| Sunday, May 4, 2008 |
| WE MADE IT!!! |
 The beautiful San Blas Islands
 The sailing crew! Nina, Nick, Johnny, Carlos, Jamie and me
 Pulling into Cartagena, Colombia after three days of sailing.
Los, Jamie and me with Captain Hernando!
After 6 days of sailing...three which consisted in visitng the beautiful, crystal clear water of San Blas Islands and three more days of straight sailing in the sea, nothing in the horizon, we all made it safe and sound this morning at 7am. The trip was too amazing to even put into words...no words can describe the fun times, crazy times, rough times and, most importantly, rewarding times of the trip. As the 6 of us (Johnny...who we met the night before from California, Nina, Nick, Carlos, Jamie and I) crammed into this small sail boat with Captain Hernando and his girfriend Maria a lot of mixed emotions ran through my mind. The night before we took off for our 3 days of straight sailing the Captain gave us his orders..."2 hours shifts of driving the boat...all 72 hours...warn him if you get sea sick, men pee outside the boat so not to shower the tiny bathroom with pee, if you go down into the ship make sure to only go down to sleep or else you will get sea sick, dishes will be washed in the sea, top roman will be the main course of all meals, if you fall overboard have a safe swim back". So yeah, to say the least we all were a bit scared, yet anxious to get going.
We met two other travelers, Elissa and Andy...a married couple celebrating their 2 year anniversary. Sadly the Captain over booked the boat and Elissa and Andy had to say good bye to us on the third day before leaving San Blas. They were our doctors on the boat and brought much warmth and great conversations to our group. the 8 of us were lucky enough to all experience the San Blas Islandstogether. The islands were amazing...two days on a white sand island with the Kuna people greeting us and being friendly was the perfect start to our trip. We called this island the dollar store...everything was a dollar...fish, beers, coconuts...you name it...one dollar! Mid day of our second day Carlos, Jamie, Johnny, Nick and I decided to swim to the sand bar...placed in the middle of the sea in between two islands. Swim to the sand bar was good...so we decided to swim to the other island. Bad idea..for I was a victim of my first jelly fish sting and to make a long story short Carlos was nice enough to pee on it, didnt help, and in conclusion to the damn jelly fish I am now left with a huge welt/scab on my upper right arm with a lovely bruise underneath. I wasnt aware of the affects a jelly fish could have. But the swim and scenery was still beautiful and absolutely stunning.
Our days at sea cannot even be described. Lets just say no one got sick for the most part and we all got very comfortable being filthy and balancing our bodies on the small boat. No shower for 6 days, no walking around for 4 days, Captain yelling orders to us in Spanish, sterring the sailboat at 1am in the morning, trying to eat cereal while the boat is hard core rocking, sliding around while tring to sleep, learning the lyrics to Latin American music, sharing stories of our travels thus far, watching the sunset and sunrise every day...it was surreal and will forever go down as one of the best times of my life. We all had our moments of wanting to scream and sleep our way thru the trip until we hit land, but this journey will be something that 6 people, who started their travels on different paths and have come from different homelands, will forever have these 6 days in common...as a memory we all experienced togther..no matter where we go from here this will be something we all look back on and smile.
Now we are Cartagena, Colombia...the most beautiful city I have ever seen. Small streets surrounded by amazing buildings, cafe's on the sidewalks, stores wide open waiting for shoppers, people filling the streets with smiles and greetings, music playing in the streets, water boardering the town...I feel so safe and so content being here. The people are so generous and the city has such a positive vibe. Tomorrow I cannot wait to explore, visit some museums, walk around the beach, eat their amazing food and soak in their culture!
Pictures of the sailing trip and of Cartagena will be posted soon! Miss you all!!! |
posted by Lucy @ 4:50 PM  |
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| 3 Comments: |
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It sounds like Andy and I missed the best and worst parts of the trip all in one. sigh... Next time!
I hope you're loving Cartagena!
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You are a trooper mama! I'm so glad to hear you made it safely!
<3
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Man, I'm so jealous!
Whatever happened to your Costa Rican family? Your at school and all the sudden your traveling everywhere and now in Colombia!!
Well, it sounds like you are having the time of your life!!
-Katie.
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| Lifes A Hoot! |
 - Name: Lucy
- Location: All Over, Costa Rica
I'm 25 and from San Clemente California. I consider myself a free spirit that loves taking risks, whether the outcome is positive or ends up a disaster, the risk is always worth it. I just recently made the decision to travel to Costa Rica for a few months and overwhelm my mind with its beautiful culture and language. I am leaving my job and taking a jump towards unpredictable, yet exciting, new experiences! I am so excited to start this new journey and know only great things will come from it!!
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It sounds like Andy and I missed the best and worst parts of the trip all in one. sigh... Next time!
I hope you're loving Cartagena!