Location: Manzanillo, Colombia
Saturday I jumped a bus to a beach north of Cartagena called La Boquilla. It’s a long stretch of gray-sand beach lined with thatched-roof places where you can get fish and rice, something cold to drink, and a hammock in the shade. Austin and I were out there the previous weekend. There is a point farther still, but it looked long and possibly sketchy to walk there along the beach, so I went on a recon excursion to see how to get out there. After talking to people for a while I found out you can get there by boat, or by motorcycle taxi. The latter being the most inexpensive.
Here's a little video of the mototaxi. It's mostly a great shot of my knee...
I found myself a mototaxi and we bombed down the beach. At the end of the walkable beach we turned towards the interior, a mangrove swamp where there are tin-roofed shanties where fishermen live. The roads are packed dirt, mud, and goodness knows what else. About a kilometer in a river empties the mangrove swamp into the ocean. The rickety bridge that spanned the 50 meters of thigh-deep water was made of stakes pounded into the river bottom decked with anything somewhat flat and wooden. I got off, paid the bridge man, and the three of us pushed the motorcycle across the shaky bridge.
We drove up into the hills on the other side on a washed out two track that spit us out on a beach called Mangita.
A crescent beach was sandwiched between two sandstone cliffs. Reminded me of hidden beach in Marquette, but a little bigger.
Aguila, the local brew, fried fish, patacones (fried plantains), and coconut rice on the beach. Goodness knows no bounds... They bring you the 'menu natural', which are about 6 fresh fish on a big plate. You pick out one that looks good, arrange a price (haggling always included...) and then twenty minutes later he shows up on a plate with other goodness!
When it rains here, it pours. The streets fill with water, and taxis, busses and motos plow through it like snow in da U.P.
