The last piece of our trip was to the Rosario Islands,
specifically La Isla Grande. This
island, however, was just the opposite: small, secluded, quite, pure
relaxation.
Friday, Saturday, Sunday:
My family is pretty easy-going when it comes to travel, however,
during the planning of this trip we came across one luxury that none of us
really wanted to live without: hot water.
Folks in Colombia think this is ridiculous, “Why do you want hot water
when it is sooooo hot outside?!” Good point but we weren’t budging. There aren’t really a whole lot of
options for accommodations in the Rosario Islands when hot water is one of your
stipulations, so we upgraded to one of the nicest hotels the islands have to
offer: Hotel San Pedro de Majagua.
On Friday morning we took a taxi to our boat and after about
and hour and a half we arrived to the island. We were welcomed by a friendly staff offering fruity drinks
served in coconut shells…as well as a swarm of men trying to peddle their
wares. We weren’t interested just
yet, we were ready for the beach.
It took no more than 20 minutes to get our luggage, check in, stop in
our rooms and hit the beach, where we stayed all day.
1.
Exploration. Matt, Dad, and I set out to explore the island a bit one
afternoon. I wanted to find the
town on the island to see if we could get some cheap but delicious island
food. We found the town and some
pretty cool animal life as well.
The town, however, was pretty barebones. We were able to score 3 cold beers and enjoy those before
heading back to the hotel…but other than that there was not a whole lot to see.
2.
Canoe and walking tour of the island. One morning, we took an hour-long tour
of the island with folks that live there.
The first half was by canoe and we saw a series of lagoons and the
mangroves that grow there. We
headed down Crocodile Alley, although the guide assured me there were no
crocodiles. The most dangerous
animal on the island is the boa…excellent. I of course had my eyes on the trees the rest of the tour,
convinced a boa was going to land on me and squeeze me to death. We saw birds, fish, crabs, lizards and
iguanas (which my mom apparently confuses with sloths…don’t ask) and the views
of the island and ocean were stunning.
We then pulled up to land and walked back to town where the guide showed
us a bit more and I inundated him with questions about religion and politics
and more. Fascinating and great Spanish
practice, as the accents of the people on the coast are verrry different from
that of those from Bogotá.
4.
Night Snorkeling. Mom and I opted out of this one. I love the water but after seeing the mangroves in the
daytime, I knew this adventure was a little too spooky for me. Even the PADI guides said the tour
sometimes gives them the willies. Anyhow,
Bub and Dad went over to a lagoon after sunset with one of the guides, an
island native, with nothing but a flashlight each to explore the
mangroves. Sounds like they saw
some pretty cool stuff: jellyfish, squid, fish, crabs, barracuda and more…but
they were definitely a bit nervous at times as well. Another cool part was the plankton that glows at
night, so when you move your hand through the water everything glows green. Neat! Maybe next time…
On Sunday, we boarded the boat back to Cartagena at 3:30pm,
headed to the airport and were back to the hotel in Bogotá at 11pm (our flight
was delayed). The family had to
head back to the airport at 6 am on Monday. I woke up to say my goodbyes (or see-you-laters as my mom
prefers to say) and then got back in bed for a bit before heading back home and
facing a mountain of laundry and many errands to prepare for my next
adventure: Cocuy!
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ReplyDeleteYou wrote these all in one day?! Impressive, lady. I'm a bit behind myself but the internet in this hotel is too spotty for blogging. Glad you had a nice trip with the family and are enjoying your summer/winter vacation!
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