Many days and many miles has passed since our last post back in January. We are still in the game but many things has happened since our last report. We have added a new family member to our crew list, we have sailing more than 1500 miles and visited many cool places such as St Barths, Saba, BVI and now finally Colombia where we are at this very moment.
St Marten – a great place to wait for the stork
Meanwhile we were waiting for Theodor to be born we were spending our days in Sint Marteen. Our stay in Sint Marteen felt pretty slow (as it should be when you are super duper pregnant). Olivia went to school 5 days a week and besides doing a lot of hospital-checkups we spent most of our time at the local gym or on the beach.
The first trip with a crew of four
Things started to move again when a super cool dutch family came and joined us for a 3 weeks sailing trip. We had a great time together and besides being treated with super yummy food made by our guests on a daily basis we also managed to check out most of British Virgin Islands together.
An amazing sail to Colombia
This was the first real leg we did as a family of 4 on our own. Things tend to me slightly more complicated when you have two small ones onboard that requires constant attention and care. Suddenly you have to compromise between a perfect sail setup and a diaper change. Olivia was AMAZING on this trip and it was a pleasure to sail the 800 miles+ distance from the BVI´s to Cartagena in Colombia.
The trip took us 6 days and over half the distance we had the wind straight in our back that made it perfect for our light wind sail.
Colombia – very nice – very warm
We have already spent a lot of time here in Cartagena earlier years and it is nice to be back. The old part of the town is fantastic and there is always something going on somewhere if you feel restless. Sure it is very very touristy but in a rather nice way.
The only downside is that it is very warm over here during the days, sometime too warm- especially for the kids. Lucky us we have air condition onboard!!
Olivia and I have been to a local skatepark a couple of times and I have to admit my “papa-heart” beats pretty hard when I see her “kick-biking” around with the guys in the pool. Go Olivia- Gooo
Bogota – the worlds most dangerous city (according to the internet)
We just came back to Cartagena after a 5 days visit to Colombias capital – BOGOTA. Theodor is in desperate need of a passport and the only place you will find a Swedish embassy in the whole of South America is in Bogota.
I can’t really say that we went all over the place and truly explored what this big city (8 million people) has to offer but we did have a good time. You can do many things while traveling with 2 kids but to explore a huge city by foot is not really recommended. The cold weather was a bit of a suprise- We had no idea that Bogota is positioned almost 3000 meters above sea level.
Isn’t it super dangerous in Colombia?
Many people thinks its very dangerous over here. We often gets comments like: aren’t you afraid? Isn’t it super dangerous in Colombia? Are you not worried over the kids?
I think Colombia has a bad reputation from passed years and I also think media has been helping out with the bad reputation. I have never felt threatened or seen anything bad happening to anyone during my time here. The police presence is massive in Cartagena and to be honest they are the only one sending out dodgy vibes.
Next destination – San Blas
We will stay here in the big city for another 5 weeks before it is time to head 200 miles north-west to San Blas where we will stay for a longer period of time. Earlier plans has changed (again) so the Pacific Ocean has to wait for us another year.
//Daniel
It’s such a joy to follow you guys, and I feel so lucky to have been part of your adventures for a small time. You guys are inspirations. Congratulations on your new addition. Much love! Claire from New Zealand. (Portobello to Cartagena).