Ready Now And Cheap
When I arrived in Cartagena in the middle of the night, I met a Chilean guy named Rodrigo who was also planning on doing a sailboat trip across the Darien Gap and to the San Blas Archipelagio. He spoke no English and a heavily accented Spanish, so it was slow going with conversation, but at least he knew which chicken bus to catch into town. I would've otherwise have paid for a cab.
The chicken bus was more disco than chicken, with frills and other paraphernalia hanging about, swinging to the doof-doof music from cheap speakers while black lights hummed under the dash and colorful disco lights danced inside the cabin. It's driver was a cheery type, dancing as much as one can while seated behind the wheel, and he seemed more interested in enjoying the drive and the music, honking and waving at his bus driver friends, than picking up new passengers.
Though I enjoyed the experience, in retrospect I would've been better off paying for a cab by myself. Rodrigo turned out to be one of those persistent Latino guys that would not take a hint and I was glad when he checked out of the hostel early to meet up with his sailboat.
Later that morning, however, I got a call at the hostel from the sailboat captain on behalf of Rodrigo. Apparently, tomorrow was the day of departure, and for about 260USD I could be onboard. It was tempting, since I was on a schedule and didn't have a boat yet, and that the usual going rate was nearly 400USD for the voyage. I agreed to meet the captain in the afternoon but in the end, stood him up.
It was probably the best decision I made. Now I had time to explore beautiful Cartagena and the opportunity to find a Rodrigo-less boat, which turned out to be The Delfin Solo.
The chicken bus was more disco than chicken, with frills and other paraphernalia hanging about, swinging to the doof-doof music from cheap speakers while black lights hummed under the dash and colorful disco lights danced inside the cabin. It's driver was a cheery type, dancing as much as one can while seated behind the wheel, and he seemed more interested in enjoying the drive and the music, honking and waving at his bus driver friends, than picking up new passengers.
Though I enjoyed the experience, in retrospect I would've been better off paying for a cab by myself. Rodrigo turned out to be one of those persistent Latino guys that would not take a hint and I was glad when he checked out of the hostel early to meet up with his sailboat.
Later that morning, however, I got a call at the hostel from the sailboat captain on behalf of Rodrigo. Apparently, tomorrow was the day of departure, and for about 260USD I could be onboard. It was tempting, since I was on a schedule and didn't have a boat yet, and that the usual going rate was nearly 400USD for the voyage. I agreed to meet the captain in the afternoon but in the end, stood him up.
It was probably the best decision I made. Now I had time to explore beautiful Cartagena and the opportunity to find a Rodrigo-less boat, which turned out to be The Delfin Solo.
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