There's no road between Panama and Colombia, you can cross by air or sea. I chose sea! The flight was decently expensive and sailing across the Caribbean Sea sounded like a way better experience. Hostel Mamallena in Panama City organizes the boats. There are many different types of boats sailing regularly. I was put on La Perla del Caribe, a 43 foot sailboat with room for ten people plus the captain and cook. The boat sails around the San Blas Islands for three days then across open sea for two days. That means we had to take the crazy 4x4 road back out to the San Blas entrance. I was praying we wouldn't have Ricardo as our driver again!
On Saturday morning we were up at 430am to meet our group and the 4x4. No Ricardo this time! The drive was much faster, but it seemed like the driver was trying to make it as crazy as possible. We had to stop and let the people out of the back seat for some fresh air, but we made it to the river by 9am. All nine of us got into a tiny boat and headed to Isla Provenir where the sailboat was anchored. Everyone got completely soaked on the 45 minute boat ride. Finally, we arrived at La Perla del Caribe! Captain Fernando and his cook Sophie welcomed us with breakfast and some ground rules. We were given bed assignments then sailed to Dog Island for the afternoon. It was hard to believe that eleven of us were going to spend five days in such a small space.
La Perla del Caribe and Captain Fernando
into the cabin
cabin and kitchen
my small bedroom
Dog Island
Our crew was pretty great! Four Canadians all from BC, Ted, Chris, Nick and I. A Dutch couple from Amsterdam, Eline and Jochem. Two German pilots, Sven and Frank and Rica from Finland. We spent the first day swimming and snorkeling around Dog Island. The island was beautiful, but very busy with tourists. There was a small ship wreak there which was neat to snorkel around. We all headed back to the boat for lunch and I had a much needed nap. It's nice to sleep on a boat that's not moving, it kind of lulls you to sleep. We spent the rest of the day drinking, swimming and eating Sophie's great food!
The next day we sailed to Isla Waisaladup (Chief's Island) which was about three hours away and anchored there for the next two days. We spent both days swimming, tanning, snorkeling, drinking and exploring the amazing islands. They are beyond incredible!
On Tuesday morning we started sailing towards Cartagena, Colombia at 7am. The sailboat was literally sideways and you could barely walk inside the cabin. All we could do was sit around the small table on the deck or lay down in bed. I was the second person to get sea sick and had to stay horizontal pretty much the entire time. Around 5pm our engine died. Fernando tried to fix it, but it quickly got dark and he had to wait until the morning. We had no engine all night. In the morning, Fernando managed to jimmy rig the engine so it would work for the rest of our voyage. We arrived in Cartagena around 10pm on Wednesday night after 37 hours of open sea. We were all more than happy to get onto solid ground. The trip was amazing and I would highly recommend it to everyonne, but make sure you bring gravol!
