San Blas & Sail from Panama to Colombia

We've just spent the most incredible 4 days sailing through the breathtaking San Blas Islands and Caribbean Sea on our way from Panama to Colombia! Our home for the journey was the beautiful El Gitano Del Mar, a 52 ft catamaran which can hold 20 but on this occasion there was just 15 of us including 3 crew. As soon as we met our French captain David, first mate Yonatan from Colombia and Argentinian cook Caesar we knew we were in for a good time!

Alan, Louise and I were joined by; Lori and Marina - two girls from Germany, Genevieve - New Zealand, Human and Anna - a couple from Germany, Ryaden and Wilson - two guys from Canada, Mandy - Germany, and Nihandra - a lovely guy in his late 60's - originally from India but now living in the U.S. whose children had encouraged him to go on this trip.

The first day we sailed to the San Blas Islands from the coast of Panama. They have to be seen to be believed, desktop screensaver stuff. They are the closest thing to paradise! Desert islands with nobody else on them just a few Palm trees!!! We anchored off the island of Chichimay and swam and snorkelled in the crystal clear water, gazing at tropical fish and exploring a ship wreck. That evening we went on to Chichimay and played some volley ball, had some beers, barbecued some lobster for dinner and had a singalong around the bonfire with Yonatan on the trumpet! Later, back on the boat, we lay on the nets at the front of the boat watching the stars above and the luminous plankton below, glowing in the sea!

The second day involved sailing to a sandbank in the middle of the ocean, again needs to be seen to be believed, and playing around with a ball! Then we anchored off Elephantay Island and took out the paddle boards and snorkels!! That evening on Elephantay Island we had the 'El Gitano Olympics' thanks to Yonatan. His creation basically involved several random competitions such as high jump, limbo, etc. Very proudly, we won the 3 legged race!!! After that we had a delicious bbq consisting of pork, rice and veg and washed down with a lot of rum before heading back to the boat to play a drunken game of 'Perudo', a game involving dice and a lot of drinking!

The next day involved more swimming, snorkelling and paddle boarding! We sailed to Waisaldub Island and swam in and explored the completely deserted island! This was probably our favourite island that we visited.

That evening we set sail on the open seas for Colombia and as it was very rocky we all slept up on deck under the stars. As it was calmer than normal during the sail we were making good time so El Capitano stopped the boat in the open seas and we got the chance to jump in to the middle of the sea, about 400 metres deep, where the water was incredibly blue! When we got back on board we put some fishing lines out and over the next hour we caught some fairly big tuna which made for a delicious dinner! We arrived into Cartagena late that night and as we sailed into the port we had an amazing view of the city all lit up. We stayed the night on the boat in the harbour and celebrated the end of our voyage.

After an incredible 4 days we're looking forward to getting on to dry land today and exploring Cartagena!