Legal in Colombia

Providencia is geologically located off the coast of Nicaragua (see the dot on our "where are we" map, but is politically part of Colombia. Yesterday, we saw the "agencia de Maritima" Mr. Bush (no relation to what he calls "that crazy gringo"). He met us at the tourist office, we walked to his office and then we waited for the Port Captain to clear us in. He arrived, did his paperwork, then we walked to the Immigration office to get clearance. We are now all official, the yellow flag is down and we are set for a few weeks on the lovely island of Providencia.

The island is topographically stunning - it is volcanic in origin and has lots of hilly terrain. Yes, we will be climbing hills! There is a smaller island, Santa Catalina, attached to the larger island by a foot bridge. Several other smaller islands on the windward side are part of a National Park. The entire island, along with its sister island San Andres, were made part of the Unesco Seaflower Biosphere Reserve in 2000. This includes the two islands and a surrounding 300,000 square kilometers of marine area - about 10% of the Caribbean Sea. The objective is conservation and environmental protection of an ecosystem with great biological diversity.

The waters surrounding the island are that beautiful Caribbean turquoise, and coming in, we could actually see the bottom clearly in 30 feet of water. There are many coral reefs and there is supposed to be a rich underwater life here - so we will definitely spend some time in the water while here.

The hills also have many hiking trails. In the center, the highest peak is called "El Pico" which we are going to tackle. It is supposed to have quite a vibrant lizard life. The towns are small and have little bakeries, groceries and even an ice cream shop or two. We had a scoop yesterday after clearing in - and it wasn't the tastiest we've had - but it was ice cream. We may also rent a motor scooter and zip around the 17 sq. km. island.

The island is populated with almost 5000 residents, mostly from mainland Colombia. Traditionally known as Old Providence, there is quite a history for this small out of the way island. Dutch colonists made there home here in the 16th century and then were thrown out by the English who effectively colonized the island. They brought in Jamaican slaves to cultivate tobacco and cotton. The Spanish were a little miffed at the Brits success - so they did what they normally did in 1635 - invade! But they were not successful.

Because of its strategic location, the island provided convenient hide-outs for pirates waiting to sack Spanish galleons bound for home laden with gold and jewels. In 1670, the legendary pirate (of rum fame) Captain Henry Morgan, called Providencia his home base. From here, he regularly invaded Colombia and Panama. Legend has it that his treasure is still hidden on the island. Maybe we'll find it and can continue cruising a few more years!

Colombia laid claim to the islands. Nicaragua fiercely disputed that claim. A treaty in 1928 settled the claim which confirmed Colombia's sovereignty over the island. Nicaragua continues to press the issue at the International High Court of Justice in the Hague. Every so often, Nicaraguan boats get into the maritime space and the Colombians send in the navy and submarines to "saber rattle." It looks like at this point, the islands will remain Colombian.

After a good night's sleep (though there was a bit of a roll in the harbor), we'll probably go to shore today and walk around a bit. It will be a slow and easy weekend for the Astarte crew after the passage. Then we'll start exploring in earnest next week.

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