This morning, Knox left early to meet our friends at Cartagena Harbour to charter a twin-engine launch to take them to the near-by Rosario islands.
The islands are the Islas del Rosario, an archipelago of about twenty-seven of them southwest of Cartagena. They are roughly 45 kilometers out, an hour or so by boat, and they’re the heart of a national park declared in 1977 to protect the largest coral reef platform on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. Some are inhabited and set up for visitors; most are private or empty. Apparently there are many beautiful private homes one can see from the water, including the ruins of one of Pablo Escobar’s houses there.
The captain’s name was Adolfo. They went out through the bay and into the islands, and they had an amazing view of the city behind them. The went by but did not stop at four islands, although nobody could tell me afterward which ones. Lunch was on Barú. The beach restaurants serve you out in the water, under dry-palm roof huts, folks standing waist-deep to stay cool in the clear water.
On the way back Adolfo took them in close to the mangroves and they saw raccoons in the water. Likely crab-eating raccoons, mapaches cangrejeros, which live in the mangroves along that coast and wade out into the shallows to feed. By all reports the day featured a lot of wind and sun and was a very good time. Knox bought a elephant for our collection made from rocks from one of the islands.
I elected to stay behind to stay out of the sun. Instead, I spent the morning walking around in the walled city. Found another great breakfast place and then browsed through many if the artesan shops, most of them government-run since 1964, and very reliable places for beautiful pieces: werregue baskets from the Wounaan of Chocó, caña flecha work, regional weaving, and a zillion of the palm frond woven pots we saw on Bogotá. All proceeds go to the craftspeople. I bought a few things, and then due to the heat I decided to go to the nearby mall (housed in the old theater) for air conditioning and a light lunch.
Knox and I met back at the hotel for siesta and later headed to our friends’ highrise Airbnb in the Boca Grande section for cocktails and dinner. A view not to be missed, but soooo Miami!
Day 12 photos and videos here (additional boat photos/videos coming soon) :
alsur.blog 
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