Undaunted we set off for downtown to look for a few t-shirts for me. Almost all the shops had a variety of tacky t-shirts at very reasonable prices, but tasteful designs were few & far between. Eventually though we managed to find a couple of nice ones. Then we stopped in a CD shop for a champeta CD and then we poked around looking for the bargains on electronic items that we had been told about. We didn't find much in the way of bargains, unless you happened to be looking for old Zenit SLRs, they seemed to be in plentiful supply. All this walking or rather wading about (the streets really flood) had us a bit hungry but we weren't ready to return to the hotel for our free lunch, so we stopped at Super Bimbos for some Tocinetas Fred.

Eventually we wended our way back to the hotel for another great lunch. Great except that the juice is never real juice, it seems to be a drink mix of some sort. This was a big disappointment as we have become used to receiving really nice fresh juice in Colombia. Our hunger satiated, we headed for the beach to get a boat to Johnny Cay, only to be told that they don't go over in the afternoon! Bugger!!! We are leaving the island tomorrow.   

Instead we made do at the private beach that belongs to the hotel. Maria lazed on the beach sipping on complimentary drinks whilst I snorkeled  amongst the coral. I was now having a great time, I wish I had a few extra days to explore. The current is quite strong and I was sure glad I brought my fins with me, even so I got a real workout and if I stopped I had to keep paddling or else I would be quickly deposited back on the beach. The fish were everywhere, I wish I knew the names of them. I did see a puffer fish, reminded me a bit of Mrs. Puff from the SpongeBob SquarePants show. They have a quite human look to their faces. Occasionally one of the predators would dash out from a crevice in the coral to make a quick meal of one of the smaller fish, if they saw me nearby though they would just as quickly dart back into their hiding place. I spent hours gliding silently over the reef. Occasionally I would surface and look back towards shore just to get my bearings, before too long I was about 1/4 mile from shore yet if I stood on the reef I was in water below my knees! I suppose I could have swam to Johnny Cay.

After a few hours of snorkeling I was getting hungry so we headed back to the hotel for supper. We had fish; I was eating my new found friends from the reef ! Back to the room for a few hours before heading down to the pool for the evening show. The show is a music and dance spectacular of a quite high standard, easily equal to that of a major cruise line. There was lots of audience participation, especially by one very jovial paisa. He was joining in everything, singing along, dancing in his seat having a great time. I had as much fun watching his antics as I did watching the show. After the show we hung around he pool and bar for a few hours then back to the room to pack for Bogotá. 

All good things come to an end and so it was with our short trip to San Andres. Our holiday will soon be over and we will be back to the everyday rat race that is Orlando. 

All content copyright © 2004 Jim Thompson

< previous

home