The island people are so friendly. Everyone wants to help you enjoy their paradise, 481 miles north of mainland Columbia. The island has approx 5,000 inhabitants and they are dependent on the arrival of supply ships from San Andres or Costa Rica 3 times a week. The primary transportation is motorcycles or Vespas and you can see up to 4 people on a small cycle. Dick, Maureen (SV Blue) and us rented a Mistubishi Mule, which is a golf cart with a bigger engine and explored the island.
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| Wisconsin beer |
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| honey made on the island, there are 2 apiaries |
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| the local meeting place in Isabella |
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| there is only one gas station but this one isn't it! |
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| The airport with 2 flights a day to San Andres island, 44 miles south of Providencia |
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| crotches of trees drying to repair antique life boats belonging to the Coast Guard |
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| boat to be repaired |
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| life boats on the east side of the island |
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| McBean Lagoon is a UNESCO protected area |
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| This is the dock we land our dinghy at to go to town. One day a small cruise ship was in the harbor. It is anchored in the entrance of the harbor as the actual harbor where we anchored is only 8 to 10 feet deep, too shallow for a boat that large. |
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| one of the building in the village of Isabella |
We stopped at every beach on the island. The first was on the East side Manchaneel Beach. The beaches are owned by the government and leased back to the little local village nearby for $60.00 a year to maintain and run the concessions. All the people we spoke to have a great ownership of the beach they protect and maintain. It appears to be a good system. The beaches were immaculate and the people friendly (again).
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| beach swing |
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| The four of us were the only ones at Manchaneel bay that day. Beach keepers said it becomes busy on the weekends with locals and holidays with vacationers. |
Onward we puttsed around the island to Southwest Bay Beach. There is a nice dive resort there called Miss Mary's Decameron. Next to it is Arturo's restaurant, no signage but 2 islanders told us to eat there.
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| conch |
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| Arturo with some of his great food cooked over an open fire |
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| Yellow tail snapper |
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| Arturo's kitchen |
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| Arturo's assistant who also sells turtle shell jewelry out of the restaurant. I didn't get pictures of the restaurant where you sit 500 ft from the waters edge with your feet in the sand as you eat this amazing food. We had a mixed grill of snapper, conch, lobster, crab and rice cooked in coconut milk. YUM |
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| straining the milk from the coconut meat |
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| grating the fresh coconut |
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| the stove |
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| SV Blue and Talaria at anchor in the harbor |
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| looking across the bay to the small island of Catalina, connected to Providencia by a bridge |
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| There are signs all over the island support the islanders desire for NO oil drilling in the nearby fishing banks. These oil rich fishing banks is what Nicaragua is trying to obtain from Columbia, causing the Navy to have ships in the area. |
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| motorcycles are the primary source of transportation |
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| Catholic school |
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| snoball likes it when we return to the boat |
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| rainbows over Isla Catalina |
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