My first hot Christmas

Christmas to me is a tradition. I'm not religious but I freely admit when Christmas comes around, I join the throngs of Western people that worship the material god. And I love it. Take away the Christmas music thrumming in the shops, take away the media that starts as early as September getting into the hype, take away family and friends, take away Ebay, Amazon, hell...the internet in general, take away the shelves and shelves of special Christmas produce (actually just take away shops...period), take away the bitter Winter chill and it leaves me at a loss for things to do when the festive season comes around. It was this exact situation that I faced when spending my first ever Christmas in the tropics, on a boat in the San Blas.

Ok so there were no shops, no snow, no music, no familiar faces but I was determined to make Christmas Day feel a little xmassy and had a few tricks up my sleeve to compromise.

Christmas music ~ ipod Christmas playlist

Christmas media ~ when in the UK back in October I stocked up on cheap, small decorations and collected Christmas cards from my well organised family so we had something to open on the day. Family and friends ~ arranged to meet up with two other boats we have called our 'cruising family' so we did have familiar faces to spend the day with.

No internet ~ homemade presents instead

Special Christmas produce ~ San Blas equivalent, a whole chicken which having being involuntary vegetarians for the past year, was by far a better treat than the usual Christmas dinner. Also rather than buying everything, I had to make everything from scratch. This included a gingerbread house!

Winter chill ~ not a lot we could do about that, instead we sweated the day away changing outfits every time we changed course.

My first hot Christmas just wasn't the same but I still had a great day and it made me realise that when we get back to land, one of my requirements is that in the month of December, the temperature is below 30 degrees, preferably with snow! Here's how we spent the day for those interested in what on earth you do on a boat, in the middle of nowhere:

7:00 – Awoke and attempted to swat a fly that had dared enter the v berth.

7:15 – Presented Dylan with his homemade Christmas present. A hand stitched pair of tight white speedos that he loves so much on the French. On the front it says 'I LOVE THE FRENCH' and on the back is the French flag. Due to the lack of material on the front (my inaccurate guesstimate) I doubt these will ever be worn in public!

7:30 – Dylan made us tea and coffee.

8:00 – Put 2 mugs and 2 plates into a bag and headed off for breakfast on Waka Irie. We had decided to do a Come Dine With Me Christmas where each course was eaten on a different boat. Tomato and cheese pancakes were consumed followed by vanilla and nut roll and then a second dessert course of fudge. All washed down with a cup of tea, quite a start to the day and a sign for things to come.

10:00 – Back to Orion where I enlisted the help of Dylan to glue (with icing sugar) my gingerbread house together that I had made the previous day. Thinking ahead I had to purchase the ingredients back in Colombia as no way I could have bought anything in the San Blas apart from bananas, fish and grapefruit.

13:00 – Dinghied to Cypraea where we had lunch. Homemade sushi to start with wasabi that made the eyes water, seafood chowder (we had sourced the seafood the day before on an epic speargun /lobster tickling adventure), 2 whole chickens, potato and aubergine side, gravy, cranberry sauce and smoked turkey, washed down with red wine and beer. Again, all this was thought of in advance apart from the chickens that were purchased from a Kuna who got them from the mainland.

16:00 – Starting to feel a little sick, we dinghied back to our boat for dessert. Tosca Tart, Gingerbread House, Vanilla Cheesecake and Chocolate Log, washed down with rum punch. By that point we were all uncomfortably full, the feeling you only get once a year when you feel obliged to partake in a food eating contest.

17:30 – We all dinghied to a nearby island where the rest of the anchorage had done a pot luck. It was such a hot day with no wind so it felt amazing to dip in the sea.

19:30 – Headed home where we walked straight past the huge pile of dirty dishes.

20:00 – Bed time, food induced!

Cartagena

Having paid to be in Santa Marta Marina and talking to other yachties, we decided to do a land trip to Cartagena and not take the boat. There are three different ways to get from Santa Marta to Cartagena; 1) Public bus but the bus terminal is a taxi ride away from the marina 2) Private bus (Marsol) that pick you up from marina and drop you off at your hotel 3) Taxi. We chose option 2, a little more expensive than the public bus but way more convenient given we speak limited Spanish to get around. We had read reviews that Marsol were always late and it took forever going from hotel to hotel picking up paying guests but we figured time was on our side. It costs COP$82000 /$45 /£28 one way for a 5 hour (if you're lucky) bus ride from door to door.

A mini bus picked us up at the marina 30 mins late – not too bad. It was air conditioned and despite the reviews, we had just enough legroom even if I was sat over the wheels with a funny little box on the floor bending my knees towards my chin. We were the last on the bus which meant we got the worst seats and had to stretch to hit the air conditioning but it did mean we didn't have to tour the rest of the hotels picking other people up. We had two rest stops en route, one just before we passed the Rio Magdalena. People here like in huts with no walls and their makeshift abodes sprawl for as far as the eye can see. Very similar looking to a favela, these guys make their money by peddling snacks and drinks to the passing traffic and buses that stop at roadside shacks allowing their passengers to stretch their legs. We must have passed at least 8 checkpoints along the route where you need to pay before continuing on, I can see where most of our bus fare goes!

Four hours from door to door we were dropped off at Casa Lucy, a gorgeous old house in the centre of Cartagena Walled City that had been recommended by other yachties who had also stayed there. Lucy the owner rents out most of her rooms. The front door is huge solid and wooden with an equally sized brass knocker. As you knock, the sound echoes around the courtyard inside. You step through a smaller door cut out of the bigger door (similar to Wizard of Oz!) and enter into another world. The place is full of antiques and your eyes instantly settle on the outside courtyard..inside...full of plants and tweeting birds. The smell of old things hit your nostrils as your eyes adjust to the dark interior.

We were lead to our room which was quite simple but decorated with molas. Made me even more excited about buying these in the San Blas! It stank of damp but I think that all added to the experience, it is a very old building after all. Our room wasn't ready so we put our things in the locked trunk in our room and headed out for some lunch. We found a stall selling bread looking items. Tried a maize ball with cheese in, breadstick with cheese in and an empanada with cheese in. Yep they like their cheese here! After dampening our appetite we went for a walk along the old walls, attempting to walk them all. We were greeted by gorgeous views but had to dodge a lot of cruise ship crowds, easily identifiable by their pasty white skin and tourist looking hats. When the sun was going down we walked back to the hotel for a shower then went out again for dinner. We wandered the streets looking for the cheap grub we love in Santa Marta but struggled so in the end we settled on a pizza overlooking a gorgeous plaza. A great spot for people watching.

Breakfast at the hotel was amazing. We had a platter of fruit, Colombian coffee on tap, orange /lulo juice, cumin bread, toast with fruit jam and syrup, carrot muffins, cereal then I asked for an arepa con huevo and Dylan had scrambled egg with bacon and tomato. YUM. We were thoroughly stuffed by the end of it. All of this is served in the pretty corridor outside of the rooms right near the courtyard. 

The second day consisted of more wandering about the town, going to the different plazas and more people watching. We tried out a coffee from Juan Faldez, a chain of coffee houses the equivalent of Starbucks in Colombia. It was great coffee but not cheap! Wandering about the town we marvelled at the gorgeous balconies that overhang the streets bursting with plants, painted vivid colours and backed by solid wooden doors with intricate carvings. Everywhere you look there is something of interest. You could spend weeks in this city just wandering the streets with your eyes to the sky. At one of the plazas we found a local guy selling fantastically bright watercolours of Cartagena. We bought one and look forward to hanging it in our home when we get one...At around 2pm we realised that we had seen all the major attractions and although it would be great to spend another day of wandering, our monthly budget would thank us greatly if we cancelled a night at the hotel and went home that day instead.

Sad to leave Cartagena but with the dented budget in the back of our minds, we boarded the bus at 2pm and headed for Santa Marta. Being first on the bus this time meant that we had the pick of seats so chose one right near the air conditioning at the front right behind the driver, also meant more leg room. The downside to being the first on the bus was that we got to visit every other hotel en route to pick up other guests. The return journey took us 6 hours! Looooong.

An entertaining moment on the bus was when we hit the highway after Barranquilla. It seems the drivers here participate in a game of chicken. The buses pull out in front of each other, revving the engine to max and using the opposite lane to overtake, with oncoming vehicles edging that bit closer. With front row seats to this spectacle, Dylan and I grimaced and clenched our teeth (and Dylan says sphincter...eurgh) when at the last minute, the driver cuts up someone in his own lane and swerves back in, narrowly missing the oncoming vehicle. No sooner had our heart rates lowered...he's at it again! Stopping at another of the roadside shacks, we tried out a snack - cheese flavoured styrofoam...I mean crisps. What was most fascinating was driving past the hundreds of shacks at night. Bearing in mind these shacks didn't even have a door or four walls, without exception they all owned a television! Each hut was almost identical, a huge TV (in comparison to size of shack), a christmas tree or fairy lights or both, two plastic chairs opposite the TV and in some, a coffee table at the side. No basic infrastructure, no roads, no sewerage system but they were able to watch a moving talking box. Although I see that as an odd priority they probably likewise see my priorities equally baffling!

Santa Marta

A city in itself, Santa Marta has many small alleyways bursting with old rundown South American architecture – but you have to look for it. That's what I love about this place, its subtle, its local, its colourful, its friendly, its laid back, its fabulous. Santa Marta is South America's oldest surviving city illustrated by the crumbling colonial architecture you are greeted with around every corner. There are few attractions here so tourists simply use Santa Marta as a jumping off point to visit the Lost City, a nearby jungle trek to lost ruins. This is great news for us as it gives us an insight into Colombian life without having to look through the throngs of pasty cruise ship crowds or pesky market sellers. We were often the only foreigners around and with my blonde hair, got treated extremely well by the locals who were fascinated by the hair colour and strange pigmented skin! The only other tourists we saw here were Colombians themselves, who come to the beach in throngs to soak up the sun, sand and aguardiente (aniseed liqueur) by the bottle full, congregating on the beach front across from the marina.

After a rolly, windy, creaky three nights at anchor, we went into the marina and stayed there for our entire stay (10 days) before we left for the San Blas Islands. Santa Marta marina was a god send after Orion got covered in sand and dirt on our passages from Bonaire to Colombia. An IGY marina, it really is top notch with some of the best rates in the entire Caribbean. We never go to marinas preferring to save our money at anchor but with the cheap rates, friendly staff and pristine facilities, it was hard to resist. The ladies in the office were extremely helpful, especially Diana who spoke immaculate English and can organise anything. Diana booked our bus trip and hotel for Cartagena as well as dealing with any questions we had on logistics, gas bottle refills etc. Mauricio the marina manager was always around asking for feedback and the marina staff could easily be found for any errands we needed running. Even the harbour master, John, came by numerous times to ensure we were having an enjoyable stay! It seems to be a popular place for cruisers to land prior to heading on to San Blas and Panama, rather than stopping in Cartagena. Golf cart trips to fill jerry cans, cheap water on tap, air conditioned bathrooms, big cubicle showers, air conditioned Captain's Lounge with huge plasma TV and even an on site mini mart selling essentials – it was easy to spend the days in the marina rather than venture into the city!

The city is just on your doorstep, a 2 min walk got you to the promenade with all the Christmas lights on display. It looks very pretty at night, the lights twinkling and the place is buzzing with Colombians on holiday. We wandered many a night up and down the front, stopping to see the street acts with crowds of people gathered to watch. We passed one guy dressed as a woman that people seemed to find hilarious but we wouldn't know as his Spanish was far too advanced for our comprehension!

We quickly realised that eating out was actually cheaper than buying food from a supermarket and then having to cook it. Our favourite place was a hole in the wall we found where locals sat stuffing their faces. Figuring this must be a good spot, we sat down at an empty table and looked at the menu that was written on a whiteboard high above everyone's heads. I didn't understand one word. No chicken, rice, vegetables that I had learnt via Rosetta Stone - we had no idea what was on offer...our kind of adventure! We instead chose to shop by price and settled for mid range prices, which was still less than £2 for a main meal. When the food came, turns out I had ordered chicken (pechuga = breast) and Dylan had ordered beef. A very local affair, the plates were piled high with good hearty food. For a starter (soup) and main each with 4 cokes it set us back £7, and that included a 10% tip! Needless to say, we returned more than once to sample the rest of their menu and weren't disappointed.

On the topic of cheap food, it seems timely to describe the street vendors on the beach front. Wow. A walk along the front at night is an assault on the senses. Yes there are pretty lights and yes the views out to El Morro are great but what really interested us was the food sizzling on the food stands, mmmm it smelt soooo goooood. We had been warned not to touch the food and drinks sold by these men as many yachties had fallen ill, but when in Rome...Skewers of meat, yes RED meat sandwiched between potatoes were Dylan's favourite. He ate 6 in a row one night, at a mere 30p /$0.55 each, it would be rude to leave any on the grill! My favourite were these big doughy cheesy grilled beauties, mmm my mouth is watering just thinking about them now. They are round, rather flat flour cakes grilled on both sides. The vendor then cuts them open and puts in grated cheese and queso blanco before grilling them again for a few minutes. Hoooaaaa they are so good and again 30p /$0.55 each. I watched the locals ordering a white-ish liquid from a squeezy tube rather than 'con queso' so I decided to copy them. Big mistake, it was condensed milk. Eurgh. Just no. It was like sprinkling sugar on your cheese on toast and makes my teeth ache just thinking about it now. I soon twigged that most things in Colombia are preferred sweet, there is a whole aisle of condensed milk in the local supermarket! Not to be deterred though we also had dessert street vendor style; shaved ice, pineapple syrup and yep...condensed milk. That too was unbelievably sweet but very refreshing.

One day a kind yachtie offered to show us where the fruit and veg market was. Apparently not many of our kind go there as it is meant to be in the dodgy part of the city but in broad daylight and from what we had seen so far, we weren't intimidated. Glad we took the risk as its a delightful place only reached by zig zagging a load of back alleys. I can see why you just need to go with someone who has already been rather than asking for directions as they would sound a little like this 'turn right at the guy with the large sewing machine, turn left at the large oak door, turn right at the crumbling brick wall, turn left at the ladies that always sit out in the street, turn right by some graffiti, left at the store selling speakers, right at the fire hydrant and then cross the road where there are big green bushes and there should be a bunch of umbrellas on the opposite side of the road. Yep, I kid you not. When going there by ourselves for the first time, we wandered up and down scratching out heads until we were greeted by the big green bushes!

This market is cheap cheap cheap. We filled our bags with fresh produce, marvelling at the variety on offer but also the price. Before we left for the San Blas I filled 4 big bags with produce; 1 kg cheese, 5 tomatoes, 10 potatoes, 2 pineapples, 5 apples, 6 passion fruits, 20 onions, 10 garlic, 2 pumpkins, 2 cabbages, 24 eggs, 40 limes, 1kg green beans, a yam, 2 peppers, 2 coconuts, bag of chillis, 10 carrots and 20 oranges. How much? £12 or $22. It was an experience to have a wander around here, not only were there fresh produce but further down the road was the meat section with huge chunks of the stuff hanging from bits of wood and buzzing with flies. We passed a whole cows head, trotters sitting out in the sun, blood oozing down the make shift table onto the floor where cats and stray dogs were licking it up. It didn't really smell though, lets just say, health and safety isn't really a big deal here and we decided that we were quite happy having vegetable pie that night! The main place to stock up in Santa Marta is Exito, a large supermarket with everything you need. Not the cheapest prices but a convenient walk from the marina.

As well as the hole in the wall selling local food, we loved a particular cafe on the way to the market. Didn't have a name or road number near it but was recognised by the derelict building opposite it. Here old men hung out on metal chairs put out on the street, watching the world go by whilst sipping a local beer. We mimicked these guys, found 2 chairs and did the same. Dylan was fond of the local brew, Aguila, a light beer that he easily demolished in 2 gulps. Anyway the best bit about this cafe apart from the urinal that was used constantly by male passers by (had to position the chair just right so that wasn't in your peripheral vision) was their empanadas. We discovered them by chance when I eyed up a local munching on something tasty looking. Having no idea what I was asking for I just pointed to one in the heated counter and gave it to Dylan for the taste test. Inside was minced beef, rice and a whole egg and it tasted amazing. It cost COP$1000 /0.33p /$0.55 but Dylan didn't believe me so I had to go and buy another one to prove my point! Ha, from then on anytime we ventured near that end of town no matter what the time was, we went and ate one of those. No other empanadas we tried matched this at all.

Another street side delicacy is the tinto. Men walk around the city with up to 4 thermos flasks swaying from each arm filled with sweetened Colombian coffee. They serve them in plastic espresso cups and lace the coffee with condensed milk (now there's a surprise). It is really nice, strong yet sweet and gives you the energy boost needed under the midday sun. A large one is COP$500 / 15p / $0.27...yes I'm banging on about prices here but its just so nice to be surprised by a price that is so cheap for a change rather than so expensive!

One more random snack and then I promise I'll change the subject from food. A pastry filled with guava jam and....queso blanco. Odd. The pastry is sweet, the jam sweet and then the cheese, well, very cheesy! I wouldn't have it again and certainly wouldn't think of putting the two together but it was very interesting and very different from what I thought I was about to eat – a cheese and tomato pasty!!

We didn't spend the whole time eating despite how this post may appear. With being in a marina we made the most of the water on tap and shelter by getting on with our chore list. Mould was scrubbed, anchor chain was remarked using 3 different methods, inside and outside of the boat was thoroughly cleaned, wear patches repaired in all the sails, climbed the mast for an inspection, filled the gas bottles, filled the water tanks, filled the fuel tank, cleaned the head, cleaned the water tanks, repaired cup holder in cockpit, repaired boom cover, researched San Blas and made the most of the fresh water showers!

On our chore list for a while now has been 'stock up on medical kit'. A lot of first aid items came with the boat when we bought her but not much in the way of ocean crossing items such as antibiotics, strong pain relief, burn wraps etc - things you normally need with a prescription. We were waiting until we got to a place that was pretty slack on regulations when it came to medicine and would happily sell them to you over the counter. Colombia was our place! It wasn't cheap but I did manage to find and purchase most of the must have items on our to get list. The process was hilarious. I had no idea of the medical terms in Spanish and the pharmacist couldn't speak a word of English so Dylan and I started a game of charades. I'd tell Dylan the word, say 'burn', then we would both act out a burn on ourselves whilst the pharmacist stood there, not knowing whether to kick us out or take us seriously! Luckily for us he had a sense of humour and after him producing a lighter...erm not what we were after...Dylan managed to successfully mime getting burnt, running around with his hands in the air trying to blow on his skin. Aha, we purchased some burn cream! And onto the next item...charcoal tablets. Yep that baffled him as we pretended to be poisoned by a fish, grab our necks, turn purple and fall to the floor. That particular item remains on the list but I think we got some kudos from the staff who had a throughly entertaining afternoon!

Santa Marta is full of photocopying places. It became an ongoing joke that we would turn to the other as soon as we saw said shop and ask if they were doubly sure they didn't need anything copied. It was unbelievable, almost every shop we passed, even if it sold toys...also did photcopying. I want to know what on earth the Colombians like to photocopy that calls for such demand in service! Yet to find out the answer...

The other thing that made me giggle was the MCs in shop entrances. All the clothes stalls had a guy at the entrance with a mic hooked up to two big ass speakers. He would then use it to constantly tell shoppers passing by of his offers or just comment on the music they was currently playing. If anything, this scared me away, it certainly didn't lure me in!

Dylan hadn't had his haircut since Bonaire and the new clippers I bought in UK don't like to work on 110V so we treated him to a haircut Colombian style. The women in the salon all wore a mask around their mouth as if Dylan was contagious but they did do a good job. I was kept entertained by a transvestite working there and colouring his own hair whilst pulling out clumps and depositing them in an easy to reach bin. I was most disappointed when Dylan finished as I wanted to see if he/she had any left on his head by the time the dye had washed off.

We could have stayed in Colombia for a lot longer, loved the country but San Blas was calling and we wanted to get there in plenty of time for Christmas. The weather is still renowned to be rough from Santa Marta to Cartagena so we wanted to leave in a weather window and attempt to go straight from Santa Marta to San Blas without stopping. Dino (the agent) cleared us out within 24 hours, I washed, dried and put away all the fresh produce, dug out baskets to store them in and tied bananas to the hand rails as we had totally maxed out the space. A final skype to the parents as we may be offline for up to 4 weeks and we were away, next stop Coco Bandero Cays, San Blas, Panama.

p.s. Despite 48 knot winds and a couple of rain showers, my first handmade flag passed the test with flying colours (excuse the pun). It's a little faded but all colours are still recognisable, no stitching has come undone and not even the ends have unravelled. It was well worth the effort! Once again, hats off to the gang that helped me with this immense task!