Back to Colombia – San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina

Our first stop was San Andres and as we approached midday the water colors were amazing! Echo arrived along with Blue and Mad Romance and we were escorted to a suitable anchor spot by the Colombian Coast Guard. There were lots of photos and video taken as we settled into the anchorage.  Colombia once again demonstrated their warm welcome to our OCC Rally!

 

 

We went ashore to Club Nautico where we were provided privileges during our stay. We, along with Blue and Mad Romance cleared in with the services of Julian Watson who acted as our agent while in San Andres. It was a quick and efficient process with everything handled at the marina.  Once cleared we went just next door to Restaurante Le Regatta for the first of several memorable meals during our week long stay. Le Regatta is a wonderful place! Their food is fantastic and Isabela was always there to oversee the details. We actually ended up eating their at least 4 times and loved every meal!

 

Suzanne of Suzie Too had done all of the preparation for our arrival and the Minister of Tourism for Colombia was present to welcome us at a reception held in our honor. There were people from all branches of the military, the police commissioner and several local governmental representatives. The reception included very warm welcomes from all in attendance along with beverages and hors dourves.  There is great sense of pride in their small island and an effort to ensure it’s beauty and resources for the future. Today they are seen as a top destination for mainland Colombians who arrive in great numbers, consume many resources and leave little financial benefit to the island.  The leaders are looking to improve the level of tourism, for “better quality than quantity” (El Lsleno , 15 de Marzo). The goal of the current government is to bring a higher level of tourism that will not drain their resources but will provide improved financial impact. They spoke of this goal during the reception and indicated their interest in welcoming more cruising boats to visit as we are seen as the type of visitors they hope to draw in the future. Each boat was personally called forward by the Minister of Tourism and given a letter of welcome from the Commandant Comando of San Andres and Providencia. We were then treated by a performance of traditional dancing – a wonderful evening all around!

“ The Cruising Guide To Colombia” indicates the archipelago of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina have the longest reef bar in Colombia and although they’re much closer to Nicaragua they are actually part of Colombia (Within about 100 miles of Nicaragua and 500 miles from Colombia).  Borders have been under dispute for a very long time and Nicaragua continues their efforts to obtain more control. They recently won a claim in the International Court of Justice over maritime boundaries in the area expanding Nicaraguan controlled waters.

The area was named the Sea Flower biosphere by UNESCO in 2000 in addition to having been identified as one of the six key points of the “health of the planet” by the Ocean Conservancy organization. It is a beautiful area yet littered with several rusty shipwrecks along several spots of the reef.

Several of our group rented scooters one day to tour the island, Sky (one of our island contacts) arranged the rental and accompanied us on the tour. It did take a while to get us all organized and the scooters fueled up but ended up being both an adventure and a great way to see the island. We did one very cheesy stop at “Morgan’s Cave” that we wouldn’t recommend but the island was very pretty and we stopped for a nice lunch along the way where many of us also took time for a swim and a snorkel. To wrap up our tour we visited La Loma where some of us climbed up there very rickety stairs to see the view from the highest point on the island. One interesting things we observed that day was groups of police officers along the road giving everyone a “Thumbs Up”. Needless to say this was a somewhat curious sight, 6 or so police officers dressed in jungle khaki greens with machine guns at their sides standing along both sides of the road with their thumbs up as we approached. We all slowed down thinking we were being stopped but apparently there is an effort afoot to establish a better relationship between the police of Colombia with the people so the officers are instructed to make themselves appear more friendly. I guess there’s a way to go before a more trusting relationship evolves among the people…

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Sky had been tasked as our tour representative but soon found that we are not the regular tourists one might expect. Our group consists of many independent people who explore places in their own way, not often participating in organized tours. He worked with small groups and individuals to connect with the resources they needed and was a great representative of the island.  Jeff and I invited him to Echo one evening for a visit and we were happy to have the opportunity to get to know him a bit better. His family is from the island but he attended college in mainland Colombia, it was good to talk with him and learn more about his country.

Both Sky and Julian Waston were good resources for us. In addition to his agent duties, Julian set me up with a dentist to take care of a crown which had been loose since Curacao and finally came off in San Andres. Just one of those things that can be difficult to resolve when you travel like we do…

Highlights during our stay included a few visits to Rose Cay. It’s a very small island just a mile from the anchorage. You pass through a beautiful blue shallow sandy area where you often see rays. We stopped to just float in the beautiful water en route to the island which in itself is just a small spit of sand covered with tourists. The island adjacent to it is much less touristy and has a welcoming beach bar/restaurant where we liked to hang out.  We went over a few times and spent a wonderful Suzie Too Sunday there too!

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We enjoyed our stay in San Andres very much but it turned out to be just one day too long. There was a wedding at Club Nautico that evening and the very loud music started at 6:00 PM and continued non stop until 6:00 AM as we were raising our anchor to head for Providencia, we were exhausted!

We wish the representatives of San Andres well in their efforts to protect their island from over use and preserve and protect it’s natural beauty and thank them for their hospitality!

 

Next stop – Providencia or Old Providence; one more Colombian island.  It is about a 60 mile journey and all went well.  The bay was filled with rally boats as we were all arriving for another warm welcome from our last Colombian stop. Suzanne had made arrangements with Mr. Bush to act as our agent and the process was handled efficiently.  Mr. Bush, along with several other local representatives put on a wonderful welcome evening including dancing, music, snacks, a special prayer for our journey and heartfelt words from Chantal, the secretary of tourism for Providence.  Chantel spoke of the event being a historical day for the island to welcome so many boats representing so many countries to their great paradise and their desire of all of us to have an unforgettable time. She called out each boat by name and presented a bag of special memorabilia from the island.  Such wonderful people!

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Providencia and Santa Catalina are just beside one another and joined by the Lovers Lane Bridge.  There are also referred to as Old Providence and Ketlina and have a very different feel than San Andres.  There is not an easy way for tourists to get here therefore there is a much more laid back feel along with a strong sense of pride in their island culture and it’s resources.  There is a history of piracy and slavery along with settlement by English with some Spanish and Dutch influence as well.  The primary language is English therefore most residents use the English names for the islands.

We had an eventful week stay and truly enjoyed Providence.  We did some snorkeling, diving, hiking an exploring along with several wonderful meals.

Jeff and I had not done much diving up to this point and the first dive on the first day was mostly spent getting reacclimatized to the process.  By the second dive of the day we had a better plan and were more comfortable so things began to fall into place.  The dives themselves were beautiful!  There were sharks all around us but there was no sense of danger from them.  We went through some channels and saw beautiful coral and fish. Another day we did a dive with the same shop and things were much more organized and went much better although I still consume my air much quicker than most others. Another beautiful dive with many sharks swimming alongside us.

A large group of us joined “Big Boy” as our guide to hike “The Peak”, the highest point on the island at about 1200 feet.  Our guide was quite knowledgeable of the local flora and fauna and informed us of things along the trail.  It was a fun and beautiful hike!

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Scooter rental was about $8.00 for 4 hour rental and it was a great way to see the island and to stop at some of the wonderful restaurants along the way.  One particularly special one was Divino Nino Jesus who serves an amazing mixed platter of seafood – it’s huge and delicious!

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A special part of our visit to the island included meeting two local people, Joel and Karen.  We enjoyed spending time with them and learning a bit about island life and it’s people.  They both are involved in many things including journalism, film making, tourism and conservation of the island resources.  They visited us one evening on Echo and joined us aboard Milpat for Patrick’s birthday party on St. Patrick’s Day.  We very much enjoyed having met them and hope to visit again one day!

Providencia is a beautiful, relaxing island with much to offer – hopefully it remains a bit of a secret so too many people don’t decide to visit!

 

 

Moving on to the Bay Islands of Honduras from here.

 

~ Jeff and Mary ~