On my way to the festival venue I had a moment of weakness with a very aggressive salesman. I was hungry and looking for a nice little place to eat on the way to the theatre. Unfortunately looking for something and looking like a tourist means all of the locals, especially those who are trying to sell something approach you like vipers on the hunt. They walk up to you smiling asking you what you’re looking for. They’re helpful. They take you to one place, then another when you say this is too expensive. They put one of their hats on you while they talk to you, tell you you look beautiful, tell you they want to take a picture of you with your camera. They show you the pamphlet for their beach tour and point to snorkeling and bioluminescent plankton and say, ‘for you is free because you’re so nice.’ They sit down at the table with you while you order lunch and drink a limonade. They tell you over and over again how wonderful their tour is so that by the time you finish lunch all you want to do is buy the damn tour so they will leave you alone. Four islands, snorkeling, lunch, dinner, half the day in a boat, and swimming under the moonlight with something that will light up around you for around $100 Canadian that’s not bad. And really, it was the worst of times and the best of times.

When I get back to my hotel I ask the man sitting at the desk selling tours what he has to offer. I’m ready to compare and shop for something else. I’ve got another 4 days here after all. I say some place quiet, no partying hoping that there is something and expecting him to say sorry, no. It’s all party here. He surprises me and says right away, Isla de pirata is in the bioreserve and only 40 people are permitted on the island per day. This tour is also much less than the one I was sold on the street. 

In the morning the saleswoman comes to pick me up from my hotel. We walk to a square where we get onto a bus. I think, okay a short bus ride to the dock and then we’ll be in the boat but we keep driving. We’re leaving the city. This is not a kidnapping as there’s 15 of us, families as well as me. Our guide barely speaks English, but when she slows down I can understand most of what she’s saying in Spanish. We stop at a roadside store and she says to buy snacks and drinks for the day as they’ll be much less expensive here. I already have my bad full of sunscreen, bottled water, a wrap to keep the sun off. We’ve been told there’s lunch and dinner and I don’t want to pack any more, plus I don’t want anything deep fried or full of sugar. We get back on the road and 20 minutes later we’re flagged down by the army before we go over this big arching bridge. I’ve watched all the busses in front of us crawl up its steep arc. They don’t flag over any other buses as far as I can see and they do nothing more than have a quick word with the driver.

An hour and twenty minutes after we left the square we arrive at Playa Blanca. The beach that all of my research told me was the busiest with the most vendors and the most noise. Our guide approaches me, you have 20 minutes here then you get on the boat. The boat is an upgrade from a rubber dingy but not by much. Still, the Colombians have managed to fill every single seat and there’s more than 20 of us on this ride. The only seats left are right in the front for me and another woman. We stop 500m down the beach for another solo traveler, a young man, and we’re off. The ride to the Islas del Rosario is incredible. We’re all laughing, enjoying the beautiful blue ocean and the breeze. We round a corned and get out to open seas and things change slightly. There’s the odd large swell that comes up on us and the boat slams down, bam. Everyone in the front feels it more. The elderly man in front of me puts his head down, almost between his legs. Oh no, please don’t be seasick.

We get to the first island and the boat stops. The first mate who’s been riding shotgun on the bow hops up behind me and starts rapidly saying where we are. Because he’s speaking fast and he’s behind me where I can’t read his lips I catch almost none of it other than the bits I already know. This is an island, over there is an island, it’s a bioreserve. We’re off again. Another stop almost identical. Then we arrive at the corals. We’re passed goggles and a snorkel and everyone hops in. The water here is much clearer than where I snorkeled in Puerto Vallarta last year. I can see right to the bottom about 10-15’ below. The fish swim in and out of the corals, they’re vibrant, they’re many different shapes and sizes. It feels so good to be in the water and I stay in until the last to re-board the boat. 

At our next stop I don’t even want to get out of the boat. The water is disgusting before we even get to the beach and its full of bigger private boats with bikinied women drunkenly dancing on the little platforms. Everyone looks wasted. We get out. A little hut with multicoloured chairs is waiting for us. We can order drinks from a place that has multicoloured chairs set up for us in a square. They have nothing natural, or without alcohol. They serve us some shrimp in ketchup and I wonder if I should eat it or if it will come back up on the boat ride later. 

Back in the lancha and off we go to playa tranquilé where I’m happy to spend the remaining light hours talking with my new friend Filipe. We bonded on the ride here as the water was so choppy we hit the waves hard and those of us seated in the first two rows bounced off our seats each time landing hard. Filipe, I think, was concerned I might just bounce right out as, after I caught some pretty good air, he grabbed the back of my life vest and didn’t let go until we slowed to land at the beach. He and I have a simple conversation about our work, families, and some of the differences between Canada and Colombia as he has no English and my Spanish isn’t up for the grand vocabulary of real conversation.

For lunch I finally get a taste of costal Colombian fried fish. It’s amazing and must be eaten with fingers to pick out all the little bones. The coconut rice is not really sweet and just hints at the coconut flavour. Fried plantains and a little iceberg salad serve as sides. Later, a simple dinner of watermelon and pineapple is served and we spend our afternoon enjoying the beach and taking turns swimming with another couple so that someone is always watching our things. This beach seems isolated and pretty safe but one never knows. The water is beautiful aquamarine and mildly warm. Not remotely the soup I remember when I swam in the Caribbean in Puerto Rico.

At sunset we all reluctantly climb back in the lancha, none of us want another boat ride like the one in the afternoon but the water is calm this time. We set off, along with 3 or 4 other boats, to find the bioluminescent plankton. After going up and down the shore several times finally we see another boat that has spotted it. We pull up about 20m away and we’re told we can go in. No one moves except me. I get myself up on the side and dive right in. A moment later, one of the crew cannonballs in making a huge splash and lighting up the plankton. Then everyone is getting in the water. We swim around waving our arms through the luminescent water. I marvel how my arms make glow-in-the-dark-like streaks. When I slow down and just move my fingers it looks like little sparkles of fairy dust.