A Side of Sweet

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Sail Trip, Day 4-5

By Pat, as I spent about 17 hours of this day curled up in our cabin in the fetal position.

The day started with a slow morning departure from the calm waters of Holandaise, with rain that soon followed once we left the small chain of islands.  As the rain escalated into a monsoon, higher winds allowed us to put  up the sails to speed us along.  The energy amongst the passengers was rather timid, as we were unsure of what was to come.


With small waves turning into pumping swell, Poseidon made an appearance around our now seemingly tiny vessel.  Many of our mates were going to lose their breakfast in a short while.  As the hours passed by, larger swell came along.  Soon enough, we were in 10 foot breaking swell, and items and people were flying about the boat as we descended sideways into the trough of each large swell.  Every 5 minutes was punctuated with a wave that made it seem like the boat was sure to capsize.  Only 3 passengers and Federico were left on the main deck, while the remaining folk returned to their cabins to hide from the storm (Kelly included).  One hour seemed like four as we bounced our way through the unrelenting Caribbean Sea.


Eventually the wind and the swell became large enough to put a bit of fear into even our highly experienced, ex-navy captain, Federico.  After fear had crpt into the pores of everyone on the boat, Federico made the decision to land early along the Colombia/Panamanian border in light of the continual deterioration of the weather.

We were are very relieved, even though the storm continued for another 13 hours through the night until our arrival into calmer water.  LAND.  We could see land.  We slowly trolled into a small bay shrouded by towering mountains of tropical rain forest, upon which Federico began whipping up a very welcomed breakfast of ham and cheese sandwiches accompanied by delicious smooth, chocolatey colombian cafe.

It wasn’t quite how we pictured our arrival into Colombia, but we were happy to be safe.

December 28, 2010  •  Filed Under: Travel No Comments

Sail Trip, Day 3

Day three was Christmas day and our last day before open water.  We sailed three hours to reach Hollandaise island.  There was a bit of rain in the morning and it was fairly cloudy all day.

Pat did some snorkeling but got stung all over his gibblets by invisible jellyfish.  This combined with the cloudy weather was enough to kill my motivation to leave the boat.  I did take one dip so I could wash my hair in the ocean!  There isn’t enough fresh water on the boat for real showers, so salt water is all we had to stay clean.  It definitely doesn’t give your hair that soft, clean feeling that a real shower does!

Federico cut up the snapper and we ate it sashimi-style with soy sauce.  It was amazing!  We also had another one of his awesome salads – this time with apples, cauliflower and curry.

We were supposed to have a Christmas bonfire on the island, but the firewood was wet and the boys weren’t able to start a fire.  There were also sandflies on the island so we celebrated Christmas night on the boat instead.

Instead of eggnog, we had rum and coconut juice, straight from the coconut:
Over some cans of Balboa, a Panamanian beer, we talked about all sorts of topics, including where we were when Michael Jackson died.  Apparently, the death of the King of Pop wasn’t just big news in the US!  We finished the night with a group jump into the ocean.  Tomorrow we will hit open water.

December 25, 2010  •  Filed Under: Travel 1 Comment

Panama City and around

We arrived at the Madison airport at around 8:15am.  We arrived at our gate and thought we had plenty of time to spare.  Then Pat looked at his boarding pass and commented that his departure time read 6:00am.  We realized that when we booked the flights in October, we weren’t able to get on the same flight from Madison to Chicago, so Pat had chosen an earlier flight than me!  Luckily, a few members of the flight crew overheard our discussion and informed Pat that his plane was still at the gate due to a 2+ hour maintenance delay.  They had just done the final boarding call.  He was able to make his flight after all!

Other than that slight hiccup, the rest of our flights down to Panama City, Panama went off without any delay.

Tired after a day of traveling, we checked into our hostel, Luna’s Castle in the Casco Viejo neighborhood.  We were sharing dorm beds with 6 other travelers, for $13 a night including an all you can eat pancake breakfast.  It sounded like a pretty good deal at first, but after being kept up most of the night by our hard-partying roomates, we decided there had to be a better place for us to get a good night’s sleep.

For the remainder of our time in Panama City, we have been staying at Hostel Mama Llena.  It’s a complete 180 degree turn from Luna’s Castle.  It’s quiet, clean, filled with an older crowd (even a few senior citizens!) and much more relaxed.  We picked up some groceries and have been taking advantage of the huge kitchen for our dinners.

 

December 22, 2010  •  Filed Under: Travel No Comments

Panama City, Part II

While waiting for our boat, which leaves on the 23rd, we’ve been occupying our time wandering the city and of course making a trip to Panama’s most famous destination – the Panama Canal.

The visit to the canal was fairly anticlimactic.  We were able to watch several large cargo ships pass through the Miraflores Locks, but the museum exhibits and special feature film presentation left a little to be desired.

We also visited Casco Viejo, one of Panama City’s more scenic neighborhoods.


The other two days, we’ve spent at El Pal Mar Beach, which is close to San Carlos.  It is about 1.5 hours outside of the city, and requires taking a precarious, full-throttle collectivo minibus ride there.  This death defying, roller coaster ride costs only $2.50.

Speaking of buses, I’ve become well acquainted with Chicken Buses, which are former US school buses turned into public transit buses, in my travels, but Panama has some of the craziest, most ornately painted ones I’ve seen yet.  These hoopdies boast airbrushing, colored neon lights, incredibly loud diesel stack pipes and blaring reggaton music.  They are quite the sight to behold.

Tomorrow we leave bright and early to catch our ground transport to our sailboat that will take us to Cartegena, Columbia.  We will be island hopping for about 3 days and then hitting open ocean for the last two.  Christmas for us will be celebrated in the middle of the ocean!

Happy Holidays from Goobernation!!!

December 22, 2010  •  Filed Under: Travel 3 Comments

Winter Escape: Panama to Columbia

Pat and I are off on another adventure.  We’ll be spending three weeks in Central and South America.  Our tentative itinerary:  fly to Panama City, take a five day sail trip to Cartagena, Columbia, fly home from Bogota, Columbia.  The rest is up in the air!

December 18, 2010  •  Filed Under: Travel 1 Comment

Welcome!

San Francisco Food, Fashion, Travel Blogger

Hi! I’m Kelly. I live in San Francisco with my husband, Pat, and our puppy, Maddie. Here you’ll find recipes, DIYs, style, travel & a glimpse into our adventures. To learn a little more about me, Click Here.

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