San Andres & Providencia
MALARKEY
Jo & Trevor Bush
Tue 8 Nov 2011 22:06
|
San Andres 12:33.1N 81:41.9W
Sorry........failed miserably.
In my last blog I promised to keep my blogs up to
date. Well, that was back in March and its now November, and not a peep out of
me. So its up to the Head Masters office for me then, for a serious bit of leg
slapping!!
During those last 7 months or so, we have
done so much stuff. My excuse is.....well, it seems alot easier to
me do the stuff, than write about it. But no excuse now, Jo has
abandoned me for 12 days and buggered off back to the UK to see her folks.
So between fixing the boat and generally slobbing about, I thought I'd better
use the opportunity to get things up to date. Otherwise I will in trouble with
'She who must be obeyed' (The Admiral) when she comes back. And that is even
worse strife than even old Mr Nelson used to dish out.
Anyway, that brings me back to April earlier this
year when pals Fred & Cindy (S/Y Kelp Fiction) come up with a cunning plan.
We could slip out of Colon and slither up to San Andres and Providencia while no
one was looking. San Andres & Providencia are Columbian islands just off the
coast of Nicaragua. Sounds exotic. Yes, even a seedy den of iniquity,
illegal substances and over friendly dark skinned beauties. Well, it
certainly got the thumbs up from me.
San Andres didn't disappoint. And I refer to the
beautiful island thing and not the seedy stuff. Jo & I have led too
sheltered a life to even notice such dodgy goings on. But our French
Canadian and Californian friends, Fred & Cindy, seemed to be fully
aware of there existence for some peculiar reason!
   Fred, Cindy & Jo, San
Andres
Bolivar Reef just off San
Andres
Dolphins playing in bow wave
The island was gorgeous. No wonder all the rich
Columbians go there for their hols. The water is so clear and very sheltered
behind an extensive reef. It was a haven for snorkeling and
diving.....and we filled our boots, so to speak. The grub was good there too. We
found a nice little restaurant serving up a 2 course lunch for around $5 and we
were treated like long lost relatives, with mucho kisses and hugs everytime
we turned up, which was quite often. There were also posher restaurants
serving top scoff still at reasonable prices. We went there quite often too. The
supermarkets were stocked with all the necessary goodies which was quite
surprising for an out-of-the way, middle of nowhere island. All in all, a damn
fine spot and it comes highly recommended.
  Lobster, too big for
Jo
Lazy shark having a snooze
The word soon got out and Fred & Cindy's
cunning plan was soon dashed. We were joined by friends Matt & Jean
(Superted) and Brian & Sue (Darramy) in the next island, Providencia. Well,
thats not strictly correct, they got there first and we joined them the next
day.
  Snorkeling English
style
Snorkeling Californian style
First impressions were that this sister island of
Providencia was entirely different. It was quite mountainous, very green,
quite exposed and no one was there except a few toothless individuals who seemed
quite friendly but a tad interbred.
  Crazy kids in
Providencia
A providencia beach bar
We got there in time for the carnival and were
joined by the jet-set Columbians from San Andres who arrived by plane, boat and
any other kind of transport they could muster. They arrived in their hundreds
and the tranquil desert island atmosphere of Providencia immediately changed to
party town. And cripes, can they party. The all night functions started proper
at o'silly o'clock and went on till dawn.
  Carnval
night
Drunken party people.......nice one Jean
We couldnt keep pace and just went to the dog
show instead! Sad old gits, I hear you say and rightly too, I suppose, but
although the dog show sounds naff, it was a real laugh. They dressed
these dogs up like dolls. The girl dogs with nail varnish & stuff and
all were dressed to complement their owners. It was so sad, it was hilarious. Jo
particularly liked it, dog lover that she is.
  Girl
dog
Boy dog.......just pee'd his pants
The other function that we joined in, was the
carnival queen procession at sea.
The carnival officials made the big mistake of
exposing the queens at the front of the boats for all to see them looking their
finest in their best party frocks. Well, that not only
exposed them to letches eyes but to other dastardly deeds.
Yes, we could also squirt the vain & precautious young females with
seawater via water pistols and pumps. So donned in fancy dress me and Brian took
to the high seas armed with water weapons and committed wicked acts of piracy on
the poor beauties. They wernt best amused by the whole affair at first and we
ended up in a huge water fight with all the other boats who came to protect
their dignity . Even the slightly damp Queens with smudged 'panda eye' make
up joined in at the end. And it is fair to say that all enjoyed the day but
Brian & I clearly had the most fun.
You might wonder how old are we?....9 or 10 maybe?
It has always been my motto, 'the day you grow up is the first day you start to
die' and I have a few years left in me yet.
 Fortunately it was all taken in the spirit it was
intended and we wern't locked up for being drunk & disorderly and
in pocession of water weapons.
We left San Andres & Providencia with fond
memories but we had to get back to Panama inorder to start our next little
adventure.......the 'second inquisition of South America'.
|