San Andres and Providencia Part 2.

Providencia

After our experiences in San Andrés, we were wondering what to expect in Providencia.

Just before we got to the harbour, we could see a navy ship anchored out on the edge of the reef. Then a huge squall came through and just after that there was a small school of seven dolphins playing on the front of the yacht bow wake for 10 minutes. A lovely sign.

Providencia is actually two islands, the small Santa Catalina to the northwest of the Harbour and then the large Providencia Island. The harbour is between the two islands and is joined by a new bridge.

The entry into the harbour through the reef is well-marked. We called up to enter the harbour and nothing was heard from the Port Control. We went in and anchored seeing two boats ahead – one was “Meow” (Oscar and Anya) who had been in San Andrés and the other was “Pacific Blue” (Hans, Irene, and Thomas) who we came to know and were also members of Panama Posse.

We contacted Mr Bush the agent and he advised us to anchor overnight and come in in the morning. We were very tired after all the sleepless nights in San Andrés and also a rather rough passage north to Providencia so we were happy with the arrangement.

Officials and Agents

In the morning James and I went into the dingy dock and Mr. Bush was waiting for us. We walked along to his home as he told us all about Hurricane Iota, a category 5 cyclone that struck the island on November 16, 2020, and destroyed the town which was still getting rebuilt. The Hurricane damaged 98 percent of Providencia Island’s energy and road infrastructure, property, and motor vehicles, causing its whole electricity grid to collapse overnight. Mr. Bush said the Colombian government had been very helpful and took immediate action and within 100 days, almost all electricity was restored. They are now trying to make a more sustainable and resilient energy infrastructure https://www.climatelinks.org/blog/after-storm-creating-sustainable-energy-future-providencia-island-following-hurricane-iota  Many of the people in town at the moment were workers bought in by the government to rebuild the town. The rebuilding is continuing and there are many articles on the devastation and the rebuilding program on the internet for those who are interested. It is good to hear some good news about governments.

All the roofs in the town were lost and most of the houses with two stories lost the second story. The Cinema was declared a write-off. Most of the government departments are still in temporary housing. All the roofs in the town are the same due to being reroofed with the same tin colour after the cyclone. Mr. Bush said his house lost the second story and he had rebuilt. There are still sheets of tin over his side window spaces.

We sat and waited with him and soon the immigration lady turned up, then the harbour master. He asked if we had paid the tourist tax and when I said yes but I had not been able to get any receipts for it, I heard that this was not an uncommon problem and did I have any evidence of it. I showed him all the conversations with the last agent on WhatsApp and Mr. Bush translated for the official. The official and Mr. Bush agreed I should send the San Andrés agent some more messages asking for the receipts again.

We were there for three days and when I came to check out the receipts had still not appeared. The official came in and Mr. Bush suggested that it was his job to make sure the agents paid the government and provided visitors with receipts. Anyway, they agreed that I did not have to pay and he went away. We then waited 2 hours for immigration to return the passports. Apparently, their power had been cut off. The contractors were supposed to be fixing another government department in a different house in the compound and cut Immigration off by mistake. Interestingly they use a Canadian software program.

At about 1030 the passports turned up and we departed Providencia. Two hours later I got my receipts from the San Andrés Agent!! I think the Official must have phoned and had a discussion with the tardy San Andrés agent.

Cruisers Catchup and Island Walk

Our time in Providencia was mostly spent relaxing and fixing some items on the yacht. On the way up we had broken a reefing line so it had to be fixed, Hew was still sorting out the Victron components, and James and I were cleaning up. The flag pole also snapped off in the wind, but luckily it was attached further up to the rails so we did not lose the flag, but we had nothing to fix that with us.

The crew of Pacific Blue and Meow came over to chat the next morning so we all had a good catch-up. Meow had decided to set sail the next day (Tuesday) for Honduras and then work up to Miami from there. Pacific Blue and ourselves were both going North, them to the Cayman Islands for Christmas and us to Belize. We had both decided to leave on Thursday when the NE winds had moved more to the east and the waves decreased.

The Peak Track

Hans and Irene from Pacific Blue then said they were going to climb the peak so we decided to go as well. We all lept into the dinghies and of we went – in the middle of the day!!

We were going to get taxis around to the start of the walk but there weren’t any so we went on bikes – a driver and two passengers!! No helmets! The road was not bad but had lots of judder bars and the bike Hew and I were on had a very softback tyre.

We got to the town at the start of the track and were then told that we needed a guide at a rate of 50,000 pesos each. Luckily, we had a lot. from our refund on the diesel in San Andrés.

Off we set for 1.5 hour’s walk.

Evidence of damage from the cyclone was everywhere, damaged bridges, damaged tracks, and fallen trees. Much of the bush was regrowth.

About halfway up I had totally overheated and not had enough water so Hew and I slowed down and then stopped until I had cooled down – Hew was soaking wet from sweat.  When you stop you do get to see more of the small items and the little lizard jumped from the bridge to the tree about a meter. Then there were some beautiful fungi on one of the trees. I did hear some birds but the only one I saw was too quick for me to get a photo.

After a few minutes, we decided we could go on and at least to the saddle.

When we got there the others were not that far ahead so we continued on to the top. It seemed that Irene had also hit the wall and had to stop.

T intersection – we were not sure if they had gone to the pool or direct to the summit.

As we came out of the bush cover we saw them on the rocks at the peak.

There was a viewing platform but it had lost its roof in the cyclone and still not been replaced.

The view from the top was great and worth the hike.

We had some snacks and water then wandered off downhill. On the way down we meet another group and the leader of that group told us to come to his beach bar – Roland Roots Reggae Bar and Restaurant – and have a swim and cocktail after the walk.

We got to the bottom and set off down the road to the bar. It was right on the beach which was a nice spot but the water was so stirred up from the wind that you could see nothing in it. We had some beers and water and I tried a Mojito cocktail but it was not mint – something else with a taste more akin to lemongrass. Anyway, we had a couple of drinks each while they lit the fire to encourage us to stay for dinner.

We decided that we were all too wet and dirty to eat there and tried to organise a taxi ride back to the yachts. We managed to get one taxi and one bike. The guy with the car had his girlfriend in so four adults and a child squeezed in the back and James went on a scooter. We got back first as James and this driver stopped when it started raining and hid under a veranda until it stopped.

Last Full Day

The next day we talked about going snorkeling but it was a boat job day since it was the last day before we were leaving. This included mounting the Starlink on the Passarella so we could use it at sea. An important item and being used as I write this at sea.

We were even considering going out for dinner but were told that none of the restaurants were open. That evening we had an inspection from the Maritime Authorities again. Very nice and polite young guys. All was well. Our Zarpe came through via WhatsApp and we were all set to go as soon as our passports could be stamped the next morning.

However, as mentioned above it took several hours waiting. We did manage to get a great cappuccino in the little restaurant by the port. The first decent one since we left New Zealand.

We waved goodbye to our new friends and sailed off past Captain Morgan’s Head and out of the Providencia harbour. We would definitely go back there as we had a really enjoyable time.

Everyone relaxed into the ocean cruising mode.

Since our flagpole for the Blue Ensign had failed and couldn’t be repaired we decided to use our old New Zealand ensign until we could make permanent repairs. It is looking very well worn.

Next stop is Belize, 790 miles away. It may take a few days….