The water is beautiful today. It must be beautiful here every day. I’m on another boat, a much bigger one this time headed to the small exclusive isla de pirata (pirate island). Only 40 people are permitted to be on the island in one day and often times there are far less. As I get onto the boat at the dock, and this time there’s no +1hr bus ride, I realize my companions are all tourists from Europe or the United States and there’s only 12 of them. I choose a seat and get the bench to myself midship where if there are any waves I won’t be bouncing and it’s on the west side of the voyage under the canopy where I’ll be in shade.

The island is quite small. I walk from one end to another in about a minute. A small resort with a mess hall, bar, huts you can rent over night, with a full staff of snorkel guides, chefs, servers and a masseuse greet us. A traditional lunch of fish, rice and salad will be served at 1:30. The lunch bell will ring and then we need to come to the mess hall. Off you go, enjoy your day on the island.

I sign up for a massage right away. I might as well start relaxed. However the moment she begins I think, either she hasn’t had much training or this is one of the invigorating Swedish massages. I find it difficult to relax as she aggressively kneads and pounds my back. When she finishes, 30 minutes later, my muscles do feel less tense and I thank her for the massage.

I have no intention of doing much today. Maybe some writing, but mostly resting. I still have a cough from my cold I’ve been fighting for over a week now and I’m not accustomed to the heat or the a/c running in my room all night. I find a reclining beach chair and camp out for the day napping and drinking agua de coco straight from the coconut. One of the artisans comes by to show me his carvings. Sea creatures made from stones he’s collected from the nearby island where he lives. He was born there on the island and he makes a living selling his art and fishing. I purchase a little seahorse as I know a little girl at home who will enjoy playing with it. 

The bell is struck and it’s sound is loud and long. Lunch is ready. A whole fish fried with coconut rice and salad ends up being the most deliciously satisfying meal of my stay in Cartagena. The artisan who sold me a carving tells me to go to the floor above the mess hall for the beautiful view. He’s right it’s gorgeous, but as usual the afternoon wind has picked up and it’s strong. I spot an old canon below and head back down to check it out. There isn’t much time left now and I want to enjoy swimming in the crystalline water for as long as I can. As our boat crew begins to pack up one of the servers comes to talk to me while I’m in the water. He wants to take me on a tour of the island. We walk over behind the massage hut and he points across the water to another island. Yo nací  allí. I was born there he tells me. He asks me if I will stay the night at the hotel on the island. No, I say, I’m going back to Cartagena on the boat. He asks me again if I’ll stay, smiling at me. No, I’m going back to Cartagena on the boat.

We take a different route back to the city due to the wind and the dangerous waves. We get to the mouth of a river and then stop. There’s three men wading through the mud pointing at an area for us to pass through. For some reason the captain tries a couple other spots but we bottom out. There’s an English woman and her niece on board and they don’t know much Spanish and they look at me worried. Do you know what’s happening, they ask me. I tell them I think we’re trying to find a way to get through here. The water is mud brown and we can’t see the sand bars below. They ask why we’re not going where those men are pointing at and I say it might be because they’ll demand payment for passage but I really don’t know. After several attempts we finally get through the narrow channel backwards exactly where the men were pointing. One hops on board to guide us through. I am too busy watching where we’re going to notice if they did pay him when he left. 

Out boat rips up the river and several other boats catch up to us and pass. It feels incredible to be on the water surrounded by jungle.