This morning we went to Playa Blanca. There was more than a little confusion:
- Nobody picked us up despite the pledge yesterday that we would be picked up. We could have walked four times before we finally got in a cab. First, our hotel called them and they said they were on their way. Then our hotel called again, and we were told to take a cab. We waited close to an hour before they told us they were waiting for us, but only after our hotel had called them twice. (Fortunately, the tour company paid for the cab. We were mad, though, as we could have walked to the port in 15 minutes or so.)
- When we got there, it was a bit of a shit show. Huge numbers of groups waiting to go. We were offered a meal – we weren’t sure whether we had paid for it or not, so we declined. We basically sat there until our names were called.
- Though the boat ride was a lot of fun – they drive fast and they don’t care how many breaks they hit – we got to Playa Blanca unsure of whether or not we were getting off there or not. We got off because we thought we had paid for just the trip there. (We didn’t spend very much money on our trip and couldn’t imagine that we had paid for the whole thing.)
We had both had the Colombian style breakfast, which is quite heavy, so we figured we’d be okay with just a few snacks.
We wandered down the beach (Playa Blanca). We stopped at a cabana near where the other people stopped from our boat. Due to a miscommunication, we first thought they wanted 6,000 pesos (less than CAD$3). Then I idiotically thought they wanted 600 pesos (less than 30 cents). We eventually found out they wanted 60,000 pesos (i.e. CAD$26). We thought that was ridiculous (as, on our 7th day in Colombia, we were aware of what things cost) so we kept doing down the beach. We walked way down the beach and found a cabana for much less, where there also far fewer people.
But, a few minutes later, I realized I had left my sandals. Fortunately we were able to go back down the beach and find my sandals, as one of the cabana staff had put them aside.
We spent about four hours on the beach, swimming periodically in the gorgeous sea and reading in our cabana.
Our cabana was at a hostel. We didn’t realize that we could have stayed there (before we left) but I think had we known that we might have considered it.
This was certainly one of the nicest beaches I’ve ever spent time on. However, we got burnt horribly despite amble sunscreen.
The ride back was considerably rougher but that just made it more fun. (Also, we weren’t quite sitting in the bow on the way back: we actually had seats, not just sitting in the bow like when we went.)
We walked back to our hotel because we didn’t want to do deal with any tour shuttle.
We tried to have an early dinner (recommended to us by an American we met at Playa Blanca) but it was too early, so we walked through the Old City again and then on the walls.
Eventually we went back to the place and had some really nice ceviche and other seafood. There’s an asterisk there, though, as you’ll learn in a few posts.
After dinner we had popsicles dipped in chocolate. I mean, why not? We’re on vacation.