Expedition to Baru

One of the enjoyable parts of cruising is exploring new places. We haven't been to too many little towns in Colombia this time because of all the work projects we had going on Astarte. But today, thanks to Kate and DJ from the sailboat "Hello World," we made our way to the little village of Baru. It was about a 5 mile dinghy ride through open bays and mangrove cuts. Getting there was half the adventure. Some of the mangrove cuts were small alleys through the trees that would be difficult to find if you didn't know. We started at 0715 in order to get there in time for the limited amount of seafood arepas that are made daily by a woman in the town. They are 2000 pesos each (a bit over a dollar).

The town is definitely not a tourist town. Definitely. In fact, other than a few cruisers anchored in Cholon, there are probably very few folks who stop by here. It is a typical small Colombian fishing town. Several tiendas, lots of houses, dirt roads, dogs, chickens and roosters and donkey carts. We tied up behind the house that sells gasoline and fish. We roamed through the town heading first to order our arepas (and some for the entire anchorage!). Then stopped by a few tiendas (which were decorated for Christmas) and looked around a bit. The church was closed and there is a technical school in the town. But most people look like they are fishermen with lots of boats behind the homes on the water.

We went back to get the warm arepas, and then got some shrimp and gasoline. The shrimp is fresh frozen without heads at a pretty reasonable price. They were 16,000 pesos (a bit over $8) for one kilo (2.2 pounds). We'll have them for dinner tonight and see how they are.

The trip back was a bit wet as the wind picked up and the waves were a little choppy. But we made it back and checked off another village in Colombia – a visit to Baru.

Michael did more sewing and Barbara did cleaning and we did a lot of visiting with David and Damon on Braudair who gifted us with some spare knot meters and depth sounders.

Tomorrow the weather looks good enough to head to the Bernardos and then on to Panama hopefully the following day. The seas are a bit high but will continue to settle over the next few days. We want to sail so we'll go sooner rather than wait until they are too flat which may mean no more wind.

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