It's a beautiful morning in the Rosarios. The sun has just come up over a mirrored sea, turning the sky and sea into one. A fisherman just paddled by in his dugout and pelicans are going after their first meal of the day. The water below the boat is gin clear, and you can watch all kinds of fish swim among the coral. Ah, it's beautiful!
The Rosarios are a small group of islands which are only about 20 miles down the coast from Cartegena, but ages away in culture and feeling. This is a group of about 4 small islands which are reef-bound. Navigation is strictly by eye as there are many uncharted reefs, but that's not all that hard as the water is crystal clear, which is an absolute joy compared to Cartagena.
There are no high-rises or even roads. At one time it appears that this was quite a tourist destination as there are many large compounds which appear to be resorts or private retreats. However, most of these are unused or abandoned. The buildings are very unique in that many of them have huge, and I mean HUGE, thatched roofs that easily tower 3 stories into the sky. I wandered around one compound yesterday & found it surrounded by a 10' cement block wall with broken bottles cemented into the top. About every 100' or so there were 4" portholes. Hum...makes you wonder...Another compound has thatched huts that are 20' off of the ground at the corners of the compound. The blend in beautifully, and could be guest houses or a place for kids to play, or they could be guard towers... Colombia is an interesting place...
The snorkeling here is great. Miles and miles of reef. There are lots of fisherman paddling around in dugout canoes. Some have small triangular sails. I think that a lot of them dive on the reef and spearfish or collect things off the bottom. Unfortunately they seem to be gathering lobster which are way too small. Large shrimp would be a better description. However, they do have some HUGE crabs.
Yesterdays main task was to clean the prop and intakes of barnacles that had grown in the nutrient rich Cartegena bay. Man they were thick. I easily spent 45 minutes doing that. The boat is also filthy. It's amazing how much grime deposited on it while in Cartegena. I can't imagine how people spend months there.
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