#6 - San Andres

Originally our plan was to travel from Cartagena to Santa Marta by bus in four hours and possibly continue to Taganga. We decided to skip San Andres because it seems to be very touristy. Dani had a phone call with his very good friend from Brazil who recommended us the Colombian islands near Nicaragua. So we decided to check if there was a flight available for the next day, and luckily there was one at 4:50 PM. Our host in Cartagena was very accommodating, allowing us to keep the apartment and our belongings until then.

Since we already had some experience at the airports here, we left at 2:30 PM to be on time for the domestic flight. And because we had already checked in online, we were able to use the fast lane. To avoid paying a fine, we had printed our tickets at the Radisson hotel next door. Everything went smoothly until the moment the check-in agent asked for our return ticket. Of course, we didn't have one because we are traveling spontaneously. We didn't even plan to return yet. She told us that we needed to have a return ticket by 3:05 PM, otherwise we couldn't go. It was 2:56 PM, and we had to act quickly: setting up a hotspot on the phone, accessing the online service of Viva Colombia, purchasing a ticket for the return flight in four days, typing in our passport details, and hurrying back to the check-in counter. We made it! Passed through immigration control and headed to the gate, where people were already boarding. We quickly bought our visas and made it to the plane on foot. We actually made it and landed on San Andres 1.5 hours later. The airport was chaotic because two other flights had just landed, and all sorts of things were coming off the baggage carousel. Fortunately, our bags were there too, so we could leave the airport. Albert, a friend of our host, was already waiting for us and drove us away from the tourists in the East to the West coast, telling us about his friendship with Albert, his Reggae band, and the island. Finally, English is the main language again, and Spanish is only learned in school.

We were warmly welcomed by Albert and spent the whole evening with him. We ate street food and later drank two bottles of wine while having interesting and beautiful conversations. We felt like part of his family already, and he invited us to his band's concert on Wednesday. As a singer, he gave us a preview of 3-4 songs in the evening, with themes related to the current situation on the island. We are excited for more experiences with him.

We will soon go to bed and have a peaceful night.

Unfortunately, we have to stop writing now because he just brought us a fresh coconut from the tree.