That’s right, I was an illegal alien for a time in Colombia. Since Karen and I went to the states last May, I thought the clock had restarted on my visa time in Colombia and I had another six months’
time. Turned out I was wrong. It appears that tourists only get 6 months max out of a calendar year to be in Colombia. After my re-entry stamp ran out in August, I had been in Colombia a total of about 8 months. The “Inmigracion” didn’t like that too much. He threw my passport back at me when I tried to extend, and told me I had to leave. Now.
Usually when an official tells you that you have to leave, it’s probably wise to heed that order. The engine rebuilding work was finally coming to a close, which is really the only reason that we were still in Cartagena to begin with. So that meant with some scrambling, we can probably make it out of there in a few days.
I had our humorless, very German agent Manfred stamp us out asap. So at least the Colombian government officially recognized us as having left. Yes, it would take us a few more days to actually LEAVE, but who cares about details like that?
We were in the process of rounding up some passengers for the trip to Panama about this time. This meant hitting the hostels and budget hotels for people looking for a trip to Panama. Since getting to Panama
over land isn’t an option (thanks to a drug blockade, and the fact that FARC still pretty much owns that part of Colombia), you can only fly there or go by boat. Going by boat is an attractive way because in the
course of the trip, you also happen to see the San Blas Islands, which are some of the most beautiful and pristine coastal islands remaining in the world, thanks to the stewardship and protection of the indigenous Kunas who live and govern there. It’s a whole other world that most people never get to see. Unless of course, you go by there by boat!
There are quite a few boats that run passengers back and forth on the 180 mile or so run from San Blas to Cartagena. Unfortunately, many of those boats shouldn’t be in the business of carrying unwitting passengers across a lake much less over a pretty weather-wild part of the Caribbean. Some serious horror stories abound, and unfortunately they involve a lot of captains and boats that I know.
We had our motley group of passengers lined up within a matter of days, and after some trials and tribulations after freeing Andiamo from the dock after some 5 months stranded there, we were off.
We made a brief overnight stop in Baru, an island that lies just off a peninsular point on the Colombian coast a few hours out of Cartagena.
On Baru’s western shore, lies a gorgeous, inset bay protected on all sides, with clean, clear waters. It’s a welcome contrast to the rather dirty and noisy harbor of Cartagena. The next day, we were on the way to San Blas, unfortunately, mostly under motor. The bulk of the trip was absolutely flat. Really disappointing considering the forecasts said that there would be some brisk northeasterly winds.
Instead, what little wind there was came from the west. In any case, we made do with it, and motorsailed as much as possible. About 10 hours left into the sail, we finally got some good winds. We could do some REAL sailing again. Andiamo sailed almost the rest of the way, almost right into Caobos Channel, the wide entrance that takes you inside the treacherous outer reefs of the San Blas. We spent the next two nights in great anchorages, eating amazingly cheap lobster and fish bought off the Kunas, and reveling in some good times.
It was nice to be in Panama again, and back out on the water.