Took an early morning, 100 mins long ferry ride to Isla Contadora, in Las Perlas islands. Staying in a smart guest house, run by a smarter Tony, who has lived on the island for 40 years, we have had some insight into island life.
We have hired a golf buggy, de rigueur transport here, to explore the stunning five beaches. The island is 1.6km long, approx. 0.6km at its widest. So why, you may ask, do you need a buggy? Because it is varying between 28 and 32 degrees of high moisture heat, day/night in, day/night out. A little walk is alot of sweat. Great for four days, couldn’t live here.
Some say the island is cursed, the Spanish using Contadora to count the pearls raided from the archipelago before despatch to Spain. Certainly there are many signs of decaying buildings, many of which are so big as to be serious eyesores. Here is a good description of how the Columbian finances dried up. And check out the photo of the beached Columbian ferry which is still here. I’m not saying nuttin’, OK?
And the Panama hat has gone AWOL again. Sorry Phoebe. We left on a journey with it sat next to us on the front seat and when we arrived it had jumped buggy. Retraced our journey, but it is hiding. Maybe it knows more than it’s telling us, huh?
Chris & Kath's Travel Time 