Sorry for the delay! I wrote this over two days ago but my account wouldn't let me submit it...anywho, Day 2.The four of us met up and headed out of our hostel around 7:15am Friday morning to be on time for our 8am departure into the Caribbean Sea. Not having time for a real sit down breakfast, we grabbed some Bunelos, which to my understanding are round balls of rich milk bread ( I dont know a better translation, pan de leche?) similar to Spanish fritters. What I can do is translate this into Amerrrrican, Bunuelos= "Them little bread things right there sure are delicious. Shoot, they make me happier than a kitten chasing a leaky cow." Now that you understand how good our breakfast snack was we can continue with the story.
Our boat was nearly at full capacity when we pulled away from port and our ever changing view of the city as we floated through Cartagena Bay and through the Boca Grande, one of two entrances/exits between the bay and the Caribbean Sea, really showed us the immensity and strange layout of the city. Never have I seen a city that has such a strange landscape due to its jutting coast like and its history. There are castles and former military bastions all over the place, and old town that was the city's center years later, residential suburbs, and a newer neighborhood (the peninsula that helps create the Boca Grande) that sits atop a two kilometer long strip of land that is no more that three streets wide and all of the architecture mimics Miami Beach.
After getting out into the open sea our ship began its quite extensive and interactive entertainment for those who were sitting on the upper deck. Each side of the boat was a different team and the team leaders were chosen. Remember there are at least 60-70 people on each team. First was a round of trivia in which our leader didn't know any answers at all. This was followed by a game where the MC would call out an item and the leaders would have to run around and collect as many of the selected item as possible (i.s. shirts, hats, etc.). Followed by the women in the crowd dressing the team leaders up like women from the items they had collected and putting make up on them. Oh, and since the leaders were dressed up like women, clearly the most appropriate thing to make them do is a pole dance for the crowd...sigh. Nobody ever said that humor down here isn't raunchy.
While it was mildly entertaining I think everyone was excited about the next hour of our boat ride in silence. The Caribbean Sea is beautiful and the weather was fantastic. Our first destination was a very, very small island that had an aquarium you could go in for an additional fee. We opted to just hang out and swim in the water for an hour. It was a great choice because the water was very warm and it was nice to move around for a little bit. At this point I was very hungry so I splurged and bought some very fresh lobster for just over three dollars....worth it. See picture above for proof of this purchase.
We all packed into the boat and headed about half way back to where we began to stop at a beautifully secluded beach that was breathtaking. We had a delicious lunch and had a few hours to hang out on the beach and in the water. It actually was a little overcast at this point so being in the water was much warmer! We had a great time relaxing and doing nothing at all. Finally we boarded our boat and headed back to the city. Taylor and I got some Colombian coffee, which is amazing and loaded with sugar because that's how South America rolls, and talked and enjoyed the scenery. The last few minutes of our boat ride was filled with the MC dressed in an all white suit doing a dance his "good friend" Michael Jackson taught him....the dance actually wasn't horrible but I still have my doubts. After showering up the four of us went out and got some dinner and a drink before heading back to rest. Definitely a great way to spend a day in the Cartagena area and we were excited to get to see a little bit more of the city during the following days.
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