Americas in 71 days - Caribbean

DRIFTING IN CARIBBEAN, RACING IN BOGOTA

Exec Summary

This year, Klara and I are a bit lucky to have 10 weeks for travelling in Americas. Starting with Caribbean through Colombia, Galapagos, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, finishing with Portland, Seattle, NYC and 5-year HBS reunion in Boston. Despite some challenges, our first 2 weeks in Caribbean have been unforgettable - sailing on a two-mast sailboat, staring at stars during nights, fluorescent Bio Bay, and horse riding on the beaches. So far so good. J

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Bio Bay in Puerto Rico

We started our 71 day Latin-American trip with chilling couple days in Puerto Rico. It has a very addictive combination of comfortable US infrastructure coupled with super-relaxed latino style. We did nothing else but sleeping and related activities, enjoying lovely beaches and experimenting with all kinds of fantastic local food and cocktails. 

On day 5, Klara convinced me that we should get out of San Juan’s decadent rhythm. The Kia we rented reminded me of the ad for the latest Volkswagen Beatle “0-100km/h? --- Yes”. Except in this case I would modestly suggest “Maybe” – if you really push it hard. Still, swimming in jungle waterfalls and night kayaking in fluorescent Bio Bay – one of 5 such places in the world – was well worth it. The fluorescent blue-ish light around the paddle or a hand when you move it under water is a result of microorganisms trying to distract their predators. Not sure if effective, but definitely very surreal.

Caribbean Sailing Challenges and Rewards

After our stay in Puerto Rico, we boarded a lovely 2-mast sailboat Arabella together with ~30 people in St. Thomas for a romantic sail around Caribbean islands. To our surprise, the boarding felt like signing up for a  retirement facility in Florida – almost all of our sail-mates were over 60 and Americans – what a combination ;). Apparently, my freshly shaved head, U-tshirt and Eastern-European accent did not make much impression either – I have overheard a puzzled conversation about “who is this Russian mafia guy” J

Then another challenge struck. I figured my body is not exactly friends with bouncy rhythm of the boat. What started as an 18-hour sleep day on day 1 (I later learned one of the sings of sea sickness), culminated with unloading my heavy breakfast in three rounds on day 2 during a storm. Fortunately, lovely snorkeling, horse-riding on beaches, nights we slept outside with unforgettable star views and complimentary Champaign to celebrate Klara’s 30th bday have more than made up for the challenges above.

Racing in Bogota

From Caribbean, we moved to Bogota. The city underperformed my high expectations potentially also due to still feeling dizzy from the sailing. Although we did enjoy a recommended cable car trip to the overlooking Monseratti hill, the highlight of Bogota was our taxi ride to the airport. We were shocked to find out that taxi drivers refuse to go to Aeroporto during Friday afternoon.  We eventually found one good man, who after a good deal persuasion and doubling the fee was willing to go. After we took on the airport direction, we started to understand. The traffic just did not move. I guess similarly to Moscow, Bogota is one of a few cities where you can easily miss your flight despite a generous time plan – especially on Friday afternoon. We caught ours only thanks to Pedro’s knowledge of back streets, Schumacher speed and ridiculously assertive driving skills confirmed with his happy grin after each “victory”.  He showed us a completely new face to so-much underestimated Kia.