Colombia again

Here is Emily on our ride to the boat.  We took a boat to an Island Resort.  There are numerous Islands off the coast of Colombia both in the Pacific and Caribbean Sea.

This was leaving Cartagena

and this may have been the entire Colombian Navy.

There was a statue in the water and we were speculating on whether it was the Statue of Liberty.  Maybe every nation has one?  As we got closer we could see it was a statue of Mary and baby Jesus.

When we saw these two guys I looked to see if a National Geographic Photographer was nearby.

First thing that happened at the resort was

Emily decided to wakeboard.

It may have been before she saw the little boat that was going to pull her out of the water and around the ocean.  It took a few tries before she got up and she was embarrassed.  What you can not see from the photos is the line of lounge chairs along the beach with nothing to look at but ocean and Emily attempting to wakeboard.

She was a champ for not giving up and those guys are not speaking to her in English.  She can hold her own with Spanish.

Of course when she did get up everyone on the beach was also watching,

so she gave them a show.

The pool looks deserted but later there were lots of swimmers, probably because it was in the shade.  Have I mentioned how hot it is in Colombia?

We took a boat to another island with an aquarium.

There were turtles

everywhere

and little sharks

and dolphins

and big sharks

everywhere.

The sharks would swim onto the blue platform and splash until they were fed.  Those birds would eat the fish food whenever they were given a chance.

One of the birds appointed himself the chief and would chase off the other birds from the food.

Here the chief bird is standing watch while the dolphin is kissing the trainer.

and flapping his wings at the fish food burglars when they tried anything.

More Caribbean Islands in the distance.

I guess you can build a fence when the water is shallow.

When we left the resort to return to Cartagena the water was really rough.  They told everyone to put their cameras and phones away.  It was funny but water kept on coming over the side of the boat and drenching us, like 20 times in the 30 minute boat ride.  I am just glad we were already wearing our swimsuits.  It was the real version of an amusement park water ride.  Thankfully we soaked up all the water and the boat did not sink.

Modern and old Cartagena.

It was a fun vacation if you like sun, beaches, boats and food.

17 again

I wish.  I liked being 17, now Emily is 17.  She may be unaware her parents were once her age.

Emily did not want a birthday party this year yet somehow this happened.  She went paint balling with friends in the morning and then more people showed up in the afternoon to swim and play and eat pizza and cake and then they went home at 11 p.m. or something. 

There were no invitations, presents, party games or dry shirts so they said.

We have the worst set up for the Wii.  The room is wide but you have to stand 2 feet from the TV,

still apparently amusing.

Where are the girls?

Don't need them.

Colombia, part two

We went to the new part of Cartagena to spend the day at the beach.

When you go to the beach in South America, the umbrellas, sunshades, and the chairs and tables are already set up.  If you want to be ignored don't go to the beach.  There is a never ending parade of hats, sunglasses, food, drinks, jewelry and trinkets being peddled past.  On the bright side if you want to rent wave runners someone will just ask when you want them.

This is Emily and Lonny returning to shore on the wave runner.  You might notice the banana boat has a full load.

 And now they are gone.  

The wave runners were fun but that water being thrown in your face is saltwater.  Still not sure how I liked that.

Emily and Lonny are out there swimming but more importantly looks like we finally found Waldo.

 It is a rough life sitting on the beach all day.

I am not sure but it looks like Lonny and Emily talk with their hands.

That guy in the blue t-shirt was our personal assistant.  He arranged the jet skis, took Lonny to the ATM, showed us where to get  the best empanadas in Cartagena.  Another guy took care of the drinks and chaperoned restroom visits.  It's weird life.

I expected the ocean to be Caribbean blue here but it was warm and the sand was fine.

We ate dinner outside at a really nice hotel.  The food in Colombia was so good, we should consider going back.  The dessert was unforgettable.  One time when we went to Hawaii, we ate at a restaurant at our hotel.  The dessert was so delicious we went back the next night for the same dessert and discussed it repeatedly.  In fact earlier this week when Eric visited us in Peru we talked about that Hawaiian dessert again.  The dessert we ate that night in Colombia was equally as memorable.  We like our food.

 These girls below are employed.  They make their money posing for pictures with tourists like us.  I don't know why that hasn't caught on in the US.