is especially good for the wind generator.

Our first day we rested and checked in. Our agent is Rene, a local who basically did and does all our paperwork; we just hand out the cash. It does make life easier especially as our Spanish is still pequeño/little. Rene works out of Nene’s Marine where we can leave the dingy while ashore.

We have then spent the following days walking around the town – Centro as it is called, or North End by the locals, and learning the lay of the land. There is a long water front called Sprat Bight which is lined with a beach on the seaward side with a walkway shaded by coconut palms, while on the other side are numerous duty free shops. I prefer the older part of town where the shops are small and jammed pack with any type of thing you might need. This is where you find the locals shopping, the bargains and the excellent fresh fruit. We even saw the famous Blue Lizard on the way.

We enjoy swimming out at the shallow sand bar that is off the harbour. The water is said to be of 7 different blues, bit really I’m sure its more than that as it is gorgeous.

Touring the island

Our friends Steve and Anna off of Bad Kitty, yep another “Bad” boat, agreed to hire a mule and tour the island with us. We hired our mule along the waterfront and set off clockwise as that was the way it was facing when we hired it. Only allowed to tour around the outside of the island as the mule didn’t have brakes adequate for downhill meant we had to stick to the coast road. However that is the location of most of the sites.

As you drive along you find the roadway is narrow, flat and quite straight making it easy to travel except for the potholes, which made it bumpy. Our first stop was to look at the shoreline.

On the windward side the sea is rough with quite a decent swell/surf coming in and crashing on the shoreline. There are a number ships that are up on

those rocks and reefs so guessing there must also be many boats lost on these shores too. The beaches along this shoreline are sandy, palm tree lined and lovely. There are local vendors selling drinks of fresh fruit and plenty of alcohol too. Coco Loco is the famous local drink, we haven’t tried it. We stopped and took photos of the beautiful beaches along the way.

At some of the more popular places to swim we saw that the vendors were charging people to swim, which I guess is the only way they can make a living.

Hoyo Soplador

Near the eastern end is the famous blowhole called: Hoyo Soplador. Vendors again surrounded it but the cost was only having to buy a drink at 3000pecos – $1 each. The drinks looked and sounded wonderful too. We ordered a Lemonade and coconut and off we went to see the famous blowhole. It isn’t by far the biggest blowhole being just about 2 feet across, but it certainly sends up a good blast of salty air and seawater.

Most time people would look into the hole and whoosh the hole would blast hats, sunglasses, hair, clothes and dresses up into the air. It was amusing to watch. Again the shoreline is rough, a very strong swell crashing ashore. Our drinks arrived and they were Fantastic! We even ate the coconut jelly afterwards.

Off again we set photographing the shoreline and stopping to take in the view. Driving in the mule was great as we had a constant breeze and could look out 360 degrees too. John and Steve took turns driving.

Captain Morgan’s Cave

was our next stop. There we were told about coconuts and their uses, shown what was supposedly Captain Morgan’s Cave and shown a local dance. All a bit corny, but we can say we have been to Captain Morgan’s cave…..

Again we proceeded to drive around the island, stopping to enjoy the views and looking out over the beautiful blue/turquoise waters. By noon we were back to Centro where we pulled into the Fisherman’s Restaurant.

This is where all the fishermen bring their catch in to be sold so the best fish meals are available here. We enjoyed a delicious lunch in the shade of a veranda on the beach. Having completed our circumnavigation the

rest of the day was spent finding necessary parts for Steve’s water maker and picking up our heavier supplies like crates of beer to stock up the boats. All in all we had a fun day!

Baptist Church

We had not been able to see the famed Baptist Church which was situated on top of Orange Hill and is a central point on the island.

So we set off to walk there, John saying “oh it’s not far” me saying “John it looks quite a ways away”. Well we followed the shoreline road and we followed the shoreline road until finally after several miles in the hot sun we found the hill. Up we climbed passing a very untidy neighborhood, trash everywhere, stray dogs, cats, kittens, and kids. A totally different side of the neat and tidy San Andres of the shoreline roadway. Maybe this is why the mule/golf cart can’t go up there.

Finally reaching the top we went along a little bit further

and found the Baptist church. It is a quaint little church on the hill and it does have a good view across the island. Our walk back was through the settlement on the hill/ridgeline. It was through a better neighborhood with some lovely homes with very unique decorations, like conch shells inserted in the walls.

Soon we will be leaving San Andres for the next island…………..