Embedded Files
March 15, 2023
Last month, I went on a quick weekend trip to San Andrés, an island off the coast of Nicaragua that is a part of Colombia! It was a weekend full of relaxation and appreciating the beautiful weather in the Caribbean.
I traveled with my friends from the program: Bianka, Genevieve, and Leonor, and Genevieve's friend Emily who was visiting from the US! We all flew from different cities in Colombia to get there, arriving at a very tiny airport in the middle of the 7-mile-long island. We were greeted by a short customs line and a dog that sniffed all of our bags to check for something (unclear what exactly they were preventing from being brought to the island). You have to buy a tourist pass at the airport before you fly to the island (about 35 USD), which is supposed to go towards conservation efforts on the island.
The first day was spent driving around the island on a golf cart, exploring different beaches. I was surprised how different the sides of the island were. On the eastern side, facing Nicaragua, the water was a lot calmer, but there were fewer beaches to swim at. On the western side, it was significantly windier and the water was a lot rougher. I was also surprised how cold it was with the wind! We were able to bring just our backpacks, so I didn't pack a sweater or anything for colder weather. When it was really windy, especially at night, I definitely regretted it!
We spent most of the time on the beaches on the northern side of the island. These ones had the most space for people to spread out and enjoy the sunshine and the water. Speaking of the water, it's almost indescribably beautiful. The differing depths of the water surrounding the island give it the different shades, and the water is clear and warm. It ranges from a light blue in the shallowest places, where you can swim with ease, to the dark blue of deeper areas. The comparison that I can't get out of my mind is that it looks like the different shades of blue Gatorade.
Our second full day on the island was spent on a boat tour. We spent the day hopping in and out of the water, seeing little islands and floating restaurants, and getting a little too sunburnt. Our tour guides (and boat drivers) ferried us all around the area surrounding the island. We visited mangroves and swam in the shallow areas where the water was light blue. We also stopped for lunch in a different part of the island than where we had started. They anchored the boat and we walked to the restaurant on the shore where we were served an entire fish. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the fish, since our phones were left on the boat to protect them while we swam to the shore.
We found our favorite ice cream store!
My nails for the week matched :)
Enjoying more ice cream
Our weekend in San Andrés was a much needed break from the mountains and city noises of Bucaramanga. We ate lots of good food and enjoyed riding around the island in the golf cart! While San Andrés is more expensive compared to prices in our city, especially for food, it is still affordable by US standards. It's also such an easy flight from mainland that I can understand why so many Colombians like to vacation there. It seemed like all of the beaches on the island were open to the public, and everyone that we interacted with was very welcoming and friendly. There was a few minutes of confusion with the man who rented Genevieve and Emily the golf cart because he thought they had picked up hitchhikers, but when we explained that we all knew each other and promised not to have more than five people in the cart (one of the laws on the island), all was well. Our island adventure was a lovely time, and as always, it is very fun to see how diverse the different parts of Colombia are!
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse