Carribean Sea
December 2013 to May 2014
Toss a coin: the Atlantic or Caribbean Sea, yet knowing that you gain in both cases. The hard but delightful is dilemma between these two good, however it’s easier to let yourselves sail with constant trade winds that blow as if they were ordered and make sailing through the turquoise water exciting and inspiring. From Trinidad to Florida, it's not easy to resist any single point, but we stay aware of that and always ready for the challenge.
Around the Caribbean islands the rainbow is an everyday pleasure. This colorful smile of the sky announces rain as a greeting from the ocean, a gift for refreshing plants, people, boats and animals.
When you see a guy with dreadlocks there, it doesn’t neceserely mean he’s a rasta, but if you meet someone who carefully wakes up the plant before picking it at night, you can be sure he’s the real one. On each island you will encounter at least one rasta that will remind you, with a smile, of how we should live in harmony with nature and respect its laws. As well as copyrights of each pattern of green!
Local fruit come as a proof that it’s possible to become a health addict, without neglecting the pleasure of senses.
The blue color of warm sea invites you to dive through the swaying window to the underwater cartoon where you dream awake.
And even at night, colours won’t disappear thanks to birds and other little creatures whose voice tones paint the sonic landscapes of serial compositions.
Volcanoes are quietly proud of their masterpieces, although some of them are still trying to prove that they are not completed yet.
Spices, tropical forests, rum, vanilla ... show that the notion of clichés can have a pleasant perfume.
We have listed above some of the reasons why in history so many fought over the Caribbean Islands like children fight over toys. Our conclusion is that none of those is worth them as much as a natural mystic, their creator.
There's a natural mystic
Blowing through the air
If you listen carefully now you will hear
This could be the first trumpet
Bob Marley
Martinique
December 2013
Dominica
December 2013
Antigua
January 2014
Sailing from St. Martin to Costa Rica
May to August 2014
So many things happened while we were disconnected. Actually, we were connected but in some other beautiful world!
Guadeloupe
May 2014
Indigo friends welcomed us in their particular style, friendly, funny, we spent the evening in their enjoyable house with colorful nocturnal sounds from the forest that we really missed in the mutilated St. Martin.
St. Vincent and Grenadines
May 2014
St. Vincent
At one point we got lost, mesmerized by the deep green, and when we tried to get back to the sea, started descending the dry canyon it ended up with cliffs at the bottom… so, all the way back to the same highest point... but the coconut-boy told us to go that way, but who knows how many of these “that ways” were all around. Some paths everywhere, and bushes, trees, cows, climbing ... at one point we lost strength so I just sat down and mamadu disappeared to find some fruit and returned with a lime, quite enough, the water we had enough. Later, and again at the right time, a big guava and a mature mango poped up right on our way.
So we had to rush before the dark, just enough time to arrive to the beach and see the silhouette of the boat to swim towards her.
Bequia
So far, for us the only ones that stay wise enough to resist the system are Rastas, although there are many different types, true and false. On bekveju we met again the true ones, as we took a walk outside of the tourist scene.
Tobago Keys
We left behind our wish fulfilled: St Vincent and The Grenadines, although the tempo was a little too fast for us (x10) and the timing is quite tight, we stretch a day and savour it until the last crumb.
Mayreau
We were in a movie again last night, and in the movie means closely in life of people who live here. Dora is our new friend on the island, she is four years old and, very smart and funny. When we approached a house to see a kitten, Dora greeted us with the words: Hi, what's your name? Can I make you a braid?
We always prefer to be behind the scene and we don’t like to look like tourists, we suppose that we don’t and that local people notice that.
The most wonderful thing is exchange, people always have something to share. But this bloody thing called money have crept into the essence of people all over the planet and emerged all their imperfections on the surface. We are still chasing for some places where there is no such theme, and we believe they exist...
see more photos in gallerySailing to Bonaire
May 2014
We sail in a zigzag because of the dead down wind and to avoid the Venezuelan islands, even if it sounds insane. If the US authorities succeed in something it’s in paranoying the whole world, so we join the club of frightened by the rebellious. Or is it, as well as all similar stories in order to keep us away not to see what is actually happening in places where they dig and drill ...
We have stewed lenses for three more days, yesterday was the first, and the bread is on the way so we can dip it in.
Fruits abound, we have enough food for two or three weeks, only 3-4 eggs, because there were no real ones, only American eggs that are sold by millions in plastic boxes!
And we don’t need them, we have wonderful salads, frozen vegetables, cauliflower, broccoli, hamburgers 11pcs, frozen quiche lorraine, fresh pasta, various French cheeses, yogurt, ham, sausage, avocado, sauercrout, toppings for pasta of all kinds, even the tin for 8 "pain au chocolat" in a can, that you simply roll with chocolate bars and bake!
We figured out that in case of pirate attacks we just propose the menu, explaining that this is a homely boat, the champagne is ready waiting in the fridge...
We have literally 40 bucks in our pocket and we'll tell them the truth, which is that we come from a guerrilla state, that the owner of the boat dine on a cardboard box, that our card has expired, etc. the safe totally empty with his intestinal cramps, so let them believe in the whole story... And that we will be happy to share everything with them if they come to visit us!
Bonaire
May 2014
We sailed in last night and with the help of Angie, the german lady we tied to a buoy at the quiet west coast of Bonaire. These approximately 460 miles we really crossed as we could ever wish. On a couple of occasions we had to turn on the engine to speed up, rolling as usual when we go downwind etc; but all in all it was cool, without any trouble. It’s important because when we are only two it’s not always easy to stay awake whenever you need but you get used to it and you always find ways. The full moon followed us, which is a beautiful and useful for night shifts. Nobody feels good in the pitch darkness.
We drink coffee and tea and enjoy the "pain au chocolat" that waited a perfect moment since St Martin. These are the ones that you buy in form of the rolled dough and chocolate sticks in cardboard cans so you just roll them and bake so you eat them warm and fresh. So long Sarafina (in Marigot, St Martin), so long the Parisian bakeries with prizes ...
We had an evening dive around the boat, the sea bottom is very preserved, anchoring is forbidden in order to keep the sea world untouched.
One of our greatest pleasures is to bump on places that no one talked or wrote about. We took some road to find the famous pink flamingos, and at one point the asphalt road turned into dusty one. Soon we realized that we are in a cactus Land! Various types of cactus, cactus forests, vast as in Mexico or Arizona (we do not know how it really looks there) so dry and thirsty ... We expected much more humid climate because we were getting closer to the Equator, however, we are in the middle of the dry desert. At least on the South side of the island.
We continued anyway in order to get out of the desert, we stop to eat, but you can not even sit anywhere, there is no shade ... so we had a lunch standing under the bare tree, still careful because of all the cactus spines on the ground! Iguanas, lizards and goats are moving between these prickly monsters with earrings made of pieces of cactus.
A lot of donkeys, there is a shelter for them because they all got fired, but before the cars they played an important role. We found our way again and continued our quest for flamingos ...
Suddenly at the distance we see all the shades of blue, in the bay on the open coast with cliffs and countless windsurfers, arriving there we drowned in the knockout of turquoise blue and incredibly shallow bottom.
A bit further, Arizona again, the endless road through the desert and finally the wetland and a lake full of pink flamingos! They are wonderful, hilarious and they look like doing exercises, they dig their feet through the bottom, as if skating, probably seeking some tiny animals, shrimps, who knows. And they are so big! We had the impression that they are bigger than us! They were at several places so we were sneaking towards them, still a little bit far but enough to stare and admire them. They match perfectly into the colours around them: the turquoise colour of shallow lakes and brown sludge.
The next surprise were the salt - works... with pink water and hovering foam. We guess the pink comes from iodine, or they paint flamingos here. Hills of salt, everything is like in some sf movie... This is all in the southern part of the island.
see more photos in galleryAruba and Curaçao
May 2014
Here the digging and oil refineries are the main thing that tourists never see. Or they come from the much worse environment that it come up as normal. Incredible combination of oil and tourism. Of course, the tourist agencies never speak or write about it, and these worlds don’t get in contact. Congratulations on the successful combination of smelly refineries and multi levelled pool-beaches!
We became aware and we can confirm on this voyage that the world is changing, for the worse, and that nature is more than forgiving yet. The Man is a pest without soul and leaves no opportunity to change something behind him. Many people know this, there is some consciousness, but when you're on the spot and move to many places, you become a witness and hardly accept the fact that you can’t do anything about it, except looking for what little is left preserved.
see more photos in gallerySailing to Colombia
June 2014
The peak was around 6 this morning. We saw on the AIS a cargo ship crossing with our course, about 5 miles away, on the left side. Even we had a right of the way, we tried to avoid it, as usual, but he didn't do anything about it. It was closer and closer and we couldn't go too much off the course, because the wind from behind was really strong, so as the sea. Then cargo strangely changed its course, going towards us. Dushan tried to contact them on VHF a couple of times, but there was no answer. It was bigger and bigger, closer and closer, very frightening, as if he tried to mess with us. We turned the strong reflector towards him, many times, blinked for a while and then he turned even more towards us. This is one of the spookiest moments in our experience at sea. We started the engine, full speed ahead and went as much as we can in order to avoid them, when he turned to the left, chasing us! It was completely crazy, you never do that this way. Then we finally turned around completely and continued in parallel ways... Whoou, that was close. We were really mad. We took the name of the ship to contact someone, the company or so to tell that this sleepy crew is a real danger at sea.
The feeling was like in the first Spielberg’s movie, The Duel, with the truck driver pursuing the guy in the car...
Colombia
June 2014
Cartagena
New city, new continent, we goggle our eyes admiring all this handicraft, colours, pleasant physiognomies, music, beautiful streets, all the new fruit whose name we can not pronounce: lulo, borojo, grenadillo ...
The topic “One day in Latin America” or in Colombia is a pure taboo, we repress and change colors, explosions in the area of the neuro-centres for endurance are numerous. We underline: do not come here for one day, if you don’t have enough time, something like half a year to begin with and discover it slowly…
Pride is here and in several places we saw the inscription: Colombia, “pais hecho a la mana” (hand-crafted country). We're sincerely happy and inspired. We notice the funny and rigid appeal of a couple of English shops among all these domestic ones.
The culmination was in the morning trip to the market place, where we had severe hallucinations, almost we saw Castaneda selling avocados…Once again, we didn’t listen to warnings like “don’t go there, especially with the cameras”, but we went there, sure that these are the strong weapon against prejudices.
We really admire those countries where they don’t economize on food, and where you have enough of it. It is chaotic and dirty and beautiful, reminding of the “non-organized” countries (like ours used to be) but this chaos inspires, feeds, drives you mad, astonish you…but there is a lot of life there and you don’t feel like escaping it.
see more photos in gallery