Day 26 - Cartagena without cruise ship passengers and check-in on the 'Nacar 2'

This morning I had to get the rest of the money for our boat trip. Payment in cash is 2 times 550 US dollars or the same amount in Colombian pesos, which is 3,310,000 COP. Credit card payment is also possible, but with a 7% surcharge - no need for that. But getting cash is not that easy. Most ATMs pay a maximum of 400,000 COP at once, some 600,000 COP. So we've been collecting the past few days. The crucial tip came from the sailing boat agency: Citibank, 2 withdrawals in a row of 1,000,000 each are possible 👍. Payment done!

We still have a lot of time until check-in on the boat (scheduled for 8 pm). So we had a leisurely breakfast - by the way, the best churros con chocolate I've ever eaten. Then we consulted the travel guide because we can't just hang out. There wasn't much to do:

# No more visits to churches (abc: seen enough in the world - abc = another bloody cathedral)

# Museums (nothing noteworthy)

# Beach (we'll have enough of that in the next few days)

# Shopping (either junk or overpriced) ... so there was still:

Fortress! I've already seen 382 of them, but the one here in Cartagena is really huge. So we walked to the fortress. The city was totally empty compared to yesterday. There was no ship with 5,000 passengers here today - how pleasant. And our Colombian friends know that very well: Let's just sit in our plastic chairs all day today - yesterday was a tough day, we had to work hard 😅😅.

The fortress was ... well, a fortress. Number 383 checked off.

Quick shower at the hostel and then off to the marina. Our catamaran, the 'Nacar 2', is waiting. We were greeted by Emerson - a crew member. First, we had to check off the passenger list (2 x 🇩🇪, 2 x 🇨🇭, 1 x 🇦🇹, 2 x 🇬🇧 and in absolute majority 5 x 🇳🇱). Plus El Capitan (cool guy only speaks Spanish), Emerson (navigation and cook, speaks Spanish and English), and Mono (navigation and cook, doesn't speak at all, definitely has sub-Saharan African ancestors, grins 😁 constantly and allegedly can catch tuna with his bare hands). Mono, I warn you, we can tell the difference between fresh and canned ...

After the safety instructions and announcement of the do's and don'ts on board, we had a round of introduction and had a few beers together. We won't set sail until 6 a.m. because good winds are predicted and catamarans are fast. It is scheduled so that we will arrive at the San Blas Islands tomorrow afternoon. El Capitan estimates a 30-hour journey on the open sea.

So the first night on board in the harbor. Emerson recommended taking motion sickness tablets now and repeating every 8 hours. I believe (and hope) that I will be spared. Julia took one. Emerson promised that there will be 'victims' - I'll cheer for the Dutch 🤣