Isla San Andres, Colombia
San Andres Island, Colombia. Who knew there were two islands off the coast of Nicaragua that belonged to Colombia? San Andres and Isla Providencia are both beautiful islands serving as vacation getaways for Colombians. These islands have some the largest coral reefs in the Americas. We only made it to San Andres, which is about 800 km NW of mainland Colombia (150 km east of Nicauraga). It is said that San Andres is like the Hawaii of Columbia, so we decided to go check it out, since it was on the way north, on our path to the Cayman Islands.
We're the blue dot!
An island off San Andres with an old ship wreck
Upon our arrival to the island the Colombian Navy (Armada) came rushing over to our boat, stopping us in the channel, and came onboard! They didn’t speak any English, asked a lot of questions and thoroughly inspected our boat (going through every cabinet and drawer). Thankfully they were actually pretty nice, and no drugs onboard :). Anyhow, they let us proceed to the island whereby we had our Colombian agent waiting so we could get entrance into the country. We anchored here, as there were no marinas, just mainly local fishing boats and a commercial shipping area. Apparently not a popular place for tourist boats. Once we got our passports stamped, we took a walk towards the main part of town. One thing that stood out was how busy the island was with motorcycles and side by side off road vehicles. There were a few cars too but not nearly as many. One after another zipped by spewing exhaust fumes that were hard on the nose! Evidently there are no emission standards! We were starting to see the many tourists from Colombia mixed in with the locals, which are called Raizals (descendants of the Creole culture). Very few gringos here! The buildings reminded me of Mexico, where from a distance they looked nice but as you got closer they were a bit rustic! Duty free shops peppered the streets as well as a few restaurants and other stores. We had a great meal at a local spot in town called Assho (really!) which included coconut rice (and fish), which we figured out later is a staple on the island.
Darryn "reflecting" as the Colombian Authorities arrive to our boat!
The next day we rented a side by side recreation vehicle and drove around the island in the rain! It was fun to see the culture, the beautiful beaches, crystal blue water, and the colonial architecture. We visited a place called Big Pond, where we saw live caymans close up! Caymans look like small alligators (see pic). A local older woman approached us and communicated that there was a charge to see the caymans. We paid her $5 to follow her about 25 feet to the pond where the caymans were hanging out for all to see. She didn’t speak a lick of English but kept talking to us anyway, trying her best to be a good guide. We talked with some other locals, one who looked like Bob Marley, and had some coconut water straight out of a coconut (of course). A bit later we ate lunch at another local restaurant where again we had the delicious coconut rice with some garlic shrimp and patacones (fried plantains). It is always fun to try the local cuisine.
Comfy in our off road vehicle to tour the island
Our buggy for the day
Big Pond, where the Caymans live
A cayman in Big Pond...they are smaller than alligators
One of many statues around the island showing the local culture
During our trek around the island we got word that we should probably leave later that day to continue our voyage north due to a good weather window. When venturing out on the open sea it is imperative to plan trips carefully based on wave height and distance, wind strength and direction, storms etc. If we didn’t leave during the window, we could have been stranded on the island for close to 10 days. So instead of staying to snorkel near the famous coral reefs, we decided to leave. We scrambled to get our exit document (Zarpe) at last minute but managed to leave the island about 4:45 pm for a three day nonstop journey to the Cayman Islands! Stay tuned!
Our boat out at anchor in the harbor at night