Day 8 -- Islas del Rosario

Today started a little earlier than usual since we had to be at the port by 8am to check in for our boat trip to the Islas del Rosario. We boarded our ship (Alcatraz III) a little after 8am and we set sail at 8:30. The Islas del Rosario are a set of small coralline islands located south of Cartagena and the Bocagrande peninsula. There are many reefs surrounding the islands and the entire group of islands has been protected and designated a national park by Colombia.

Our trip began as we traveled slowly through the Bahía (Bay) de Cartagena (there was a lot of boat traffic in this bay). As we passed through the Canal de Bocachica into the Caribbean, we saw 2 forts that historically served as the front line of protection for Cartagena against pirates: Fuerte San José de Bocachica and Castillo San Fernando de Bocachica.

After a couple of hours at sea, we docked at Isla del Rosario and visited the small aquarium there for about an hour. At the aquarium we watched cat sharks feed on fish (while Snowy Egrets sat on their heads trying to steal some snacks from the sharks!), huge groupers, and a short little dolphin show. There was a little tide pool and some flamingos to look at, but nothing on par with the Seattle or Monterey Bay aquaria!

Next, we traveled to Isla Barú and visited Playa Blanca after eating a traditional lunch of fried fish (with the head and everything -- I didn’t eat the head though). The beach was very pretty with soft white sand and the water was a lovely Caribbean turquoise. The only drawbacks here were the vendors. They were absolutely everywhere and very annoying. Carlos and I simply went into the water to avoid them.

After 2-3 hours of playing on the beach, we got back on the Alcatraz III and set out to return to the port of Cartagena. We arrived back in Cartagena around 6pm -- this was a really fun day at sea and a very worthwhile day trip from the city.

Once back in El Centro, we took showers then walked to Brianzola to recharge with more gelato. I had pistachio again -- I wanted to try a different flavor, but the pistachio was so good! After our pre-dinner dessert, Carlos and I walked to Parque Fernandez de Madrid to order pizza at Pizza en el Parque (we ate here once before and the thin crust pizza was very delicious so we came back again). We ordered 2 medium pear and ham pizzas (same price as one large pizza) to take back to the hotel. Today’s trip to the Islas del Rosario was extremely fun, but also pretty tiring so it was nice to have a laid-back evening.