Amanda and Ian would be so proud to know that this city girl – one who had never been camping before they took me when I was 25 years old – is enjoying time in a hut on the beach without water or electricity. I’ve made some pretty solid progress as far as adaptability goes (I say, patting myself on the back).
Isla Fuerte was billed as an idyllic Caribbean island with aqua waters and a gentle ocean breeze on all sides, and it doesn’t disappoint. Given its remote location and tiny size, the island relies entirely on generators, bottled water, and boats to ferry across all the necessities of daily life. Yet somehow the simplicity is comfortable. Odd, given that I consider myself to be the ultimate urbanite.
Our accommodations are rustic. A reed hut with an elevated platform for the mattress, a mosquito net hung from the ceiling, and a curtain drawn across the “door” for privacy. The showers are only on for 2 hours in the morning and at night (except for when we tried to use them tonight and there was no water). Toilets are flushed manually by pouring a bucket of seawater into the bowl.
Today we wanted to walk over to Playa San Diego. It’s supposed to be gorgeous, and there are sloths frequently in the area. Sloths! We asked at the reception desk how to find the sloths (after missing our mark yesterday) and were told to ask a local in town. Easier said than done – the Spanish here is incredibly fast and with an accent that I struggle to understand.
So we decided to head out and see what we could find. Halfway through town we saw some folks sitting outside a store and they confirmed that we were on the correct path (there are no roads or signs; this island is too small to have motorized vehicles – only donkeys). After about 20 minutes we find the beach, and it was definitely worth it!
We spent several hours here. The beach is really quite narrow with little room to sunbathe and definitely no amenities beyond the single stand selling basic food and drink. But the water….heaven. The air temperature was in the low 90s and the water temperature was easily in the mid 80s to low 90s. It was actually a bit hot in places! I loved it.
On the walk back we tried to look for the sloths. Sloths are hard to find. Really hard. At one point, a local carrying a machete looked at us – obvious gringos – and said “perezosos”? “Sí, ¿sabe dónde están?“ I replied. And he put down his machete and motioned for us to follow him along down the path. Sure enough, he pointed out two sloths about 100 feet back. Sloths!!! Anna-Sophia and I made poor Luke walk back to the hotel and then back again to the sloths so we could get our good cameras. I mean, sloths!!! And it turns out there was a third one right above our heads. These little guys are hard to find!
Tomorrow we get to figure out how to get a boat back to the mainland (there isn’t a clearly defined system – you just show up at the spot where the boats come and go and hitch a ride with a local). Then we get to figure out how to get a bus to go the ~150 miles to Cartagena. It will be exciting, if nothing else!
Vacation Days 