This Columbian island is beautiful,you notice right away that the water is clear, clean, Bahamas quality. I could see the bottom fifty feet below on the approach. There is a long barrier reef which protects the island from the trades and provides an excellent calm anchorage.
After getting the hook set I followed the instructions in the cruising guide for the paper work cha-cha to clear into the country. The use of a ships agent is a must, the only one that is recommended is the Livingston agency. It says call the Thomas Livingston agency on VHF 16 in English. I did that several times with no response I even tried in Spanish, Stray Cat is "Gato Vagabondo". That got a response which is that Livingston does not exist; como? he is dead. Talk about embarrassed!
They do population control here thus preventing mainland Columbian's or any other nationality from staying so we can stay twenty four hours with no additional fees excepting the $100.00 for the cha-cha. Beyond that period there is a $38. fee for up to 30 days per person. The exchange rate is 20 to 1 here so our dollar goes a long way but since this is a holiday meca for Columbian's things are generally more expensive then other locations.
I'm waiting for The "live" ships agent I employed to return with my Zarpe so we can leave. The Zarpe is an important document since the next country will not allow you to clear in without the Zarpe that shows you legally cleared out of the previous country.
If I had the time I would stay here for a while,I like the cleanliness, island charm, and so far the people have been very polite and there are no security problems here.
Mark
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