Columbia, a country of many extremes. A photo is worth a thousand words, so we hope our gallery will help give you a glimpse of our time here. The pictures are in two groups, we hope you enjoy.

Leaving Williamstead, in Curacao, we headed south (against the wind) as we needed to pick up fuel in Spanse Waters at the marina, there being nowhere in the main city to get it. Luckily it was not far as the wind was still blowing a tad and it was a bumpy ride. Then we proceeded to have a lovely sail up the coast to a bay at the northern part of the island, where we spent the weekend having a much deserved chill out. We picked a perfect weather window for our trip to Santa Marta and had a fabulous 3 day/night sail. For the first time we flew our parasail (called big red) for nearly 32 hours keeping her up overnight as the wind was steady and under 10 knots. We made great time and decided to stop just before Santa Marta, in the third bay (there are five), in the national park for our last afternoon and night. A beautiful area, but it was lucky we only spent one night there as the weather was changing. Two nights later in the marina we were getting 35 knots at night at dock, it's very windy here, with 55 knots forecast for tonight. These are not the notorious Chocosanos winds, a local phenomenon that also occur in the San Blas Islands; which normally only last about 30 minutes and come with rain during the end of the hurricane season.

They say it is easy to get stuck in Santa Marta, we now know why. At the moment every 10 - 14 days there is a day or two where one can safely leave. We were hoping to head for the San Blas Islands this week, but the weather is still not looking great . All the cruisers here are patiently waiting, some are due in Panama - yikes.

Santa Marta for us has been very frustrating, although it has slowly helped us to become more patient - not an easy lesson. We arrived on Friday 13 Feb (okay, not the best day) hoping to get some work done at the beginning of the following week. Our generator had died on us again (luckily proved to be only the old battery) and our freezer as snuffed it as well. What a saga, especially as the electrician decided our compressor was stuffed. He said he would get us a new one, but luckily it was a four day weekend (always is when you need work done) and Russ started double checking their work with the help of a supplier in the US. Compressors are supposed to be bullet proof ..... well seems ours is okay, thankfully the guy was not able to get a new one - phew! However, the controller (and maybe the thermostat) was the culprit so we are now waiting for parts from the US (can't get here) which are due tomorrow. Fingers crossed that all will be well, thank goodness Russell is such a handy man. Don't need a "professional" electrician.

You are probably wondering why we always have boat projects, maybe this is a good time to explain. If you can imagine your house being sprayed with "salt" water on a regular basis, then a mass of "fine" sand (and coal here), then being shaken around big time for four days I am sure you would have some "projects". These may only be loose wires, but they can certainly take some time to find. Here in a third world country the workman are also different to what we are used to. They "think" they know what they are doing, say they are going to arrive at 4pm and arrive (after a lot of pressure) maybe five days later. Then there is the language problem as hardly anyone speaks English, and sadly our Spanish is the same. It took us ages to find a dictionary. We were amazed in Santa Marta to find that there is only one, very small, book shop in town with no dictionaries. Did I mention parts? Well of course that is another issue, they are good at fixing things, because there are no parts. Sometimes however "things" can't be fixed and that is when we have to ship items (at great cost). We have a ton of spares on board, but occasionally not quite the one we need.

Anyway the upshot is that we have spent a ton more time in Santa Marta than planned. Not a bad thing as the longer we are here the more we learn about the country. It is warm and sunny, and we have found the people pleasant. Before Adrian left last week we went for a walk to Taganga Bay, about 5km away, with some other fellow cruisers. On the way we had to pass the refinery that sends out 50 trains a day with coal (our boat is filthy even though we hose it down every few days - keeps me busy). There was a shanty village by the rail tracks with so much garbage/rubbish the smell made me gag (dead dogs did not help). Did I mention that there is rubbish everywhere, except in the "tourist" spots? Lots of starving stray dogs too. Horrendous. Anyway past the town, as we went up the hill to get to our destination, we noticed two policemen on a bike were passing us and then stopping to check out the view. When we got to the top they confirmed that they were escorting us as we were not in a "safe" area. To be honest, Colombia although a lot better than it was, still for me has an "unsafe" energy about it. There are a LOT of police everywhere, even in the "safe" areas.

We have just come back from 3 nights in Cartagena. It is four hours away by bus and the journey was an education in itself. The Colombians are very industrious and many walk/ride around selling their wares. On our trip we had about 20 people jump on and off the bus when it was stopped because of traffic, check points, etc.. to sell their wares. Everything from water/pop, food/chips, homemade enchiladas, sweets, we even had a guy who serenaded us for about half an hour. How he managed to play the guitar on the bumpy, pot holed roads I'll never know. It was impossible to read a book and you certainly would not want to suffer from car sickness.

Cartagena was wonderful, although we found the rich and poor living side by side in Getsemani, where we stayed, difficult. There are 1.8 million people in Cartagena with under 200 thousand living in the five "wealthy" districts. We passed houses where people were sleeping on the dirt cement floors, with maybe a plastic chair or two, next to a plush hotel. Further out they live hand to mouth and there is a lot of crime we were told. Families are close, often three generations living in one room, kids playing happily with no technology. It was interesting to observe.

The history of Cartagena is fascinating and the old town great to explore, people watch and enjoy. We had a wonderful free tour around the walled city (worth the big tip given) and learnt a ton. Visited the Fort of San Felipe, good for the view, but otherwise we have seen a lot better. The navel museum was impressive, though sadly without any English so an English speaking guide/friend would have made a huge difference. There was a video explaining how the natives had devised a canal and drainage system thousands of years ago that tamed the great flooding that occurs in certain areas of Colombia each year. Their drainage system was amazingly effective. But when the Spanish arrived they filled in this wonderful drainage system, causing flooding to begin again, and which
continues annually to this day. We did not visit the House of Pain, sounded like the Tower of London and is where the Spanish Inquisition was carried out in the name of the Catholic Church. You certainly would not want to upset anyone back then, as the priests sounded evil.

Colombia is thankfully cheap. Stuck here at the marina it is costing us $350 per week, including electricity and water. Not that cheap, but we would have had to pay that for a night in some parts of Europe. Being at anchor is not an option in these winds. Colombia is a bargain for restaurants compared to the Eastern Caribbean. We have splashed out a lot and have enjoyed the 2 for 1 happy hour (normally all night) where Mojitos cost $7 for two and have become a favourite. The food is also excellent with a main course costing around $10, I have told Russell I can't cook a meal for that cost (he believes me - yeah).

Not sure now what we are going to get up to. Latest weather says we are here for another week - yet again we are thankful we have no agenda. We are thinking that once we have sorted out the freezer we might take to the hills and/or the national parks to experience the waterfalls, hiking, birds, etc... Our next blog will tell all. Keep safe, smiling and .... Slow down (our new motto).