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| A festive display of holiday cheer in Cartagena |
Happy holidays to our followers, even you folks from strange and unappealing cultures that we certainly won't visit in 2019 (or probably ever). Tis the season !!!
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| Some problems at the nuclear power plan 20 miles north |
The much anticipated visit from Princess Emily was fun, fun, fun......and also quite useful for her as she now is an auditor of large international bank servicing loans to Colombia. We toured Cartagena- by bus, horse, and on foot.
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| Is your horse safe ? Response- "This is not my horse" |
While Emily shared our amazement at the nice new condos and construction cranes everywhere, the look of revulsion on Emily's face is a, well, look of revulsion.
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| Emily sizing up some unappealing lunch options... |
The 95 degree butchery in the Bazurto Market with no refrigeration caught her a bit by surprise. Ham and cheese on rye m'am ? Uh, no.
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| Looking for Saks Fifth Avenue - you said we were going shopping! |
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| It was good enough for Anthony Bourdain but maybe not the Princess |
Colombians do up Christmas right. Enough lights in the streets to certainly confuse airliners on approach......even fireworks.......(a least we think they were fireworks; FARC and other revolutionaries here haven't officially laid down their RPGs yet).
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| The streets are pockmarked like craters on the moon but there are plenty of funds for holiday decor |
In addition to lights there were bands, break dancing, drums, and men dressed as superheroes (movie superheros only, not cartel figures).
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| Pandering to the yachtie community, obviously |
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| If you're unconscious and see this, don't walk toward the light |
Even the police get into the act. We were on a 5-hour bus ride from Cartagena back to Santa Marta and the Policia National pulled over the bus and took everyone off it (it was not a suggestion). We nervously were marched over to a festive tent with a bunch of cops wearing Santa suits and armed with Glock 9 mm guns. We weren't threatened (at least we don't think so......our Spanish isn't that good). We were instead treated to a holiday lecture on the importance of air quality and the environment. Hmmm. Am I dreaming this ? No more Xanax and tequila for me. They capped it off with distribution of a holiday doughnut hole and a quick feliz navidad. Then back on the bus. The police here enjoy an apparently well deserved reputation for corruption (we've never experienced this), so maybe this is an image management strategy. Who knows?
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| Comrade Emily at the KGB Bar |
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| The girls doing what Russians do best.....get loaded |
Since September, our luxury yacht has been more of a houseboat. Now we must turn it into a vehicle again. After being stood up by our Colombian barnacle scraper for the second time, I dove into the disgusting marina water to clean the prop. What a mess. The bottom of the boat looks like a coral reef. Must be the raw sewage that I know our neighbors would never dream of releasing into the water. Other than that we've been testing, fixing, and most of all buying all kinds of food. Next stop is the San Blas Islands......a gigantic food desert filled only with Indians (the real kind) who don't run convenience stores (sorry I couldn't resist that one).
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| No vacation complete without a critter - for the first time, a monkey |
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| Coco took a liking to Emily's hat |
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| Coco got a bit too familiar and got caught in Emily's hair |
And speaking of the neighbors, you may remember the 40 foot steel boat next to us with mom, dad, six kids (10 months to 14 years), two parakeets, and one hamster. Well, Adam and Eve didn't think that was enough (our names for the parents). The dog gave birth to seven puppies. You can't make this shit up. They are adorable in the way 2 day old puppies are, but we need to get out of here. By my count that makes 18 forms of life next door.........two complete baseball teams.
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| This country surely leads the world in angry, but talented artists |
Speaking of that, the forecast here has been for gale force winds pretty much all the time. We are looking to do short day trips on the way to Panama to limit our exposure to the harsh conditions, and we're watching about 5 different weather models. The problem is that you can always find data to your liking if you look hard enough. We will see. Tom and Kirstin don't do boarding waves and 40+ knot wind (at least by choice).
Next stop Panama. Colombia has been just amazing - come check it out.
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| Don Tomas and his ladies.... |
