the next beach

we arrived in playa blanca via motorboat shared by 20 people on monday morning. we had to take a cab to the grimiest market ever (not one vegetable, mud, dead dog) and there we caught the motorboat. on it were a bunch of locals on their way to and fro, doing their daily things, 3 swiss and a swedish guy who despite its being 9am was throwing back beer after beer. his reasoning being that he hadnt yet been to sleep. the swiss laughed at him behind his back each time he went for another.

after a 45 minute ride during which the water turned from aqua to a deeper, crystallized turquoise, the boat pulled up to a place near where that water touched fine, white sand. at this time of day, the beach was deserted except for a few locals who were able to point the way to the hotel. at the hotel, we learned that it costed only $2 to sling ones own hammock. good deal. we did that, though the hammock space was directly in the kitchen. no problem though, we changed a ran out to the beach. we found a secluded little restaurant on the side of the beach where the sand was rougher and more yellow, but the water was equally turquoise. the people there allowed us to use their sun-cover as long as we bought things. we stayed there until 4pm or so, had some beers, and lunched ona whole, fireed fish.

after resting up a bit, we watched the sun set and went to another place to eat our fried fish dinner. by the time we were done with that, it was fully dark and we sat out and looked at stars for a bit. by 830, the beach was totally dark and we felt satisfied with our day on our secluded-enough beach. sure, some people came around trying to sell us things, but it was expected and therefore not as overbearing as it could have been. the day was a success and we went to sleep. the breeze was nice, out in the hammocks, but since we were sleeping in teh kitchen where the 4 dogs and 3 cats were, we were subjected to some rude awakenings: dogs barking at everything that moved, except, weirdly, the cats, who were having sex.

we woke up and had a coffee at the hotel. well, we woke up at 6am when the guy came to clean things up aorund the kitchen with a rake. then we had coffee and milled around. soon, we went back to our secluded spot. we had our breakfast there of arrepa stuffed with a fried egg and then swam a bit.

lonely planet says that playa blanca is pretty deserted except in the early afternoon when tour boats arrive. the previous day, from our secluded post, we noticed some boats docking on the side of the beach with palm trees. not a disturbing amount, but enough that we were happy to remain where we were. they didnt coe to our side of the beach and we didnt go to theirs. then, we crossed theat line. our bright idea that morning was to leave our secluded haven to go sit closer to where the palm trees were.

indeed, the sand on this side of the beach was finer, but even when we got there, a tourist boat was docked and day-beachers were circulating about. we assumed that the tour boats were just early that day. but then, another tour boat came - this time it was a miniature sized cruise ship called, 'alcatraz' that had an appendage boat packed with maybe 100 tourists - the atrocity. the appendage boat came directly to the port of the beach we were sitting at and everyone got out and sat next to us. we couldnt easily move, as we had already paid for our specific, immovable sun-cover.

aside from the shreiking children this brought, naturally, who peed in the water turning yellow that which was once blue, other tour boats who arrived in rapid succession - the horror - the blaring music of these tour boats, next came the immense density of sellers: bracelets, not what we wanted. coconut juice, thanks, but we dont need 58,000. shrimps, again, thanks, but stop asking us. ask the tourists. we are here for seclusion.

we waited it out, but by the time they all left, sunset was coming. we went back to our hotel and talked with gilbert, the french owner who seemed friendly enough. he had been living on playa blanca for 10 years and his hotel is called wittenberg. his is the only place that lonely planet mentions in its book, but it is certainly not the only place to stay on the island. i am convinced that lonely planet chooses only to highlight european or american owned businesses - good or not - and wants to foster a network of enbubbled european and american trevelers who meet only each other and dont support local businesses. im sure the wittenbergs of the world give a percentage of their inflated earnings to lonely planet.

wittenberg is not a good hotel and gilbert is an anti-evolutionist. he owns about hald of playa blanca, but the hotel grounds are made of scruffy grass and unfinshed paved areas. you can sling a hammock, but only in the kitchen out bacck by a boggy marsh where the animals sleep (there was a runaway cow incident during our second night). the whole grounds are set so far back from the beach that you cant even hear the waves. and when he gives you his business card when you leave, it is really just one of those 'why you will go to hell' comics that people try to hand out on the subways in new york. its as though he bought the land, got his name in lonely planet, then stopped improving his business.

meanwhile, anna and i returned to our secluded spot wihtt eh nice owners who when we let told us that next time we came, we should stay with them. and in fact, all of the restaurants offer space to sling yuo own hammock, or offer tents to rent so that you can sleep actually on the beach. preferable.

the last day was spent again as though playa blanca was a secluded beach. we swam, played with seaweed, ate well and enjoyed what has been by far the nicest beach ive ever stayed at. the most beeautiful. in the end, not the most deserted, but very beautiful. the people all in all are nice. many of them exist by selling things to tourists, but the majority of people respect if you dont want something and dont hound you to death and many will even stp for non-sale-related-conversation just for the sake of being nice. of course if you want to leave playa blanca, dont rely on the word of the motorboat drivers as far as departure times are concerned. there is a definite lack of respect for schedules on play blanca, which i guess is one of those things im supposed to see as being a cultural difference, though im sure that if my cultural difference was to pay less for services not rendered on time, peopel wouldnt respect my culture.

anyway, playa blanca was an excellent introduction to the paradise we were and are seeking. next up is taganga, a beach near the town of santa marta. it is meant to be touristy, but even bluer water and even taller palm trees and whiter sand. further along is a national park with a beach whose shape is a perfect U, and then another further along, but you have to hike through the national park to get to it, the whitest white sand, the deepest blue water, the least amount of people and the coconutest yielding palm trees youve ever seen. we will get there eventually...