San Andrés and Providencia Part 1.

These two islands are both part of Colombia but very different.

San Andrés is a coral island, long and flat, full of tourists and nightlife, 30 flights a day, and a harbour facing east. There is no natural fresh water on the island, it is either roof collection or from the desalination plant.

Providencia is a volcanic island tall and lush, with water, a very large coral reef, few people, very few tourists, one ferry and one flight a day, and a harbour facing west.

San Andrés

Officials and Agents

When we first arrived we called port control and they welcomed us in. Then the navy turned up to inspect the yacht as we were anchoring. They were lovely young guys from the mainland of Coñombia and they had coffee and biscuits with us and stamped the passports and inspected the yacht. This was a great welcome.

Then we had to meet the agent ashore at the marina. He was recommended by Panama Posse and so we thought all should be well. I took all the papers in and met him on the dock. The immigration lady came to collect the passports, disappeared, and came back 20 min later. The port authority was there and I signed the paper and he gave it to the agent. The agent asked me for the tax money $ 35 USD each, plus his fee. I paid and he said he was just off to the bank to get the forms and would be back. That was the last we saw of him.

the agent had also organised to get the laundry done. I waited on the dock for two hours and no one turned up. I gave up at 5 pm and went back to the yacht. Meanwhile, I met Sylvie and Eduardo a lovely couple on a catamaran “Second Wind”. They told me another yacht in the bay had had problems with our agent.

The next day I went and had a chat with Oscar and Anya, who were on a cat called “Meow”. They were going in to see their agent so I asked if I could tag along and ask him some questions. Their agent Mr. Rene said he could help me with information but since I had already used the other agent I had to get the papers from him.

There were many WhatsApp messages and calls most of which the Agent did not answer. The night before we left I finally got the Zarpe so I could check out at 1730 via email. No sign of the receipts or tax card which I needed for the next stop in Providencia to prove that I had paid the tax.

After all the bad weather and anchor problems we decided to go anyway. We got Mr. Rene to give us the name of an agent in Providencia.

We called the harbour master and gave the Zarpe number and he responded with “happy journey”.

The day before we left we asked Mr. Rene if he could recommend a driver to take us on a tour around the island. He did so and it was his brother.

San Andrés Harbour

We spent several days anchored in the harbour 20kts gusting just under 40kts. The harbour is full of all sorts of boats and they are often rafted up together all on the same mooring. It also has a couple of wrecks and one schooner attached to the bottom on a sand bar. Many of the boats were not in very good shape.

The local boats are out day and night even in 35 knots of wind. the sea is fairly calm as the harbour sits inside the coral reef.

Our first anchoring was in sand and good holding but after going in for diesel and being held up, then trying to anchor in rain at dusk we missed the sand patch. The rest of the bottom is sea grass and in only 2 m of water and high winds, we were lifting the chain off the bottom.

We dragged later in the night as a squall went through at 38kts, as did the yacht behind us. They ended up badly scratched on the waterline by an old wreck.

Trying to re-anchor we popped the capstan circuit breaker when it jammed. Driving around in the dark in a storm, with boats all around, trying to stay head to wind, and an anchor chain jammed is not my idea of fun. Anyway finally got it fixed and had another go and held for the rest of the night.

The next day we put a lot more chain out and we were hoping to leave first thing the following morning. The anchor held all day and all night until about 5 am when the anchor alarm went off again. This time we just sat on the motors until daybreak and then departed with great relief to be away to Providencia.

San Andrés island tour

We decided to take a day off the boat for a trip around the island. Unfortunately, it was one of several wet days. But if you don’t take the chance you don’t know what you might miss.

We drove through town in a taxi and discovered it was a public transport-only day in town. The place is usually full of scooters, a few cars and trucks. Every Friday for half a day there are no vehicles so it is really easy to walk all around. None even parked on the sidewalks.

Just past the town centre is the airport with all the fences painted or holding panels by various artists.

There is a whole section on recycling made from recycled plastic bottle tops and pieces of bottles. The work was a great acknowledgement of the opportunity to recycle waste.

Firstly there were the sea creatures – fish, shellfish, crustaceans and octopus.

Then there were the sea birds.

The display ends at the main beach which has a wide walkway along the edge of town and ends in a tiny harbour for the local fishing boats.

Museum

The next stop was the museum which was very well done and we had an excellent guide. Entry was 10,000 pesos about $ 2 USD and you could tip the guide at the end.

The area had an old traditional wooden house from the colonial era with balconies upstairs and down and a detached kitchen and separate toilet block. The inside had old photos and period memorabilia.

There were also paintings on all the walls to tell a story such as the plantations, the music and instruments and the pirates. ( every pirate painting or statue bore a remarkable resemblance to Captain Jack Sparrow!)

When the British owned the island Capt Harry Morgan was in charge but he was basically just a pirate. He apparently had 48 wives and 150 children and died at age 50 of syphilis. Meanwhile, he was in San Andres and Providencia for 4-5 years and then became Governor of Jamacia. Many of the original island families had English names and spoke English and they still do. Spanish and Creole are also spoken.

At the end of the visit you had to go and learn the Salsa – a good laugh.

Captain Morgan’s Cave

This attraction was 20,000 pesos each and was like a wet dirty rundown discarded movie set.

The museum had a collection of old pistols, daggers and swords. Although they told us some were from Spain and some were found around the island I am not sure how many were authentic.

The grounds and paths are full of life-sized pirates of all shapes and sizes – male and female. As you can see Hew particularly liked one statue.

There are also old canons scattered around.

Captain Morgan’s cave was a large cave that was full of fresh, slightly saline water. It is apparently open to the sea somewhere underneath. This is where he hid his treasure – apparently.

More Salsa dancing lessons before you could get out..

Blow hole

The last attraction was the blow hole. We have many in New Zealand but it is not generally encouraged to stand on top of them. There is a channel which you can apparently swim through in calm water. We watched for about 40 minutes as people came and stood over the hole to get caught in the rush of air or water. You could not predict which you would get and it did not seem to make any difference depending on the angle or strength of the water against the cliff. Everyone there was happy and cheerful – just having fun. There were lots of tourist shops and many colourful restaurants and bars. The place was very busy.

Many of the buildings were partially or fully painted in pictures and various colours.

There is no natural underground water in San Andres and most of the water collection is all from the roofs of the houses into these small plastic tanks – many painted with designs as seen here.

Confiscated Buildings

Another interesting feature of the NE coast of San Andrés is the huge number of very large and expensive holiday houses. Scattered amongst all these are properties that are looking very well maintained are others that look like wrecks. The latter are properties that have been confiscated from the drug kings but where the ownership has been tied up in court to stop their sales. Until the government wins they can only just lock them up. It seems many have been in this state for several years.

Well, that was the story of San Andres. The Story of Providencia is in the next blog and also the continuing saga of officials and agents.