Providencia

I arrived into Providencia on the first flight from San Andres. The tiny plane had barely taken off when we started to dip again towards the runway in Providencia, a tiny tropical Caribbean island and one that due to the only flights being from San Andres very much unspoilt by tourism. My taxi driver Dennis ferried me to my hotel, waving at almost everyone he passed along the way. With only about 5000 inhabitants, everyone knows everyone here.

I spent the day relaxing and catching up on the rest I needed. From beach to hammock to the sea and back again! The sun was shining and the temperature a beautiful 28 degrees Celsius. The next morning I ventured down to the next beach, Agua Dulce and met a couple from Glasgow on my way there. They had travelled nearly all of Central and South America over the years and this was their third time on Providencia and this time they had decided to spend their whole 3 week holiday there, despite having to make quite a mammouth journey to get here from Scotland. But the more the island grew on me and the slow slow pace of life and the very friendly and welcoming people here the more I understood their decision.
After another fantastic fish lunch in Agua Dulce I came back and arranged for a boat trip around the island the following day including some snorkeling with an Italian couple and a Danish girl that had just arrived from Bogota. We wandered up the beach after dinner and ended up in Richards Bar where we met Richard, the owner. A true rasta and a gentlemen with a dreadlock beard, we spent the evening chatting and listening to reggae, as he told us of his years working on ships around the Caribbean and how in the end he decided Providencia was the place where he most wanted to be and so he moved back. One thing that I found very unique about the place was that if the locals see you walking somewhere and they are going the same way they let you hop on the back of their motorbikes and bring you where you are going and there is no outstretched hand or expectation at the end. That is truly something you don't see very often anymore, and long may it last.

Today we did the boat tour around the island with Tank, our boat driver. The island is truly stunning and the colour of the sea was truly beautiful. The snorkeling is also excellent and there are coral reefs all around the island. Whenever I get the chance to come back I will definitely go diving, as its diving is rated as one of the best in the world. Tomorrow I leave, and I have to say I would have been happy to spend another few days, a week, hell maybe even a month here. The people, the pace (makes even San Andres seem rushed), the scenery and the food, Providencia is truly the nicest island I have ever visited and I hope I get the chance to come back again before too long.

- David

San Andres Caribbean island

San Andres is not somewhere I guess I would typically travel. It's not quite off-the-beaten-track and does attract quite a few package tourists. However it's not really that hard to see a different side, and that was my goal. So after I arrived and relaxed in the hotel, I went out to find the local's watering hole. It turned out to be a shop! So joined a couple of the natives and we chatted away fr the evening. Gabriel, a local guy was very excited when I told him that I wanted to get to know the real San Andres, the people from here, the food. He agreed to take me around the island the following day on bikes.

So we set off about 10 the following morning and took it quite slowly, cycling along the coast road line with palm trees and skirtig a sea of many hues of blue. The main language of the natives is English, albeit with a Caribbean accent an it was nice being able to chat to Gabriel in English. We stopped for lunch with some locals, a local fish dish with lime served up with coconut rice, fried plantain and salad. It had been a while since I'd eaten fish and it did not disappoint. In the afternoon I relaxed on the beach and went for a swim in the crystal clear sea. The pace of life certainly made for a change from the mad dash around of the last couple of weeks.

- David