Our day began with an SUV journey to the coast. The three of us emerged from our hostel on very different vibes. David, fresh from a good nights sleep, myself, still drunk and buzzed from the night before, and Henry. David and I both agreed that we’d never seen Henry so broken from a night out. I felt quite proud.
The journey was bumpy, but I slept through most of it, and after a series of checkpoints, we arrived at a estuary. We were met by a collection of baggage handlers and crew, and hopped onto a small speedboat. We proceeded to speed around a collection of small island dwellings, with building on stilts, buying beers and ice for our voyage. I later found out that the people here were the Kona people, indigenous to the san blas islands. They were incredibly smiley and friendly, and their flag was red, gold and green.
We headed out of the estuary and towards our home on the water for the coming days; The Sophia. I’d never really sailed before, but if I had imagined what a sailing boat would be like, it would have been this. Sporting a huge mast and sail with ropes everywhere, we climbed onboard, removing our shoes and to be barefoot for the next four days. The other passengers were a mix of American, Dutch, Swiss and Peruvian, the crew Argentinian and Colombian and a dog named Arya (we called her Bueno Perro). We would all grow close over the next few days. The captain had abandoned his job in IT to learn to sail after a trip similar to this one. The two other crew members, both Colombian, were huge reggae fans (what are the chances?). We would skank out to tunes and help each out with English and Spanish respectively. The other passengers were a mix of couples and solo travellers and we all got on well. We would later reunite with a few of them in Colombia. Our quarters were at the front of the boat, and were the most cramped beds I had ever encountered, with roughly a foot between my bed and the roof of the rooms.
After a lunch and hearing the ground rules of the ship, we set off. Our intended voyage was to spend two days sailing between the San blas islands, picturesque desert islands with virtually no inhabitants. Think of the windows screensaver; that was actually these islands. We arrived at the first and lept off the boat into the beautiful carribean sea, spending the day swimming snorkling and playing volleyball. This was very much the vibe of the next couple days. In the morning we would dive off the boat, swim to an island, workout and meditate. After lunch we’d play volleyball and swim with the other passengers and crew. Henry had been dying to go fishing all trip, and he had his chance here, helping the crew line fish off the edge of the boat. We watched as they would spearfish around the boat, using our leftovers from lunch as bait for the larger fish. At night we’d have dinner and sleep on the boat. And shoutout to Luan, the chef. He made some of the best meals we had the entire trip. After dinner, we’d turn the lights on around the boat. This brought fish to the surface, followed by Manta rays, which would circle the boat in the moonlight as we drank and chatted into the night.
On the morning of the last day in the San Blas we set off in a storm to the last island. The boat rocked as the wind lashed it this way and that, in a taste of what was to come. We spent our last day much as the first two, swimming snorkelling and playing volleyball. I received a few nasty jellyfish stings, and Henry made the wise decision to swim into the poisonous reef. In the evening we were treated to a gorgeous fresh lobster dinner, and el capitano explained the rules for open sea. Careful when walking on deck, no one above deck after 10pm, there was a distinct change in tone versus the previous few days. As we set off, the wind picked up and the rain began to fall. Arya began to bark to the left of the boat, and the crew shone a torch overboard, just in time to see a dolphin leap from the water, as if saluting us as we began our voyage.
It was a bumpy first night. The weather worsened and we fell around the boat as it swayed with the waves. It was nauseating. Fortunately, we had picked up a few anti sickness pills in Panama City, so we took a couple of them and slept through. The next morning, we emerged onto the deck, to one of the most beautiful vistas I have ever seen. Bright blue skys, and only ocean as far as the eye could see. It was stunning, and the lack of distraction made it a truly meditative experience. I pondered life and learnings from our trip so far, and we spent most of the day napping and sunbathing on deck. We we treated to the most beautiful sunset at sea, as sparrows circled the boat, with one landing on both my shoulder and head. Having debated our spirit animals over the course of the trip, with David suggesting an eagle for myself, he nodded towards the sparrow noting “See, bird energy”. It was hard to disagree.
We descended to our cabin for the final night, taking a couple Valium to help us sleep. And a good job too, as this was the most violent sea we would experience. I was faintly aware of the crew rushing onto deck to control the ship, as I was slammed into the roof of the cabin every time we crashed up and down with the waves. At one point, I was punched awake by David, as he was certain we were in real trouble. “If it’s our time, it’s our time” I responded, an echo of his message to me earlier in Belize. He laughed and let out a large howl, as we resolved to accept what was to come. Fortunately, we woke safe and sound in the port of Cartagena. We had arrived in Colombia, the final destination on our trip.