Plain Sailing Round The Darien

Days 96-100

Who knew that getting motorbikes on a 47 foot sailing boat could be so much fun? Not Ric judging by the look on his face as we wheeled the bikes onto a small launch (yes, both of them in one tiny boat), took them across the marina and then winched them one by precarious one up onto the yacht. We managed to make the bikes very secure, strapping them down to compress the suspension so they held themselves firmly onto the deck, so at least we didn't need to worry about them much on the journey.

The voyage itself was as good as promised! We visited a number of the San Blas islands, part of an autonomous region of Panama, owned and governed by their biggest indigenous group, the Cuna. The islands are all pretty much on the same lines: white sand, palm trees, wooden houses and bright blue sea, but some entirely covered in housing while others just had a couple of families living there. Our captain is friends with a few families who made us feel very welcome in their villages and homes.

Unlike most people who make this crossing, we also broke the journey by landing in the Colombian towns of Sapzurro and Capurgana on the way. These are right next to each other on the edge of the infamous Darien jungle, in a remote area right on the border of Panama, not reachable by road (and where the captain and the owner of the boat are setting up a new hostel and turtle sanctuary).

Time on the boat was also good fun, though – as well as watching multiple movies on the big flat screen (yes this boat was nice!) we did quite a bit of fishing and ate some of the catch. The final scores weren't so good though: we lost 7 -3. Seven fish caught the lure but got away whilst being reeled in, including a small shark when it was just feet away from the boat. We managed to catch three: a red snapper (much bigger than the ones we're used to – it was big enough to feed 6 with plenty left over); a wahoo (fastest fish in the ocean apparently); and a tuna (which came on board with a cleaner fish attached, but we didn't think that would taste quite as good in the sushi!).

We were ready to get off the boat by the time we got to Cartegena after 4 days at sea, thanking our lucky stars that we'd managed to avoid sea sickness up to that point, and enjoyed a bit of Saturday night fun on the town.

Days 101-102

Cartegena is one of the nicest cities we've ever been to. The old town is all restored and full of beautiful buildings and plazas, but it's not just a tourist destination, it's an active working town. Our captain was kind enough to introduce us to a few people here, including a lovely oldish gentleman who owns a fantastic bar clad with bits salvaged from shipwrecks (who exclaimed with a sparkle in his eye “when I grow up I hope to be like you”), and a man who used to run motorbike tours in Colombia and took the time to give us some great tips on the interesting places to see and the best routes to take.

Colombia is also emerald central, and although this isn't the biggest emerald selling city it's got it's fair share of jewellery stores. And so it was that here, at last, Ric bought Emily an engagement ring!