Playa Blanca, Colombia

I am back from paradise, literally. Look (El parasio in Spanish means paradise):


I´ve been lucky to meet two travellers in the airport of Cartagena who I could join on a little adventure to Playa Blanca. They say it is the prettiest beach around Cartagena, located on Barú island, 20 km southwest of the city. In order to save money and experience something local decided to get to Playa Blanca using the public transportation, which would entail 4 parts - two buses, a ferry and a motorboat. Actually, as we learned later it was not a motorboat, but a motorbike. Two bus rides were quite uneventful, it just took us a while to find the second bus at a busy Bazurto market. Instead of a ferry, we took a boat to cross the river. Before our boat even touched the shore, we were "attacked" by 20 local guys [a step back - Cartagena´s population is predominately of African origin]. They were pulling us out of the boat, grabbing arms and shoulders, screaming at us something, trying to get our attention. I felt like a wounded insect attacked by a dozen of ants. Eventually we realized that there is no motorboat, it is motorbike that could take us to Playa Blanca. The only other option was to wait for a bus an unknown amount of time. I am sure my mum would have not approved riding a motorbike on crappy sand roads with no helmet on. But getting to the beach was very tempting, so we did. We road those bikes for 40 minutes and I must have prayed at least 5 times hopping to get to the final destination alive.

But as soon as we made it to the beach we knew our little adventure was absolutely worth it. White sand, blue sky, azure sea - picture perfect view.

We spent two nights at El Parisio, second to last shack on the beach run by Mama Ruth. We were the only guests in this wooden structure (don´t even know the appropriate word for it) in a room with no walls, doors or windows. Rooms were separated by hanging cloth that also served as a door. I don´t think it gets more basic than this. Actually, all accommodation in this part of the island is very rustic - one can choose among camping, a hammock or a bed. There is no electricity or plumbing on the island. I was surprised to see a beautiful place in such proximity to a large urban area so undeveloped. We could not have been happier about it.

We did absolutely nothing for the full two days. I caught up on my Economist reading, learnt how to play poker and an Argentinean card game fifteen. I swam in the morning when the sea was calm. The sea was so salty I lied on my back for minutes without a single movement. For a second I thought I was swimming in the Dead Sea. I walked the beach at sunset and sunrise. I danced to my tunes on iPod while watching the sun set. I snorkeled among colorful fishes right by the beach trying to unsuccessfully catch them in the shallow water. I discovered I can spend hours in a hammock just looking at the sea and feeling the breeze touch my toes. I loved the sea and how it changes at different times of the day - from white to blue and dark black.

Some pictures.

Sunrise





Harsh sun during the day:




Sunset:







It was an absolutely amazing gateway. Now with more appropriate suntan for South America I can continue up into the sky. Quito is next on the itinerary.