After 27 hours of traveling, including 3 flights, we arrived at our first destination, San Andres island. For those who have never heard of it, San Andres is part of Colombia but sits 500 miles off the mainland. Nicaraguans would like to claim the island as theirs, and if you look at a map above you'll understand why.
We chose to stay at the brand new Decameron el Isleño all inclusive resort, which certainly exceeded our per night budget for our trip but nevertheless proved to be well worth it. We arrived on San Andres tired and stressed after a busy few months, and the beautiful pools, unlimited daiquiris, white sand beaches, aqua Caribbean water, nightly live reggae music, comfy bed and massive room at the hotel were exactly what we needed to recharge our batteries.
We chose to stay at the brand new Decameron el Isleño all inclusive resort, which certainly exceeded our per night budget for our trip but nevertheless proved to be well worth it. We arrived on San Andres tired and stressed after a busy few months, and the beautiful pools, unlimited daiquiris, white sand beaches, aqua Caribbean water, nightly live reggae music, comfy bed and massive room at the hotel were exactly what we needed to recharge our batteries.
In the middle of our stay, we had our 2 1/2 year wedding anniversary (yes, we realize it's weird to celebrate monthly anniversaries), and marked the occasion by renting a jet ski and taking it to a nearby island.
Over the course of our stay we got better at handling flocks of locals who tried to sell us anything from activities to jewelry to cocktails (often at the same time). We learnt to ignore people who run after us screaming 'gringo', to not be drawn in by the 'Sunday end of week special deal' (as no doubt there'll be a 'Monday start of week special deal' tomorrow) and to politely but quickly say 'no gracias'. No doubt we'll need to apply and develop these skills further over the next few months.
So far the locals have struggled to pinpoint where we're from. It seems Cindy could pass for a Colombian but Sam has been called an American, Chilean, Argentinian and even a Brazilian, but so far not an Australian (apparently they don't see many Aussies on San Andres). Our conclusion is that so long as Sam keeps his mouth shut we will minimize our chances of getting ripped off!
A highlight of the trip was meeting a nice Colombian couple who were staying at our hotel. They invited us out for coffee and gave us lots of helpful tips on how to make the most of our time in Colombia (the first being that Sam needs to start drinking coffee).
We are determined to stay fit on this trip and the all inclusive resort didn't set us back on this goal as much as it could have. The food and wine didn't exactly inspire overindulgence and there was a nice new gym poolside that we used a couple of times.
Tonight we fly out to Bogota for a dramatic change of pace, climate and altitude.
Over the course of our stay we got better at handling flocks of locals who tried to sell us anything from activities to jewelry to cocktails (often at the same time). We learnt to ignore people who run after us screaming 'gringo', to not be drawn in by the 'Sunday end of week special deal' (as no doubt there'll be a 'Monday start of week special deal' tomorrow) and to politely but quickly say 'no gracias'. No doubt we'll need to apply and develop these skills further over the next few months.
So far the locals have struggled to pinpoint where we're from. It seems Cindy could pass for a Colombian but Sam has been called an American, Chilean, Argentinian and even a Brazilian, but so far not an Australian (apparently they don't see many Aussies on San Andres). Our conclusion is that so long as Sam keeps his mouth shut we will minimize our chances of getting ripped off!
A highlight of the trip was meeting a nice Colombian couple who were staying at our hotel. They invited us out for coffee and gave us lots of helpful tips on how to make the most of our time in Colombia (the first being that Sam needs to start drinking coffee).
We are determined to stay fit on this trip and the all inclusive resort didn't set us back on this goal as much as it could have. The food and wine didn't exactly inspire overindulgence and there was a nice new gym poolside that we used a couple of times.
Tonight we fly out to Bogota for a dramatic change of pace, climate and altitude.
