Isla del Rosario

Tara Larkai
Oct 1, 2015
4 min read

The boat took off slowly after everyone had boarded. The "captain" and crew hurriedly put on their life vests and ensured that we all had one on too. They kept looking around like a thief in the night that was afraid of getting caught. As soon as we passed the navy ships, they immediately took off very fast showing us the true meaning of a speed boat. Lol The ride was smooth but I kept a look out because I didn't completely trust them. We passed several island villages that were not pleasant to look at as they were dirty and some even had a pile of trash by the shore. Reminded me of Labadi and Nima.The color of the ocean in these areas were brownish. I was just praying that Isla Rosario ocean is as pretty as the pictures we saw. We made a couple stops before getting to our final destination. The stop before us was Island Baru...absolutely beautiful. Featuring white sand beaches and very clear blue waters. It is very populated with tourists, day trippers and vendors. A couple of people got off there.

We were staying at Gente De Mar, a 5 star resort on Isla Rosario. It is equally beautiful as Isla Baru however it is more private. We didn't get to find out how private until after the day trippers left. We arrived around 11:30am. We were greeted by one of the staff who barely spoke English. He took our bags into the lobby area and proceeded to ask for our information however his English wasn't cooperating. Lol I stepped in with my Spanish and we were able to check in okay. We were given an actual room key not a keycard but a key and taken up to our room on the second floor. The room...very basic. A queen bed and a twin bed to the side. ( it makes no sense as the room isn't even that big). There wasn't an actual bathroom instead there is a shower, toilet and sink on a pedestal in the room. The shower and toilet were on the separate sides and separated by a shower curtain. However it was clean and smelled good so I wasn't complaining.

We were greeted by an English speaking staff when we came downstairs to enjoy the beach. He gave us the round down on everything. He said they ring a bell at 11am for waters ports, then at 1:30pm for lunch and at 3pm for the day trippers to leave back to the mainland. Our stay included all meals so that was one less thing to worry about. The beach was speculator. On a Wednesday, there weren't that many day trippers. We found two beach chairs and made ourselves comfortable. Coming from Hawaii, you would think we were tired of the ocean but this view...man it was divine!

The water was very warm because the temperature was very hot that day. I thought Hawaii was hot but Columbia heat is on another level. The water was so clear that we could clearly see our feet at the bottom of the ocean floor and also some very exotic fish. There is no point in even snorkeling because the fishes come very close to the shore...we saw silver needle fishes, yellow and black fishes and some very white fishes. I was like a big kid at an aquarium. Lol

Lunch was served soon after the bell rang. Some type of Tuna fish, coconut rice and plantains with tomato juice the basic lunch that they serve everyday. This was the best tomato juice I have ever had. Usually tomato juices taste soupy but not this one. We actually doubted it at first and thought it might be guava but it was very good.

By 4pm after all the day trippers had left, we were the only guests there. It was all of a sudden very quiet. There were about 5 staff members there taking turns to wait on us. They also took our order for dinner. We chose steak, fries and salad. It did not disappoint.

There was no tv in our room and the only tv at the resort was in the lobby. Besides the beach there was nothing else to do. There were 2 other hotels nearby but it was the same situation. We were bored!! We are not beach people. We like to be on the go when on vacation so this was very new to us. We talked to the staff about things to do in the area. They gave us a map and pointed out a few areas to explore such as the town, lagoon and the other hotels. One of the staff offered to walk us to see the lagoon nearby and also the other hotels. The entire area is very forest like. Lots of trees, exotic birds, stray cats/dogs, geckos etc. The only light you see is at the hotels. Other than that it's all very dark. Oh and the mosquitoes! The most aggressive I have ever encountered. My entire body is stil covered in bites.

Upon return, we decided to call it a night after a couple of drinks. Tomorrow would be different as we plan to go into town.

Next morning, we woke up and gave our order for breakfast. We had empanadas and scrambled eggs with coffee and tea.

We headed into the town after breakfast with a map that the hotel had given us but it was not very clear. We got lost a couple times but we arrived after 45 minutes.

It's a very small town almost like a village with small brick buildings and shops. Again, just like Ghana. This is the poor part of the Island It seems. People living in uncompleted homes and selling small things here and there as their hustle.

We returned in time for lunch. This time we requested fried red snapper, rice and salad with coconut lemonade. (best drink ever)

This was our last night on the island so we wanted to make the most of it. Hubby engaged in a game of dominoes with the staff after a failed attempt of teaching me. lol

Although, we were going to miss the beautiful view, we were secretly excited to get back to the fast pace of Cartagena.

#Colombia #ROSARIO