A pirate's life for me...

We shall not cease from exploration! and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.
-T.S. Elliot

So here we are, Medellin, Colombia.
Its a beautiful city full of stunning architecture and old world styling, the people are friendly enough and were not in constant fear for our lives or Bob's innocence. As with most of the cities and countries we have visited our perception and peoples advice were far off base. It has been an important lesson in seeing the world for yourself and making no assumptions. I'll write more in depth about this leg of the journey once we get to Bogota.
I know what you all came to hear about...
HIGH SEAS ADVENTURE!!!



We had some choices to make a while back on how we wanted to reach Colombia, fly into Cartagena or catch a sailboat into one of the smaller ports. We chose the obvious route involving swashbuckling and the occasional rum induced bar fight. Our mighty vessel (the Windseeker), chosen from among a worthy few proved to be one of the best choices in my short eventful life. The ships first-mate an eccentric Scottish/Italian man with a conquistador mustache came to meet us at Luna's Castle in Panama City. He seduced and regaled us with stories of the open sea and the perils and fortune that awaited us if only we would deem his ship and crew worthy. Oh Mauricio, you had us from hello.
So with all the arrangements made we met with the two Australians and the Canadian fellow we were to sail with and proceeded to put together a list of only the most necessary provisions.

1. Ten bottles of rum.
2. Cheese crackers.
3. Pirate Attire to include trusty parrot.
4. Eight cases of beer.
5. Nunchucks.

A fortnight later our transportation arrived and we bid farewell to our beloved hostel and our newly made friends and set off into the jungles of Panama loaded to the ceiling with booze, Bob, and Ozzies. Our journey was perilous and we climbed some frighteningly steep mountain passes and crossed rivers I would never have expected passable in our modest 4x4s. Upon arrival on the other side of Panama we unloaded and were greeted at the river by some locals contracted to ferry us out to our waiting ship. We reached the ship and loaded the supplies and stopped on the nearby Kuna inhabited island for some chicken and rice. We met with the captain a sun darkened man of 50 who left medical school to sail the world and has been doing so for 30 years. Couldn't ask for a more interesting or outrageous crew to set sail with.
We left the next morning and made our way into the vast chain that is the San Blas islands (over 300 of them), stopping first in a protected cove and taking the dinghy to shore where we met with the local chief who offered us a hut and some hammocks for the night. The following days and nights were a blur of sailing, drinking, snorkeling and island hopping. We enjoyed the local Kuna culture and hospitality and spent most of our nights around a fire or sleeping in hammocks under the Caribbean stars. AJ and I took the spear gun from the ship and set out into the reefs hunting anything that would hold still long enough, and only managed to catch a couple fish worthy of being used for bait. The captain kept us entertained with his stories and the abuse to his fellow Australians while Mauricio kept a constant flow of gourmet Italian pasta coming from the ships galley.
We enjoyed the islands and the adventure and were all unprepared for the next leg of the journey which was two straight days sailing the rough open ocean headed for Sapzurro, Colombia. Everyone spent most of that time laying down somewhere in the fore or aft cabins trying not to be sick. We reached the small town the morning of the second day and scrambled for dry land. The first order of business was to get our Colombian immigration stamps which required us to hike on foot through the dense jungle and over a mountain several kilometers to the next town. We of course did so barefooted. We also arranged for a boat to the town of Turbo where we eventually caught a bus to Medellin. But not before we spent one last night on the boat during which we gave the cook a night off and AJ, Bob and myself cooked up a batch of Australian burgers (just add fried eggs and sliced beets to a regular burger, not too bad). We awoke the next morning wishing we hadn't made a valiant attempt to finish off the last of the rum also to realize that our boat to the next town wasn't on time. So our little crew set off on foot once again with our packs on and half ran half climbed back up and over the mountain to the boat dock arriving just in time to stop them from stranding us for another day. The Australians at this point assumed we were outright crazy since they waited and the ferry eventually showed up saving them from the hike.
The details and minor adventures along the way are somewhat blurred together so excuse me for leaving so much out. I have been trying to upload the majority of the 600 pictures Ive taken so far but its slow going, so for reference and further detail please see my Flickr page linked on our site. Were going to be in Medellin for another day or so and then we'll bus down the Bogota and see the sites. After that there is a grand scheme brewing that involves flying all over whats left of South America so please stay tuned and if you managed to read down this far I applaud your patience.
Until next time...
-Dean