Guest Post: Vagabond in the Galapagos

Today, we want to tell you about two really fantastic people who are currently sailing in the south Pacific. Otto and Lili are two very good friends Alyson and I made while traveling through the southern Caribbean. Unlike us, they have their own boat named Vagabond. Its a 46′ Dix sailboat that Otto built himself. They left from South Africa on Vagabond over 3 years ago and have been sailing their way around the world ever since.

Otto, Lili, and Alyson reveling during the Colombian Independence Day Festivals in Cartagena.

Alyson and I last saw Otto and Lili in Cartagena, Colombia where we all spent several weeks enjoying festivals, playing backgammon tournaments and exploring the city. Since then Vagabond has sailed through the San Blas Islands of Panama and on through the canal. Yesterday, we received an email with some fun and amazing photos of their current location, the Galapagos Islands. We thought you guys would enjoy these!

From Lili and Otto:

“Hola amigos & amigas

Yesterday we went on a tour of the island and the attached pictures tell a story. We are incredibly impressed how things are done here – very eco friendly and tastefully laid out. Everywhere you go, there are signs carved out of wood that are very informative and loads of benches to rest ones weary feet from all the walking in the heat. We absolutely love it here – the wildlife is amazing and we are having such fun swimming and frolicking with the sea lions, especially the pups, in the water.

Today and tomorrow we will spend refuelling with diesel and then we are going to go diving in a place that is notorious for its viewing of hammerhead sharks, the following day we will take a ferry to the next island over called Santa Cruz where we will visit the Charles Darwin Scientific Research Centre and then we will just hang around for a few more days to enjoy the wonderful snorkelling and other sites. It’s so nice being a tourist again.”

At the Volcano Crater with our guide Carlos.

Benches in the Park.

Galapagos Land Tortoise.

Galapagos Marine Iguana.

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Hobnobbing With Alabama Politicians and World Travelers

The past week has been a crazy busy one for us at Hop & Jaunt! After a fun filled Easter weekend where we got to hang out with family and friends the weeks started in full blast. Since starting our little design firm we’ve been lucky enough to get new clients and projects rolling in. One of our current projects was designing a new site for Nomadic Chick, a travel writer and overall cool chick. It was a fun project and she was brave enough to give a lot of creative freedom. So if you haven’t visited her site yet, now’s the time to do so!

Nomadic Chick

After staying up unitl 4 am. working on a project one night the next day we had to wake up at 5:45 am. as we had been invited on a road trip to the state capital! A week earlier we had met and lunched with a couple of very nice ladies representing the local chamber of commerce and they had invited us to ride along with local businesses as they traveled to the state capital to grill lunch for the state politicians. Never ones to pass up on a chance to visit new places, specially with free food, we hopped on board the bus and joined the group for “Convington County Day At The Capital.”
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Boat Sitting: A Luxurious Alternative to Hostels

The roof tops of Cartagena

So we’ve been living on the sea for the past eight months.  And life was good.  But once we arrived in Colombia, it was time to go ashore and try life on land for awhile.  Skipper Paul was kind enough to let us stay on his boat until the craziness of Festival Week subsided, but once the locals returned to work…so did we. 

Alyson and I took to the streets everyday in search of the perfect accomodations.  And while hostels are overly abundant and accomodating in Cartagena, we wanted something a little more unique.  Ideally we had in mind a nice little apartment overlooking some scenic downtown plaza.  Our friends say that “we have Champagne tastes on a beer budget”, but everyone has to have a dream.

Its really quite difficult arriving in a new place and trying to find a place to settle down.  Cartagena’s streets are a labyrinth of alleyways and narrow corridors, and the midday heat was exhausting.  Not to mention that we have no car and no phone.  Its not easy, but we were determined.

Looking for Apartments

We visited a few rentals.  Some were high end and some were more economical.  We ended up looking at a few high end apartments as the rent listed in the ads and the “actual” rent were off by a few zero’s behind the cost! But while we were there it was nice to imagine living in such a posh, clean, and cool place.  It turned out that our timing for renting long term could not have been worse. Cartagena is a touristic city and it’s seasons are high from November to January. In these few months most of the businesses make up to 80% of their yearly income! Especially for renters. We found that Cartagena offered almost every type and level of accomodations. In fact, during the high seasons most condos, apartments, houses, mansions, rooms, and any other type of living quarters are rented by the day. Thus if you were on a vacation there are endless alternatives to staying at the typical chain hotel ( though they have really nice ones as well).

Stopping in a diner to get out of the heat and have some lunch.

Looking for apartments is tiring.

We found that the prices varied extremely as well. A high end, furnished two bedroom apartment in the center of town will go between $1000-2000 a month. This was a bit too high for us, and wishing they would of said as much in the beggining of the 2 hour tour, we grit our teeth and headed back out into the heat.  

A modern flat in the historic old townNice Balcony View

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