You haven’t seen Blue until you’ve seen San Andres
On San Andres, a small Colombian island in an archipelago off the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, counting the blues in the famous “Sea of Seven Colors” is on every visitor’s to-do list. It’s an afternoon activity you do along the way as you cruise among the cays, or keys, on the east side of San Andres: low-lying (mostly) uninhabited specks that are little more than coral, covered in palm trees and surrounded by sandbars.
From my floating spot I counted six: a deep sapphire, a dusky azure, streaks of blue-green, turquoise and sky blue and, in the distance, a swath of brilliant cyan against the edge of a small, palm-fringed island.
“Do you see seven?” asked the captain of the boat.
When I told him my count, he laughed. “Six?” he said. “This way you can relax a little more.”
San Andres isn’t on the radar of many American travelers, but in Latin America, and especially among Colombians, it’s a coveted honeymoon destination or a long weekend getaway—a place in the middle of the ocean to disconnect from what you’re doing. also taxed. on the mainland.
Connecting with history
The archipelago of San Andres and Providencia is located more than 400 miles north of mainland Colombia, and closer to 100 miles east of Nicaragua, but thanks to a historical wrinkle that is still being ironed out, it is part of Colombia.
Kent Francis James, 73, was governor of the archipelago in the 1990s and advised the current local and national government on border issues with Nicaragua. But his passion, he said when I met him in San Andres, is helping tourists connect more deeply with the island’s history.
“We want you to come here not just to burn your skin, but to take home a better understanding of Caribbean history,” he said, as we sat on the balcony of his home and enjoyed the view on the water in the distance, framed by bougainvillea and palm trees.
Mr. James scanned the horizon and pointed out the shipwrecks dotting the island’s waters. “We were geographically on the route of the Spanish bringing gold along the coast, so this is where the pirates used to keep watch,” he explained, describing how travelers often explore the shallow waters surrounding the many underestimated the island’s bays and fled. aground – much to the delight of pirates such as Welsh-born Sir Henry Morgan, who is believed to have used San Andres as a base.
Technically we were in Colombia, but Mr. James spoke limited English; his accent was already a nod to the island’s history.
Although it is believed that the Dutch and Christopher Columbus landed on the archipelago, it was the British who settled in San Andres around 1630. English was the island’s first language and is still spoken by the native islanders.
Unlike most places in Latin America, San Andres has no records of indigenous peoples on the island. When the Europeans arrived it was apparently uninhabited. And that’s why when locals talk about “native” islanders, they’re referring to the descendants of the original British settlers or, more often, the descendants of the once-enslaved Africans those settlers brought over.
This Afro-Caribbean ethnic group is called Raizal, a derivative of the Spanish word for ‘roots’.
Posadas Nativas
Cleotilde Henry, 75, is one of the island’s Raizal leaders. Her family traces its roots back to the African slave trade, she explained, as she placed crunchy slices of fried breadfruit and scoops of sweet coconut on her dining room table. She didn’t make the treats especially for me; she sets them up every day for the tourists who rent rooms on the top floor of her house through the islands. posadas nativasor native hostel program.
“I was born in this house,” she said, pointing across the small living room to yellowing family portraits in wooden frames and crocheted tablecloths. “So when I thought about what I could do to make money from tourism, this house was the only one I had.”
Today Mrs. Henry, who is also the president of the archipelago Posadas Nativas Associationrents 12 rooms, which can be found under the name “Cli’s place” on travel booking websites such as Booking.com.
Across the archipelago, about 200 houses have been designated as ‘posadas nativas’, which offers tourists the opportunity to stay with a local family – usually under the watchful eye of the matriarch – in their home, and eat local Raizal food.
It is the local solution to a universal challenge: how to maintain the unique identity of a place when tourism is booming. Less than two decades ago, the Raizal people made up 57 percent of San Andres’ population, but every year that number is shrinking as Colombians are lured from the mainland to the blue waters of island life.
A bikini and a golf cart
Although San Andres’ beaches aren’t among the most beautiful in the world, the water is a short distance offshore thanks to submerged reefs, and so many visitors skip exploring the island’s interior in favor of getting wet.
Each cay is different from the next. Located across the water from the more populated northern part of San Andres, Johnny Cay looks like the glossary for “deserted island”: a cluster of palm trees surrounded by white sand. Rocky Cay is little more than the rock of the same name, with a run-down beach bar and a rusty shipwreck sticking out of the water next to it. You reach Haynes Cay by wading through waist-deep water while holding a precarious rope that connects the bay to a simple restaurant built on a sandbar. A typical holiday day in San Andres consists of floating between the bays, pausing to snooze against the palm trees or swim in the water around them, counting the blues along the way.
Like the pirates of the past, today’s snorkelers and divers delight in the sunken ships that lie in the water, while they can explore the underwater ecosystems created by these wrecks. In 2000, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization founded the massive organization Biosphere reserve of sea flowersan extensive protected marine area around the islands.
“It looks like a mountain range underwater here, and that’s why we have deep spots, but also these sandbanks and bays,” explains Jorge Sanchez, 68, a former diving instructor on the island, who invited me to his home one afternoon to study topological maps of the area’s ocean floor. Waving his hand over a map, he added: “The ocean species don’t know where the border is between Colombia and Nicaragua, so this is a great place to see all kinds of animals from different places.”
Even if you don’t like the waves, San Andres is a beautiful setting to enjoy the seven shades of blue from afar. And the not-so-steep hills and smooth roads mean that the most light-hearted and fun way to do that is by renting a mule (pronounced moo-LAY), a small golf cart, the typical way visitors get around the move island.
I had never driven a golf cart a long distance before, so when Mrs. Henry suggested I put on my bathing suit and drive one around the island, I hesitated. But about an hour later, I was smiling like a fool, the ocean wind blowing my hair back as I chugged along the coastal road at about 25 miles per hour, motorcycles whizzing around me. I sailed past the cays, jumping into the water when it called, heading for the less populated south side of the island. I stopped for lunch at Raizal restaurant Mrs. Janice Place for fried fish and coconut rice.
On the way back I planned to stop by Mr. James’s house to tell him about my day. Without a good cell signal on the island, the only way I could do this was to stop by, so I walked toward his house, until the buzzing of my mule became less frequent and I finally realized the engine was off. My faithful mule slid backwards down the hill. I hit the brakes, which slowed the slide, but I couldn’t get the engine going again. Luckily, some utility workers witnessed the scene, suppressed their laughter, and came to my aid. They improvised a solution and towed the golf cart to the top of the hill using long wires. I told them I was visiting Mr. James, and one of the workers turned and shouted over a wall of bushes, “Mr. Kent! We found an American!”
Grinning, Mr. James emerged from his building to greet me, and as I said a thank you to my utility heroes, he explained that he wasn’t surprised to see me.
“Because a tourist can spend his days on the beach and fill his stomach with our food and rum, and then go home and never come back,” he said. “But once you start talking to the locals about our history, you always want to come back.”
If you go
Gustavo Rojas Pinilla International Airport has direct connections to Panama City, Panama and several cities in Colombia, and from San Andres it is possible to take a flight to the neighboring island of Providencia.
Once on the island, the best way to get around is by taxi, easily found in the center of San Andres or arranged in advance, or by mule, which can be rented for about 200,000 Colombian pesos, or about $51, per day.
Staying at a locally owned posada nativa, or inn, is the maximum immersion experience on the island, and will often be the most affordable accommodation option; expect to pay about 235,000 Colombian pesos per night with breakfast. Cli’s Place Posada Nativa, Posada Nativa Licy And Miss Trinie’s Posada Nativa are some of the most popular.
For a more luxurious experience, Decameron operates many hotels on the island, including the Decameron Isleno at Spratt Bight Beach, a centrally located all-inclusive option for around a million Colombian pesos per night. Hotel Casablanca offers rooms with views of Johnny Cay for approximately 1.1 million Colombian pesos per night. There are also short-term rental options available through Airbnb. Many are located in condominium developments and have amenities such as swimming pools, doormen and gyms.
Niko’s seafood is a mid-range restaurant near the center of San Andres, serving freshly caught fish prepared for around 50,000 Colombian pesos.
La Regatta is perhaps the fanciest restaurant in San Andres, specializing in seafood such as ceviche for 75,000 Colombian pesos or grilled lobster with coconut rice (215,000 Colombian pesos) served on an overwater terrace near the center of San Andres. Reservations required, request the patio.
Mrs. Janice Place on the south side of San Andres in San Luis offers typical Raizal food for 40,000 Colombian pesos for mains, accompanied by coconut rice and jars of natural fruit juice.
Namaste Beach Club San Andres is near Rocky Cay with chic lounge chairs and a menu ranging from beach snacks like empanadas (about 30,000 Colombian pesos) to a fine dinner like fried local fish (50,000 Colombian pesos).
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