When you think whale watching, I bet you never think of going to Colombia. However, this turned out to be the highlight of my amazing three week trip around various parts of this big South American country, with my usual Trini tour group.
We had just visited the capital, Bogota, the mountain village of Salento, and the huge second city of Medellin, and now we were heading for the Pacific coast. The flight was delayed by several hours as is common in Colombia. We boarded an eighteen-seater propeller plane on a beautiful, sunny day in July 2016. The previous days had been cool despite being so close to the equator, as we were 8,000+ feet above sea level. We flew west over Andean mountains that looked crumpled rather than displaying the smooth, glaciated effect below sharp peaks as seen in mountain ranges much further north or south. After about an hour, this gave way to forested lowlands with meandering, sometimes brown, rivers. Soon, we got our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean and the plane coasted over a long, grey beach, which was backed by swampy lands. It glided to a stop at the tiny airport of the town of Nuqui.
Apparently, this small and remote Pacific town is only accessible by plane or boat and was established by runaway African slaves back in the day. We had to get our luggage to the jetty which was a short walk away, and several local boys facilitated this with old wheel-barrows along the rough road. Many of us changed into shorts for the boat ride to our eco-resort. This was a good move as we got quite wet even though our pirogue had a roof. Fortunately, the boatmen covered our bags with tarpaulin. We got stopped briefly by a military boat as we were passing the shanty village. It was interesting to watch young boys diving for crabs while we waited for our guide to explain who we were.
After about an hour beating against the waves, we docked at El Cantil Ecolodge, which actually meant that we were offloaded into the shallow water and muddy sand since the tide was out. After being served with a welcome fruit salad in the boat-house, we listened to a quick briefing about our accommodation, meals, etc., and were then shown to our cabins, arranged as a series of duplexes along the main pathway. Our room was very charming – wooden with high vaulted ceiling, two wooden single beds, and a pretty, tiled bathroom (cold water only). There were two hammocks set up in the verandah, inviting us to relax.
The bell rang for our late lunch at about 4pm and we walked up the path and climbed the steep steps to the dining room which revealed itself to be a large verandah with two long, beautifully decorated tables set up for our group. The view of the ocean and the forest behind the resort was breath-taking. We had a delicious fish meal but it was now too late for our scheduled whale-watching trip. In lieu of this, we went on a short hike along the beach and up to a double waterfall for a refreshing dip. Some of us also had a swim in the calm, warm ocean (first time in the Pacific) and enjoyed watching many flocks of pelicans flying overhead, presumably on their way to roost somewhere for the night. This is the life!
As there was no electricity in the cabins, I made sure to shower before it got dark. Our beds were now encased in mosquito netting and a lantern glowed softly on a side table. A generator provided power to the restaurant at night, two hours being set aside in which we could access the internet or charge our phones. After another fish dinner, our guide showed us points of interest on a large map of the area, and also explained the local politics. It seems that this bay is where humpback whales come to mate and, and a year later, to give birth. All very interesting. I slept well that night, despite a noisy thunderstorm.
I had hung my swimsuit and towel on the line just outside the back cabin window. They took a long time to dry in the humidity despite being under rafters. We were served fruit on our verandah, then eggs, breads, etc., in the restaurant. Our group set off in the pirogue early for our much anticipated whale-watching tour, and boy, were we rewarded!
It started slow. Our boat raced to any spot with a hint of a splash. Then, suddenly, there were humpback whales all over the place. We saw at least three high leaps right out of the water, though no one managed to get a photo as it happened so quickly. We did get photos of many flipper and tail slaps and we even had whales heading straight for us – scary as they were much bigger than our boat! There were also dolphins swimming and leaping about behind the whales. It felt very special to see these amazing animals so close up. We enjoyed three exhilarating hours that none of us will ever forget.
Then it was back to the resort for lunch, featuring the best ceviche I have ever tasted! This restaurant apparently is rated in the top eleven in the whole of Colombia, and I well believe it. The staff were friendly and attentive and all the food was special. A bit out of the way, though!!
That afternoon, we were offered a boat trip to a thermal swimming area, but I just felt to laze in a hammock with a book. My wet things were drying better since I laid them out on the front bannister. We drank a lot of wine that night with dinner, and I went to bed feeling very relaxed. Sadly, we had to leave early the next morning – far too soon was the group consensus. Fortunately, we still had Bucaramanga, Santa Marta and Cartagena to look forward to!
