WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU
I know this is against the norm in the blogging world but, I try to keep the site clean and easy to read for our reader’s enjoyment. For this reason, I opted to keep comments to one page. We would love to hear from you. Do not let my wacky thought process deter you from expressing your feelings regarding our postings or another items of interest you want to share.
- Thoughts on the cruising lifestyle?
- Do you have an favorite sailing destination or a place you think we should avoid?
- Send us your favorite recipe.
- Have you read any good books lately?
- What would you like to know about us?
Please include your e-mail so we can write back to you (email addresses are kept private)
Thanks for connecting to us!
Mark and Cindy
You continue to impress me with how adventurous you are! To Columbia by boat and now venturing out by land with very little Spanish. You guys are great! I hope you have a great time. Really enjoying following along.
Or, we are just too naive to know better 🙂
Your comments on the shopping districts had me smiling. We notice this about Mexico, and it was even more so in Ecuador. In Cuenca there was the ‘copy making’ district, where you could find little stores that were there simply to make photo copies. The leather work street, the artisan street, stores that sold only one item (like eggs). Makes you wonder how they actually make any money. Here in La Paz I notice that there is one street with rows of shoe stores. We, too are interested in the sheer number of vendors there are, all doing a lot of work for what must be very little money. In Ecuador the women carried their young children on their backs while selling things from their carts on the street. Got to admire that. It’s important to carry a lot of coinage when you go walking around here.
Hi
I totally agree about Curacao (your facebook post), it is an unattracrive place to be. We had been going to give Aruba a miss until we saw your blog but we might rethink now. At the moment thanks to a bad cycling accident we are still stuck in the UK but have seen you Cream Puff a number of times in 2018 and we hope to be back sailing shortly. I would be interested to know if you can check in to Aruba from the marina directly or do you still have to go to the cruise ship dock?
I am also keen to know whether you built your blog or if it is hosted by a service we could use. Currently we use sailblogs.com but their features are very limited.
Thanks for your help
Andrew
PM sent 🙂
Happy New Year Mark and Cindy! My family has really enjoyed following your travels this year, especially my 7 year old kids. Every time we see a big sailboat they ask me if that’s you. They still refer to you as “ the Pirates looking for gold coins and treasures”. Ha ha. My son heard that Johnny Depp was fired from future movies of Pirates of the Caribbean and he immediately asked if you could take his place! Maybe you should audition. Thank you for posting these pictures and great stories. We are ALL enjoying them! Safe travels – Toby
Merry Christmas Mark & Cindy. Have an amazing holiday season.
Love reading your posts. I am trying to imagine grocery shopping in another language. I would imagine that most things have pictures on the labels. But, you could definitely have some new adventures in eating. Canada used to have milk in plastic bags; not sure if they still do. It’s been awhile since our last visit there.
It is indeed a small world. Running into fellow Texans at an ATM. Hahaha…..
Hi Marie,
Buying some items is fairly easy such as jars or cans of vegetables etc. What creates a challenge is something like Salsa where we are not sure if it is hot or mild and have to Google the label. Google Translate is awesome. We can take a pic of the can and it will translate the words in the pic. The clever people at Google make life a little easier for us. It also took us a while to figure out if the milk was whole, fat free or lactose free. Pasta sauce was very interesting since there are so many varieties. Every item presents a whole new challenge. But hey, we have time and make the most of it. At least we have choices now. We are happy about this.
I LOVE Google!
Glad you made is safely! Sorry you had to leave Aruba…
Enjoy Colombia!
We are also sorry we had to leave Aruba. We really liked it there.
Been enjoying your site for a while now – love it. We’ve been c.l.o.d.’s (cruisers living on dirt) for almost 10 years now. Did our 2 year stint while our 3 kids were young and looking forward to going again someday. We LOVED Columbia. Did the journey from Curacao to Cartagena with 3 stops along the way, at Monjes del sur, one of the 5 bays, and Puerto Velero. Rough sailing along that coast but so worth it. If you have the chance, visit Cartagena just before or after Christmas. It is amazing, and the people are so kind and inviting. One of our absolute highlights. And if your adventures don’t take you through the canal be sure to head to Providencia after the San Blas – paradise. Enjoy!
Congrats on a successful passage! Rest and relax and then tackle those new boat projects. You know they’ll wait for you. ; )
Ha ha! There is always a list. Thanks for checking in on us. Thought you might appreciate we actually had to wear a sweater at night 🙂
Mark
Our boat isn’t even in the water and there is a list…..
30F degrees here this morning. (That F means Fahrenheit) HAHAHA.
Don’t sweat the trip to Santa Marta. Made it last month from Curacao. If the breeze pipes up over 25 just stay a little further offshore to avoid the larger swells off the shoals near Colombia. If you’re going to Santa Marta, you’ll love it. The marina is fantastic, great staff and safe clean facility with the best washrooms we’ve seen anywhere recently. Filter the dock water before it hits your tanks then it’s ok. Minca is awesome (take a collective bus from calle12 and Carrera 9), a short trip from downtown. Stay in one of the hostels there and hike for a few days. Tayrona Park equally great and a hour bus from downtown Santa Marta.
3 good grocery stores in Santa Marta plus a good street market. Prices are great. Have fun. We enjoyed eating at Lamart for ceviche and Ouzo in the square. Lots of fun people watching on Friday nights in the square. Enjoy. Oh, and a little secret. Kelly in the office will give you a letter which allows you to use the military base pool and beach club for free. It’s just a mile south along the beach, a quick 10 minute cab ride. Pretty cool.
Good luck finding a beer that costs more than a dollar. It’s just a great place:)
Charlie on TracenJ
Charlie,
Thanks so much for the tips. We plan to spend some time in Santa Marta and will be sure to check out the restaurants and the military pool.
Cheap beer. My kind of place 🙂 We may never leave.
Mark