Hitting the A and the tiny C of the A,B,C’s. Then on to Colombia!

As sad as we were to leave the clear waters of Bonaire, we had been there almost 8 weeks so we were keen to get moving again! We checked out with the Immigration and Customs authorities and headed west again, on a half day glorious sail to Klein Curaçao, a small island off the bottom of Curaçao, where we stayed for 2 nights, finally at anchor again. A popular island for day charters, it was deserted each evening from about 4.30pm when the charter boats headed back to Curaçao. Again, we were positioned over the top of a drop off, with 20 ft of clear water under the bows of the boat and about 300 fairly swiftly off the back. Thanks to the multiple snorkel trips each day, the fish were extremely brave and came in swarms around us each time we swam (thinking they were going to get fed!).

Klein Curaçao has an interesting history. According to online sources, the island played a part in the slave trade. The Dutch West India Company brought many slaves from Africa to Curaçao. Before these slaves came ashore in Curaçao, the sick were placed in quarantine at Klein Curaçao. The remains of this first quarantine building can still be found on the northwest of the island. The slaves, and other passengers who did not survive the voyage, were buried at Klein Curaçao. There are several graves on the southern part of the island. The Dutch West India Company were also given licenses to hunt the now extinct monk seals on Klein Curaçao. Then in 1871, John Godden, an English mining engineer, visited the island, discovering there was a significant vein of phosphate on the island. From 1871 onward until 1886, the Dutch government set up mining operations on the island, with phosphate being mined and exported to Europe. Once the phosphate was mined out, seabird populations plummeted. Goats were then allowed to roam the island, which contributed to its desertification. The goats were eradicated in 1996, as were feral cats by 2004. The island was designated as a protected RAMSAR site in 2018. It has also been identified as an Important Bird area by Bird Life International as a nesting site for lesser terns while its shores are used seasonally by large numbers of migratory waders. With the elimination of the goats and cats, the island has the potential to become an important seabird nesting location.
The abandoned lighthouse on the island was originally built in 1850 (rebuilt in 1879 and again in 1913). It still flashes with a bright LED light at night. On the eastern side of the island, the shore is littered with wrecked boats, one of which, so the story goes, was apparently wrecked on purpose as an insurance job and the captain and crew walked ashore!

Photo of the sign on Klein Curacao, near the lighthouse.

We had an early start on the Saturday morning just as dawn was breaking, as we had a long days’ sail ahead to travel to Aruba. We finally had a load of dolphins swimming under our bow, it has been many months since we have seen them, however these were really small compared to all those we have seen previously, only 2 - 3 ft only and very pale grey. The seas were good, and we had a long but enjoyable day sail to Aruba. A little strange getting entry here, in that you have to take your whole (big) boat to the customs and immigration dock, but they were efficient and we were done just as the sun set. We decided to head to the Marina instead of trying to anchor at night, with the added benefit in that by spending nights in the marina, we got full access to the adjacent Marriott hotel pool complex for our stay. We stayed in the Marina for 2 nights, getting used to the somewhat overwhelming feeling of being in an island version of America again with Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds all in close proximity; things we really haven’t missed that much (I don’t think) but the huge volume of cruise ship passengers disgorging each day clearly disagreed.

It was nice to have a few days feeling fancy in the hotel pool and bar, there were also some other kids there on Spring Break so there was much pool basketball to be had in the afternoons. We rented a car for a few days to explore and provision, sourced and fixed a broken fresh water pump that died on us at the same time, Pete flew briefly back to the US and then we set sail for totally new pastures for us all - Colombia in South America!

Our sail to Colombia was around 300 miles, and was to take 2 nights and 2 days in total. This passage from Aruba along the Venezuelan coast and onto Colombia, around 2 capes (Cabo de la Vela especially), is considered one of the most dangerous passages in the world, as the Colombian coast is lined with huge mountains plummeting into a desert-like shore, as the top of the Andes range create katabatic winds that gust fiercely to 40+ knots. We monitored the weather carefully and our captain made the call on this weather window being a safe one, even if there might be periods that we needed to motor. Our view with this is always to get there and get there safely, and not always be purists about sailing only in these cases. Safety first…….

Bigger dolphins this time, for about 30 minutes of the passage. These ones were much bigger and darker, and as always came to play when crew were feeling a little tired, and weather and the seas were building. The winds got a little hairy for the final few hours and we had gusts of 37+knots across the bow as we turned in towards Santa Marta, and pretty large following seas. We pulled into the Marina and relaxed as we waited for the Immigration and Customs officers to do their thing. Google Translate is now our best friend, as for Pete and I, our Spanish is definitely lacking :)

I felt very emotional to get here, and very proud of what we have achieved so far. We have literally sailed to our second continent by arriving in Colombia and this is country number 14 on the boat.

First impressions, once we had a nights’ rest and walked into town, was that Colombia was pretty cool. Santa Marta is a fairly industrial town on one side, but has a magnificent backdrop of the 19,000ft mountain range behind it. Tourists are the exception rather than the rule, and the Colombians feel a great pride in trying to show you their awesome country and look forward, rather than remember some of their turbulent past. We are now a week in, just exploring the old parts of town, trying some amazing Colombian food - like ceviche of every description, some amazing fish based stews, arepas, (lion-fish) fish and chips, and mojitos. Some of the street art and murals are just fantastic, a theme we have found across several of the Caribbean islands as well. Colombia has been playing in the World Cup qualifiers this past week so Oscar immediately bought their national team shirt from a vendor on the street to show his allegiance!

Colombia is a little more like the DR was, in that it is preferred by the authorities that you are based in a marina (security wise). As part of the marina we are staying in here we get free access to a hotel pool up the road which has an amazing rooftop view. So far we don’t feel threatened when we walk about, people are friendly and wanting to practice their English. Our marina has fingerprint and face ID entry gates (which we have never seen, very cool) and as a guide, is costing us about $1,000 to stay here for a month.

We are starting to plan some inland trips and may leave the boat here whilst we travel as it is safe here. The range of adventures that are possible due to the huge range of biodiversity, the Andes, the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Amazon, the cities like Bogota (one of the highest cities in the world at around 8,000 ft), Medellín and its past, Cartagena and others, means we are struggling to narrow our wish list down so far!!