s/v Field Trip

Gotta love a local produce market! So... this is a blog post from a little while ago, as we've found the wifi in Panama pretty elusive.  It was a few days after Christmas, and time to venture into the street markets of Colombia to restock our fresh foods in order to  s t r e t c h  our leftover holiday items into full meals.  I made sure I had plenty of small bills and reusable bags before walking the 10+ blocks.   Luckily a friend offered to show me around, otherwise I'd have to keep my nose in a street map and miss seeing all the sights - like the ceviche street vendor with folks lined up in front of his cart, the young police men stationed at major intersections to 'keep the peace', and the lady sitting in a simple school desk along the sidewalk selling 'minutes' to recharge cell phones!  I quickly realized that I could find almost anything I needed (and lots that I didn't need) on the tables lining the sidewalks - alarm clocks, belts, fake crocs, cl...

After two beautiful days at sea, we barely arrived at 3:30 pm on Christmas Eve to the windy marina in Santa Marta with our friends, Loch Marin and Tulu.   A trip that I had been dreading, turned out to be one of the easiest so far.   We’d enjoyed our last port of call - ritzy Aruba, where high end shopping and a resort pool had us sitting in the lap of luxury.   Granted, we window shopped and stuck out like vagabonds in a crowd of Gucci-wearing upper class vacationers, but we enjoyed the new scenery.   Aruba is the smallest of the Netherlands Antilles.   It has separated itself from The Netherlands for the most part, and has its own currency.   Thankfully, though, the Starbucks on the boardwalk accepted credit cards, and I was ordering an iced green tea/lemonade everyday (sometimes twice a day, to be totally honest).   Bustling main road boasting upscale shops and traditional Dutch architecture Almost spent Christmas in Aruba!   ...