Kuna Yala - Panama!

After a great city sojourn in Cartagena we were back on the water; destination - The San Blas Islands. The San Blas is an archipelago comprising approximately 378 islands and cays, of which only 49 are inhabited. They lie off the north coast of the Isthmus of Panama and they are home to the Kuna Indians.

After a 2 day sail with high seas and rough winds, we were relieved to finally arrived in the Hollandaise Cays with our buddy boats - Chilli Cat and Maloo. We anchored in the protected waters of 'swimming pool anchorage' and did very little for 5 days except swim, eat and relax.

After months of searching, Mike finally found a speargun in Colombia. We're hoping this bad boy is going to supplement our diet with fresh fish in the Pacific.

(small) success!

With some practice Mike speared a decent size barracuda! Until now we've been hesitant to eat barracuda because of the ciguatera they generally carry- ciguatera is a food borne illness caused by eating certain reef fish whose flesh contains toxins. After speaking with the locals and many cruisers who have been eating the barracuda in these waters for years we decided to get out the curry powder and frying pan cook this sucker up. It was tasty!

We joined in a cruisers rubbish burn one afternoon - you can learn a lot about fellow travellers from their trash!

 Megan and Heather from 'Chilli Cat'

 Captain Charles of 'Chilli Cat'

 The boys enjoying some cold beers

The Kuna are famous for their bright molas, a colourful textile art form made with the techniques of appliqué. Mola panels are used to make blouses of the Kuna women's national dress, which is worn daily by many Kuna women. Each mola is unique and they usually show abstracted forms of birds, animals and marine life.

A Kuna woman selling her molas.

 After 5 days at anchor we were ready for a change of scenery and headed west. We spent 2 nights in the west Hollandaise Cays - very beautiful.

 The islands are very small and can typically be walked around in 30 minutes or less.

We had a few days of dark clouds and rain so Megan decided to tackle her 500 piece fish puzzle. Good times!

Freshly caught lobster we bought from a local Kuna. He paddled around in his "ulu" - dugout canoe to all the boats. They were small but $10 for 4 was the right price! Mike and Mark took care of the dirty work off the back of the boat and then we BBQ'd them quickly and served them with butter and garlic - delish!

We had a great time relaxing in the San Blas and really enjoyed socialising with our cruiser friends. Although the islands are beautiful, we were saddened to see how much rubbish - mostly plastics have washed up ashore. A real reminder of the effects western living has on small communities. It will be interesting to see if the Kunas can retain their traditional way of life or if they'll succumb to modern conveniences. Up next - our transit of the Panama Canal to the Pacific ocean.

Colorful Colombia!!

After a week of family fun in Aruba - Mike and I decided to change our plans and stop in Colombia en route to Panama - awesome decision! We met up with two other boats - Chilli Cat and Maloo - who are also heading to Australia via the same route and timeline.

The waters along the Colombian coast are reputed to be some of the roughest in the world - rated by Jimmy Cornell as one of the fifth worst passages in the world - with strong winds and steep seas.  We set off with a bundle of nerves and a prayer that the weather gods would be forgiving. Passage planning proved fruitful and we made the trip in just under two days - arriving literally at the same time as Chilli Cat - with typical trade winds but nothing Lazy didn't take in her stride. All three boats were very relieved to arrive in Santa Marta, Colombia!

Santa Marta - on the northern coast of Colombia was a real treat with lane ways full of cheap restaurants and bars. 

Sampling the local street food. Fried empanadas with beef and potato filling served with jalapenos - delish and at $0.50 a pop it made a bargain meal out!

Mike and I seriously indulged - particularly on mojitos, which every bar claimed as their speciality!

After spending a few days in Santa Marta we hopped on a four hour bus ride with the crew of Cilli Cat and Maloo for a three night sojourn in Cartegena, which has now been ranked as our number one city on this trip! 

We opted to stay at The Blue House Hostel in the Old City. For $70/night we had a private room with bath, A/C (essential), a balcony and breakfast, and were smack dab in the middle of all the action.

Cartagena is really charming with loads of character - it's full of colonial architecture, packed with churches, monasteries, plazas, palaces and mansions with their overhanging balconies and shady patios. 

The famous 'fat lady statue' in Santo Domingo Square.

Church of Saint Peter Claver

Canadians - remember these Colombian coffee ads from the 80s!!!! Juan Valdez is a chain - the Colombian equivalent of Starbucks.

There were beautiful mosaics on random city walls, and all of the old wooden doors were adorned with beautiful knockers. 

The old town is surrounded by Las Murallas, the thick walls built to protect it againt enemies. Construction began towards the end of the 16th century and took two centuries to complete due to repeated damage from both storms and pirate attacks.

Although our hostel was great, it lacked a very important feature - the plunge pool! Thankfully the crew  from Maloo invited us up to their hotel's rooftop lounge to enjoy some mojitos and a dip. Afternoon temperatures were easily in the mid 30s - siestas were mandatory.

When not walking around enjoying the streets, we spent the rest of our time eating and drinking in the many cute cafes and restaurants. 

This became our go-to for lunch - $5.00 for a massive plate of local food

Ceviche - which is typically made from fresh raw fish marinated in cirtus juices, such as lemon or lime and spiced with chili peppers is a very popular menu item.

Fresh OJ to cool off

We stumbled across Mila - a delightful bakery with A/C. We couldn't resist indulging - soooooooo good!  Mike rated this the best chocolate cake he had ever eaten!

We really enjoyed our three night city break in Cartagena and took full advantage of the festive Colombian atmosphere. Not sure when we'll be able to eat/drink this well again... Up next - the remote San Blas Islands of the Panama coast.