Day 9, Sunday March 9th
The alarm went off that morning and I somehow I managed to conjure myself out of bed. Even though I’d only had 4 or 5 hours of sleep, I shook it off pretty easily because I was so excited about being with E.R. again that day. We had plans to go out to la Islas del Rosario and I was really looking forward to this, especially after last night. E.R. showed up a little earlier than I thought she would and I rushed down to meet her. We checked with the hotel and were told we had around 10 minutes before the chiva came around to pick us up. I was starving so we went to the restaurant to grab a quick bite. I figured this was Colombia, right? So the chiva should be here in 20 or 30 minutes, not 10. But, no it actually showed up early and we barely had time to grab a few cinnamon rolls for the road and get out there before it left. We laughed and piled on with the rest of the tour. A lot of folks were taking the tour that day. Our tour guide’s name was Ingrid and she was very entertaining. My Spanish had been improving a great deal since my arrival in Colombia and I could understand quite a bit of what she was saying. E.R. asked me at one point if I noticed that Ingrid had an accent, apparently a pretty heavy one. I replied that I didn’t notice and we got a laugh out of that. The one person in Colombia I could understand the best had a heavy regional accent. Go figure. The trip out to the islands takes about an hour and it is absolutely worth it. The water out that way is clear and you can see the coral at the bottom. It is really beautiful. Our first stop was the outdoor aquarium, then on to what I guess is the main island, the one with the outdoor restaurant and bar. Our tour included lunch here. After eating, you have a couple of hours of free time to enjoy the beach. It was during this time that I had one of the two most memorable moments while in Colombia. E.R. and I were the first to walk over and set up on the beach. She really loves the sun, the beach and ocean. Of course it was hot, so we waded out in the water holding hands. The water here was much nicer than back at the hotel, probably because we were on the leeward side of the island and the winds weren’t whipping up the waves and clouding the water. Anyway, after we waded out far enough, I put my arms around her and supported her head and upper body while she just floated in the water. Her back was toward me but she was resting her head on my shoulder if you can picture that. I could whisper right into her ear. Once again she told me how very happy she was. Me, too. I could have stayed in that moment for a lifetime. We chatted and carried on for a bit then went up to the beach to lay in the sun. It was so relaxing. We both dozed off for a bit, then went back out in the water. This time I picked her up and held her in my arms in front of me, keeping her afloat so she could enjoy the sun. I will never forget this afternoon. Paradise.
On the way back, the boats took a detour for reasons that are not clear to me and went up some river, then cut across the Bahia de Cartagena on the way back. I liked this because going up the river gave you a real sense of what the countryside is like around Cartagena. Also, I hadn’t actually seen much of the bay. It’s pretty darn big and there looks to be quite a bit of development surrounding it. Mostly industry it looks like. Overall the tour was great and it’s a must do when you’re in Cartagena. We arrived back at the hotel around 6 or 6:30 and hurried up to shower and change for that evening. It was to be our last evening together and neither of us wanted to waste anytime. While E.R. was at her apartment getting ready, I was trying to think of a really nice place for us to eat. We’d passed what looked to be a pretty classy seafood restaurant the day before. She’d commented about the place so I figured that’s where we’d go. She had a much better idea, though. We’d walked through an outdoor place on Saturday at the Fuerte de San Sebastián del Pastelillo and she and I had both commented about how nice it was and that we’d like to check it out. Well, duh. I’d forgotten all about it, even though I’d taken some fotos out through the portal-like windows in the men’s room. It’s becoming clear to me that the woman here is much smarter than the man. The name of the place is the Restaurate Club De Pe and it is the BOMB!!! You have to go at night when the stars are out and the air is cool from the breeze. You can see the lights of the city across the Bahia de las Animas and the moon rising back towards the south. I can’t remember a more romantic setting. The food was fine as well. After dinner, we walked across the bridge into the Old City and she showed me where her family had a summer home there when she was young. We were looking for a place to have a café but weren’t having much luck at that time on Sunday night. We walked on up to the Torre del Reloj and caught a taxi back the Boca Grande where we knew we’d find something. I remembered seeing a small coffee shop next door to the Almirante so we went in there to check it out. It’s OK, for us at that moment it worked. She wanted to sit inside because she was a little chilled from the wind. I ordered a latte and she got a cappuccino, we sat and talked for a half hour or so, then reluctantly agreed that we needed to call it a night. She had to go to work in the morning and for her that meant getting up very early. We were both pretty worn out from the weekend together, neither of us had gotten much sleep. We knew that this would be our last moments together, so rather than take a taxi, we walked the half mile or so down towards Laquito where her apartment is located. We had a wonderful walk and conversation, but we were both a little sad because we knew that in a few minutes this heavenly weekend it would be over. She warned me that when we arrived at her building, she might start crying. (Dammit, I am now toast.) We walked up to her building, I took her in my arms and we kissed. Amazing. Even if you have to beg or borrow, do whatever it takes. Just get on the plane. You will not regret it.
Coming up: Back to Bogotá, then home.
JR
