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After a protracted transfer that took 2 hours longer than it should, a MacDonalds lunch (the shame!) and an argument with the bus drive I got to Cartagena airport. I had arrived in plenty of time even with the delays so was able to relax and wait for my flight which was amazingly on time.
Arriving in San Andres I hopped into a taxi for the short drive to the hostel and was met by the owner Juan who introduced me to the other guests and showed me to my room. As I had decided to have a holiday I had splashed out on a private room which gave me access to my own fan - very useful as it was hot and humid.
The next day I dithered about what to do for a while then ended up walking to the town beach and relaxing in the sun for the afternoon. My new flip flops had rubbed my feet badly so I had to invest in plasters and now wondered how I would cope with the things for the next week.
The next day I dithered in the morning again and then decided to go diving with Roberto from the hostelso after a quick lunch we headed to San Andres scuba for a two tank dive along with Samuel from another hostel. The first dive was to a wreck just off shore and the water was incredibly blue and clear and we saw hundreds of fish. We got to dive in and out of the wreck which was cool and tested my new buoyance skills.
The second dive was along the reef and in and out of the open caves using torches to check for sealife - saw a couple of very large prawns and a sting ray that swam along the reef most of the way with us. This was also my longest dive yet at 69 minutes.
The next day was cloudy and very windy so my planned outting to Aquario with two girls from the hostel was put off and we went and lay on the windy San Luis beach under the cloudy skies. Next day the wind had dropped so Aquario (a tiny island off the coast) was open again and we bought tickets to go there and Jhonny Caye. The island was packed - hardly any space to walk/swim around and people there kept trying to pick up the fish - not happy. Queuing for over an hour to get a boat off the island we decided not to join the hoards going to Jhonny Caye (another small island) and instead headed back to shore and hit the town beach after lunch. We found a good spot with both shade and sun and relaxed watching the hoards squeezed onto Jhonny Caye.
The two girls left the island the next day so I ended up with another group getting a taxi to San Luis beach - this time gloriously sunny. Another relaxing day with a great seafood lunch at Donde Francesca. That evening was the weekly bar trip so we set off to Banzai for some slow service good cocktails and home by midnight.
For my last full day on the island I went back to the dive centre with Claire from my hostel and did another 2 two dives - more fish, amazing coral and this time a large mantaray with two smaller rays following.
As my week on San Andres drew to a close I headed to Rocky Cay beach with Jeff from the hostel for lunch and sunbathing before heading back for a quick shower and a taxi to the airport.
I had a great holiday on San Andres. It is definitely not the most developed island in the Caribbean and there is a lot of litter but it has a lot of charm and a real Caribbean vibe. Most of the tourists are Colombian so it feels good to be away from so many gringos. Blue Almond hostel was also a major factor in my enjoyment. Juan and Jenn (with the help of cousin Alejandro) have set up a friendly affordable hostel and they make a real effort to get to know the guests and bring people together - great for the solo traveller like me. Shaggy the dog also helps make the place feel homely and for a 11 year old dog has a surprising turn of speed when food or his weekly walk to the bar happens.
Farewell South America and onwards to Guatemala!
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