 |
||||||||||
Limerence Update #43
|
 |
 |
| Gate,Club de Pesca | Club Nautico |
Club de Pesca is in the neighborhood called Manga, which is an island. Adjacent to our
marina is a leafy promenade that runs parallel to the harbor. We enjoy walking and
mingling with families strolling in the cool evenings. Manga is a clean, safe area, with
large private homes, grocery stores, internet cafes, and small restaurants. We love the
convenience of having everything we need within walking distance The cruiser hang-out,
Club Nautico Marina is a five minute walk. Last weekend the Colombianos celebrated
Independence Day and the streets were closed for the festivities. There was music,
dancing, food tents, and general partying. We felt like we were on the lakefront in
Chicago!
Doug has been working several days a week with our boat worker, Alfonso. We first met
Alfonso when he grabbed our lines and helped us dock Limerence last May. He is a tall,
muscled fellow with a huge grin. He speaks no English, but presented us with a letter of
recommendation from a fellow cruiser, and showed us his badge and security clearance
for Club de Pesca. We hired him to start the next day, and since then Alfonso has
become a trusted friend and great help to us. He has washed and waxed Limerence to
brilliance, polished all the stainless steel, repaired dings in the gel coat, painted our
wind
generator, varnished all our teak, and cleaned the canvas. With Doug's help, Alfonso
installed several new pumps and supervised the fabricating of a new marine grade
polymer floor for our shower. He takes our laundry to his neighbor's house on his
motorcycle, and returns it sparkling clean a day later.
 |
 |
When Doug is working on Limerence, I take Spanish lessons three days a week with our
friend Cindy Robinson from the boat Angel. We are working with a man who formerly
taught in the Colombian school system. He is a stickler on grammar, and is guiding us on
the path to becoming truly bilingual! The lessons are grueling, but we are determined!
Very few people here speak English, so some knowledge of Spanish is essential for the
simple daily tasks like taking a cab, or grocery shopping.
We find ourselves taking a taxi almost daily to Centro, which is the old town, or to Boca
Grande. Boca Grande is strip of land with the Caribbean on one side and the harbor on
the other. It is loaded with high-rise condominiums and hotels. Since the middle of June
there have been lots of tourists here and we have enjoyed meeting people from all over
Colombia. They are interested in us as Americans, and often approach us and make
conversation. There are few Europeans tourists, and no Americans other than cruisers.
We can't find a newspaper printed in English. . . even at the Hilton Hotel! Thank
goodness for the New York Times at the internet cafe!
The most charming part of Cartagena is Centro Amurallado. Centro is surrounded by
stone walls built hundred of years ago to protect the city from invasion. Inside the walls
are many blocks of cobblestone streets lined with churches, schools, restaurants, homes,
and businesses. Chattering green parrots fill the trees. Centro has picturesque squares
with statues, benches, live music, and the ever-present hawkers of jewelry, cigars, and
sunglasses. "Hey! Norte Americano! Armani sunglasses! Cuban cigars!" Sometimes
we
escape to the balcony of a restaurant on the second floor, and enjoy a bird's eye view of
the bedlam of activity!
Several times a week we dress up and have dinner in town. We usually go around seven
o'clock and have a cocktail at an outdoor patio before choosing a restaurant. The light is
gorgeous at that time, and the evening breezes cool down the city. There are many horse
drawn carriages throughout and the "clomp clomp" noise on the cobblestones adds
to the
old world ambience.
 |
 |
Cartagena bakes in the hot sun during the day. The intense heat even impresses people
from Arizona and Florida! Two of the hotels in Centro are built around old convents, and
therefore the grounds and pools are open to the "public". We often enjoy lunch
at a pool,
and a few hours of lounging, reading, and swimming. The most spectacular is the Hotel
Charleston with a rooftop pool that offers dramatic views of Cartagena.
There are many dining choices in Cartagena from simple Colombian "tipico" food
to
gourmet French, Spanish, Chinese, Cuban and Arab - all at reasonable prices.
Colombianos love fried food and make delicious arepas, which are corn meal patties
filled with cheese, meat or eggs, then deep-fried. A typical lunch starts with chicken or
fish soup, a plate of pork or chicken, rice, salad, plantains, and arepas. The cost is
under
$3.00. The Colombianos version of fast food is the many vendors pushing carts, or tiny
neighborhood cafes. The fruits and vegetables are wonderful in Cartagena as well as the
meat and seafood. Wine is very expensive. Many familiar foods like cheddar cheese, sour
cream, prepared soups, and seasonings are difficult to find.
The nearby Rosario and San Bernardo Island chain is the playground of the rich and
famous from Colombia. We recently took a break from Limerence and went to the Islas
Rosarios. We boarded a high-speed launch for the one-hour ride to the San Pedro de
Majagua resort. We rented a suite on the beach for three days and enjoyed snorkeling
again in crystal clear water, and lounging in hammocks on our patio. A highlight of our
long weekend was being invited to join a Colombian family from Calli for an outing with
some "locals" and a seafood luncheon at their home.
 |
 |
Two men in a narrow hand-hewn wooden cayuco (with an engine) picked us up in the
morning. They escorted the nine of us on a tour of the islands, an hour of snorkeling,
then
lunch. The cayuco ride was an adventure as we bailed the leaky boat constantly and
fretted about overturning. Our friends were shocked that we "experienced"
sailors were
nervous! We even ran out of gas. . . but that was quickly remedied by a nearby cayuco
friend who passed our driver some gasoline. After three hours we were starving and
begged for lunch! A half hour later we were dropped off on a rickety stick dock. The
men helped us climb out of the cayuco, and then led us to their concrete block home in
the jungle. Their family had prepared a delicious seafood lunch cooked over an open fire.
The family couldn't have been more welcoming. They served us rice, plantains, arepas,
and seafood! The huge display of grilled lobster, crab, fish, and octopus, was like a
picture from a magazine. We sat outside in their raked sand yard around a long table and
enjoyed the feast! Afterwards, we were relieved to find we didn't have to get back into
the cayuco. It was a short hike through the woods to our resort.
We will stay here until mid-November exploring Cartagena and catching up on boat
maintenance. We have a trip planned later this month to Leticia and the Amazon River in
the southern tip of Colombia. We hope to go to Peru in September to visit Machu Picchu
and Lake Titicaca. Inland travel is another rewarding part of cruising.
We appreciate the letters from home, so please continue corresponding with us here in
Colombia! Drop us a note in our guest book!
Fair winds friends,
Doug and Judy
