[pe2-image src=”http://lh4.ggpht.com/-KttPDkkMgnY/UT0GyXs5tpI/AAAAAAAATr8/3lBM-6bLyfs/s144-c/P2251675.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/112133179186774955122/SouthAmericaSection2Stage12Colombia1EsmeraldasBoarderColombiaPanama#5853842553077085842″ caption=”Yuck! This was not one of ‘my’ shoes floating there for ages already, a breeding place for flies or whatever…” type=”image” alt=”P2251675.JPG” ]

Pos: here
Loc: Bahia Solano
Acc: Navy room
Dist: 48,4 km
Start: 6:35 End: 17:15

No paddling tomorrow

The sleep on my tiny horizontal space behind the wheel was actually all right – until 4 am, when it started to rain…no Colombian night so far without rain. I was prepared to pull my tent fly over me, but as it was not only a light rain as usual, but quite a squall, I had a hard time to breeze *and* to keep the rain off my sleeping pad and blanket. Sure it was still running *under* my pad, and I was floating like kind of an island…

The boys made some noise and talks also in their poor efforts to spread the tarps over their hammocks or to put themselves into rain gear, so the night was over too early. Eventually I didn’t care anymore what may get wet, as I
knew next night I’d be in Bahia Solano in civilization with a laundry machine. So for one night it worked, but no more nights on this boat, please!

In first light and a brief light spell in the rain, I packed my mostly soaked gear, jumped into my anyway soaked paddling clothes, and was ready to go. We had to drive 7 km back to the coast, as the drift went offshore this night.

Just boarded into my kayak, the rain continued, this time not as heavy as last day, but much longer, until 12 am! Not that pleasant, as with the rain again came a moderate north wind, and this time I was going due north. I crawled along with 4 km/h, and couldn’t even enjoy much of the scenery in bad visibility. Life is hard as a sea kayaker! 🙂

Eventually it stopped, but my only goal for the day was to reach Punta San Francisco Solano, the headland turning into Bahia Solano. This is where I’d be stopping anyway (if I’d be allowed to camp on the beach…), as I will cross over the bay to Punta Nabauga the next time, and would not make the wide detour into Bahia Solano at all.

But I did appreciate again the hospitality of the Colombian Navy! I got a nice almost new air conditioned room, and my skin will be able to recover in dry and cool air. Thanks for looking after me!

Bahia Solano itself is a reasonable big village, maybe 1000 people, with air strip and cell phone connection. They even have a few cars here on the bumpy unpaved streets, plus a bunch of motor bikes. I also saw a few guest houses or small hotels, small shops and a bank, but with a beach wide and muddy on low tide only. So, life is quite all right here! Still Cristian, the boss of the Coast Guard in Bahia Solano, who picked us up from the wharf with a Navy pickup truck, was wearing his gun belt over his civillian shorts and t-shirt…The Navy battalion was again a small village of it’s own, and I felt privileged to stay there. Thanks!