Cartagena - Colombia

Who would have thought that we would be drifting under kite all the way from Curaçao to Cartagena? The notorious tricky seas in Santa Marta delivered the expected 30 to 40 knots but very little swell, 2 meters at its worst, the only time we put the kite down and drifted (again) under bare poles - just a little slither of genoa for maneouverability - for about 6 hours until we put the kite up again and off we went to lovely Cartagena. Took us about 3 days. So we have been here since saturday the 18th.

So here we are and what a pleasant surprise! Cartagena is a big city, but pleasant to see and be in - even Russ is enchanted and this is big news as you all know. The old town is magnificent, the supermarkets world class and way better priced than the Caribbean thank you very much, and only a 2 minute walk from the ancorage which is great!

Checking in is pricey and we thought we could get away with it but it was not to be as we saw the Coast Guard boarding a few boats today (tuesday the 21st) so we decided it wasn't worth the risk. You have to use an agent and all up it costs about NZ$ 100 for an one week stay. The Clube Nautico charges NZ$27 for a week of water, dinghy dock, internet and facilities. A taxi ride around the inner city area is NZ$4 and a meal out for 2.5 (got to include Bri) is around NZ$30 including beers, juices and ice cream!

Bri simply loves the street dancers, with their colorful clothes, big skirts and energetic African drum beat. She just starts swaying and shimming away as she hears them and when she sees the dancers she is just mesmerised and stunned by all their moves, she kind of tries to imitate but eventually just watches and shuffles from feet to feet. The problem is keeping her in the perimeter of the audience, she wants to be there in the middle of all the twisting legs, torsos and hands! And when they end, she squeals, laughs and claps saying " ais ais ais" (more more more!). She stole the dancers show the other day by just being Bri. Oh God we were so terribly unashamedly proud of our little girl!!!

Anyhow, we are having a ball and will enjoy this amazing city for another week before going across the gulf to the San Blas islands, where we expect to see some pretty amazing things too... all in all we are have a feeling we are about to enter some of the best times of our lives.