We have had a lovely week at Providencia. It is a beautiful island of about 4 miles, is surrounded by green hills and is very laid back and clean. A road runs around the island linking smaller communities, each one having a church. The population is quite low - about 4000 people. The island is owned by Columbia, as is its sister island St. Andres, about 70 miles to the south. Columbians come here and to St. Andres for holiday getaways. That being said, there are no hotel chains on this island, just smaller posadas owned by locals.

We had to check in here using an agency, the only one on the island. Mr. Bush and customs and immigration were very efficient and got us through in no time. Not as much paperwork chacha as in Costa Rica and hopefully cheaper. When asked how much we needed to pay, Mr. Bush said not to worry, he would let us know when it came time to check out. So we will see!

Two days ago, we rented a moped to explore the island. The speed limit is 60, but I think we kept closer to 40. Most people on the island have a moped or small motorcycle to get around, so there are lots of them! We ate a lovely lunch at Southwest Beach and shared a mixed plate of fish, lobster, conch, rice and plantain for $22. There was so much food we couldn't finish. It was delicious! The views of the sea from the island were spectacular. There were amazing shades of blue, green and brown (not good!). When we saw all of the reefs and shoals from the road, we really understood how unsafe it would be to enter any of these anchorages during the dark! We even had to take shelter under a tree at first and then in someone's cabin as a squall blew through bringing torrential rain. It lasted less than 5 minutes and we were back to clear skies.

The island is not a wealthy island, however we have felt very safe. Although homes are very modest, everyone dresses well and is clean. We have not encountered a single beggar here; most are very friendly and happy to say hello. Compared to the rest of Latin America, including Mexico, this is the cleanest place we have encountered. There is very little garbage anywhere and garbage pails abound. A real change as most places we have been have been littered with garbage on roadsides and often on beaches as well.

The wind has continued to be incessant. We have hit 35 knots at anchor but the usual range is between 15-20 knots day and night. Ken has gone down to check the anchor and it is firmly embedded in the sand. It is so windy that our little fan in front of a port in our stateroom runs at quite a tolerable speed. We don't even need to generator! Without the wind, however, it would be very hot here and uncomfortable. So I guess it is a good thing.

We are planning to leave tomorrow morning (Monday) to head to the Bay Islands of Guanaja (pronounced wah-na-ha) and Roatan. We expect the trip to take about 50 hours, so another 2 nights on the road. We expect to have some current against us for most of tomorrow, but this should change once we clear Cabo Gracias a Dios (Nicaragua/Honduras border and bump) and start to head west. Then we should get some current going with us and the winds and seas are forecast to ease. We shall see! The tentative plan is to spend 4-7 days in these islands and then head to Belize and Mexico. Stay tuned!!