Advertisement
Published: March 25th 2015
Edit Blog Post
Goodbye Medellin, Hello Capurgana.
It was with heavy hearts that we left Medellin. We knew the end of trip was drawing to a close and Medellin and Colombia were significant to us in many ways because it was there that inspired this very adventure of ours. But, I think we were ready. The route we had taken around South America which started in Brazil had brought us on a giant ‘U’ around the continent and we were headed up to the top-left or Northwest now to head towards Panama and home. Our plan was to travel through the San Blas Islands to get to Panama and back to the US, so do that we had two options. The boats to Panama via Las Islas San Blas depart from either Cartagena or Capurgana. we’d already been to Cartegena, which is a beautiful city although the boat ride from Cartegena to the islands is much longer (two days).
To get to Capurgana, which is right at the Southern tip of the Darien Gap, you have to get a boat from a small industrial town called Turbo. We arrived in Turbo from Medellin late at night after a bumpy, windy ride through
the mountains and booked into a budget hotel close to the boat docks so that we could make our way in the morning. I remember the noise of all the Motos (scooters / scramblers) at night but we managed to sleep and get to the docks.
The docks were a hive of activity in the morning and it was also here that you had to pass out of Colombia officially via immigration. It takes a while as you get in lines, wait around and are eventually put into a boat. We had fun observing what was going on and we also met a few people - one guy really wanted to practice his English so we chatted for a while and I found out that he was actually an English teacher. We stayed in touch a few times via email which was fun.
The boat ride from Turbo to Capurgana hugs the coastline and we saw a few random villages scattered along the way. After about an hour or so, we landed in Capurgana and filed off the boat with our backpacks containing everything in our possession at hat time.
We ended up staying at Lunda Verde
Hostel which was hosted by Fabian - an entertaining, fun French guy who met us at the arriving dock. The Hostel was a relatively new venture for him and indicative of the growth of tourism in the village that was fast-becoming a town. Over the course of a few days in Capurgana we enjoyed hanging out around the village, waking up for coffee and 'pasteles' at the panaderia and exploring the area. A short walk would take you around the streets and along the bay to a few restaurants and you could always find beer.
A short hike from Capurgana, you can head over a jungle pass (and sometimes past army officials) to La Miel, which is actually in Panama. You can see a picture of Sarah and I on the 'border'. The beach here was nice so we hung out here for a few days. One such day was bizarre when Sarah and I noticed something swimming on the water...Just when we figured out that it was a deer that must have fallen in from a cliff; one of the guys from the shore had swam out and was trying to catch it. Hoping for the best but
secretly expecting the worse, it happened when they pulled the deer onto a boat and clobbered it. I had a good view when they started to get ready for dinner time!
Another day, I was walking back from the beach along by a small military camp when they were playing soccer. As I did in that situation, I strolled over and casually asked if I could play. I don't think I ever got turned down. This time around I was playing with Panamanian army officers! I'm fairly sure I was fouled a few times but didn't protest it too much!
Sapzurro was a neighboring village, where we also stayed for a couple of nights at a great place called Mystic Roots which is owned by Andy Bailey. Andy is a really nice guy and his place was top notch. We had a nice dinner with him one of the nights, a few drinks and he also played the sax! Cheers Andy!
While we were enjoying our last few days in Colombia, we were also researching our departure to the San Blas Islands. After considering a few alternatives, we went with the Darien Gapster (Now called San Blas
Adventure). The skippers were fun - Adam from New Zealand was a sound, chilled out fun fella and his French shipmate, Marco was also fun if not a lot more eccentric. Join us the next post to find out how we did (and you can)travel across the san Blas Islands!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.264s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 13; qc: 30; dbt: 0.0527s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb