Touring San Andres

One of our favorite things to do is to rent a scooter and tour the island. So, Tony finally upgraded to a Harley Davidson (see photo)! We toured the east side and had lunch, and then toured the west side. The east side of this island is the windward side, but is opposite all the other islands we've been to in the Caribbean. Normally, you have rough seas pounding the coast on the east side and nice calm beaches on the west side (lee side) of the island. All the beaches in San Andres are on the east side and the west side of the island is rocky, coral and volcanic outcroppings.

We went to the botanical gardens, which we always do. We saw a few things we've never seen before, including a noni fruit tree, a tree that provides almost total shade, and blue lizards (see photos). We had seen the blue lizards in Providencia, but they disappeared so fast we couldn't get a photo. Overall, the gardens were not in very good shape, maybe due to the season (end of dry season). There is one small quaint little town on the east side of the island, San Luis. We had lunch at a local restaurant El Paraiso, and sat at a picnic table with our feet in the sand. The fried red snapper was delicious and the beach was beautiful. See photos - San Andres, the East Side.

We went to the Blow Hole, which was not blowing anything but air! You have to be there at high tide, which is at ~ 6:00 pm. We then went to see the Coconut House, which is a typical Caribbean architecture house that is 100% made from coconut trees, including most all of the decorations, like lamps, flowers, etc. It was really nice. Along the way we stopped at a couple dive shops and diving areas and checked out the prices for a double dive. It did not look as nice as all the other places we've been and was two times the cost at $100/person/day. No thanks, we'll get out our hookah! We then went to the Island House Museum, which is an old typical Caribbean house, with a separate kitchen and outhouse. It was interesting to hear a little bit about the historical culture, like the fact that the women and children ate standing up in the kitchen, which is a separate building. Hmmm! And then they had a couple show us some Caribbean dancing. See photos - San Andres, the West Side.

Ciao!
Gail and Tony