At 7, we were taken by a small boat over to where the Winfli was anchored. We pulled up to the 30′ sailboat and a dark, impish man with dreadlocks introduced himself as Captain Bruno.

As we loaded our bags on board, the other four passengers arrived. The English couple, Tom and Flick, we had met a few days earlier at Mamallena’s Hostel. The Swedish couple, Eric and Madelyn, I had briefly met at Luna’s Castle before we went to the Canal.

After we all met, Bruno introduced us to the Winfli, gave us some do’s and don’ts, and showed us our beds. The three couples each got a small bed to share and Alec and I got a slightly larger bed to share. It seemed that our friendship had been suddenly thrown into some new level.

When we had stowed away our luggage and gotten settled, it was time to get going. The first few days of the trip were going to be leisurely travel days, giving us a chance to get more time in the beautiful San Blas islands. So our first stop was a small island where we served a nice feast of lobster, rice, beans and plantains. We got to explore the island a bit, and make a few final purchases (read: beer) before we were taken out of the reach of commerce.

We got back on the boat and accelerated the friendship cycle with our shipmates with the time honored tradition of rum and guitar singalong. Bruno even joined in with one of his homemade bongos.

Two more days of island hopping followed. One night we made a bonfire on a beach, joined by two other sailing trip crews. We bought a few giant delicious crabs from a local fisherman. We took a midnight swim and were treated to a spectacular aquatic lightshow courtesy of the biophosphorescents. Twice, our boat was flanked by a pod of dolphins, just jumping and swimming and looking like the most fun-loving species on the planet. Those first three days packed in a ton of fun.

The final two days of the trip were on the open seas. The conversation on the boat dropped to a bare minimum as we mostly all tried to combat seasickness (which, incidentally, we accomplished flawlessly).

Finally, at around midday on the 11th, we saw the skyline of Cartagena, Colombia. When we reached land again, we all stumbled around a bit, not used to solid ground. We managed to make our way to a hostel called Media Luna where a bunch of people we had met before were staying.

The 11th of November is massive day of celebration in Cartagena (possibly all of Colombia… I asked three people and got three explanations) and we went walking through the heart of it. People toss flour, shoot foam, spray water and throw blue paint at eachother in the streets. About 30 feet from our hostel doors, we were already covered from head to toe. As we walked towards the center of town, we ended up alongside a parade of music, floats, dancers, and all kinds of other colorful Colombian craziness. The festivities lasted well into the night and spread throughout the streets of Cartagena.