Continued from Cartagena Day 4 Part 1.

The water is super beautiful and clear out here.

We are just circling around the islands for a quick look then we’ll dock so we can get on an island for lunch. The kids are also eager to get in the water to swim.

It’s crazy to think sailboats of this size can cross open oceans even with the large waves. I’d be worried constantly about hitting a giant wave and the hull cracking in half.

Bora Bora, it’s one of the beach clubs here. When we arrived at Cartagena airport, they had an advertising banner there. DH pointed at the ad and asked if we were going there…no.

What has been most surprising is that my cell phone still has good service out here. I’ve got LTE right now, but for some reason tomorrow inside Old Town my phone wouldn’t connect to anything other than 3G and would drop connection constantly. It was quite annoying and made getting around harder since Google Maps wouldn’t really work.

Before this trip, I had looked at if there was a beach clubs that we would like to visit. I bookmarked a view, but then got busy and when I booked the boat, I just let the tour agency pick a spot for us for lunch without much thought. I hope it’s a good spot.

Reached lunch spot. PA’UE Beach lounge. It was one of the lunch spots that I had bookmarked, I guess that worked out well.

As expected, there’s a cover charge and also a minimum spend. I expected this already due to my research, but for those who didn’t look ahead when booking their boat trips, this would come as an unhappy surprise.

Prices are high, but I expected that. We are on an island in the middle of nowhere after all.

I had ordered a dish with lobster already, then one of the waitstaff came by and held this to show me. Yes, I’ve already ordered one.

He offered to let me hold it…OK, fine. I’ll order another one. Wasn’t hard to make another sale to me, I’ve already had 3 beers on the boat ride here…

I mean, this is nice, very nice.

Coconuts with vodka.

Our table also afforded us a view of the beach down where the kids were playing. Cool.

The kids loved coconuts. These ones are not filled with vodka.

One of the staff members here played with the kids on a stand up board and would pull them back and forth with the tether rope. It was a little bit like babysitting. We tipped him a lot, multiple times. Worth it.

This is nice.

I am guessing this sand probably had to be brought in here from somewhere else.

This guy paddles up on a kayak. I don’t think he’s affiliated with the beach club, but he’s here peddling his little bar on his kayak. Surprised the staff here didn’t shoo him away.

Food is here. Expensive, but surprisingly tasty and surprisingly large portions. That works for me.

More food!

That’s not a bruise on BH’s forehead. RL and the kids got some markers and decorated all the hats that we got from the hat sellers here. Well, as it turns out, the markers were pretty water soluble and immediately bled when they got wet in the seawater. Haha.

Hanging out with pop pop.

Eat children, so you won’t complain to us later that you are hungry.

Super friendly, calm dog. Unlike our terrible stinky mutt back at home.

We’ve been here a few hours. RL is ready to go. She haphazardly packed up a few things, took LKL and called for our boat to take us back…except no one else was ready. Half of our towels were still unpacked…too much coconut vodka I guess.

As we finally got all of our stuff packed up to head to the boat, saw this guy at the dock.

He’s got a bag full of spiny lobsters. Yum.

PL has been on a sunblock kick. She very proudly told us that she’s reapplied sunblock 3 times already. Good for her, she doesn’t really tan. Gets it from RL’s side, obviously.

The Tipsy Sisters. Actually, RL is probably the only tipsy one.

We were told that waves are always rougher on the return trip, and it was no joke. They were much rougher than expected. Like some of the roughest I’ve ever encountered on a boat of this size.

Cartagena far in the distance.

Yeah, huge waves that the captain really had to work hard to maneuver around so we didn’t take on water.

Kids sitting at the bow where they catch air when we hit a big wave. They were having the best time. The captain was a little worried and had the deckhand sit next to the kids to make sure no one went overboard. DH is also up there keeping a close eye on the kids.

All the kids agree that this was their favorite part of the trip. This super rough return trip on the boat where they are thrown into the air and crashing down while screeching. Whatever floats your boat, kids.

I liked this picture somehow of both sisters being on the very edge of the frame.

When we made for the open water crossing, we headed towards closer to shore where the waves were a little smaller.

I think these photos of another boat shows the size of waves we were dealing with during this crossing.

Pretty sure our own boat looked like that at times too. Glad the kids thought it was fun and exciting. Our captain maneuvered the boat with experience and expertise so I also enjoyed the rough crossing myself.

Finally in the harbor where the water calmed down.

They had a blast.

Back on shore. That was a really fun outing for everyone I think. One of the highlights of this trip.

Got back in our transport and headed back to our Airbnb for shower and…nap!! We left the beach club at around 2pm and that rough crossing took about an hour.

It’s Sunday, lots of traffic heading into Old Town.

We all showered, and then took a quick nap. Have dinner reservation at 6pm. I hope we aren’t all way too tired from being in the sun all day.

Dinner time, it’s just one block away situated next to the mall.

For some reason they stuck us in the middle of everyone’s way for 7 min while they got the table ready. We’d made reservations so I’m not sure why it took so long to seat us. It also felt like a longer time because we all kept having to step out of the way for staff and other patrons. It felt like 7mins of being the most awkward person in the room at a party.

I’m telling you, everyone seems to eat later here in Cartagena. It’s 6pm and the restaurant is still almost completely empty. They have a live band play here most nights.

ants in their pants.

Alright, our table is ready. I think it was ready before already but they were maybe hoping we’d hang out a little bit longer around the bar area to order drinks? I’m really not sure why it took so long for them to take us back to a table, especially when the restaurant is to empty and we had a reservation.

Crab soup.

Here comes the soup part.

We are all pretty tired from our all day in the sun earlier. But, let’s eat.

They also had performers dance through the restaurant. I thought that performers were a little cheesy, enjoyed the live band though.

Me and the kids will share all of this.

RL ordered ram stew. She loved it.

Alright, finished dinner. It was good like all other meals we’ve had here in Cartagena. The kids are tired and losing it, especially LKL. I think it’s bed time.

In Cartagena, many restaurants always bring you the check in a box of some sort.

By the time we were done eating, the entire restaurant was packed packed.

We promised the kids ice cream if they all tried and drank some of the fish stew and crab soup. A promise is a promise. I didn’t actually order a dipped cone myself. It was supposed to be for PL, but then we saw how the chocolate well that the cones are dipped in had what looked like peanuts in it. I guess I’ll eat this one and get the kids plain cones.

Cute.

Would pet.

That was an exciting day. Tomorrow is our last full day here in Cartagena. No firm plans, so we’ll just figured it out and take it easy.

To be continued in Cartagena Day 5.