Today we woke up bright and early to head to Contadora Island. I was up at 5 and Joel shortly after. Our goal was to leave our hotel room at 6, grab a quick breakfast, then get an Uber for the 20 minute drive to the marina. I was a little nervous 1) we wouldn’t wake up, 2) we wouldn’t be able to find the check-in desk, and 3) the ride itself. It all went well! The ferry was nearly full by the time we boarded but the kids and I sat near one another. I was the smallest ferry I’ve been on and I was worried the ride would be extra rocky, but it wasn’t too bad. I was able to sleep for about 20 minutes, which helped.
Landing at the Contadora dock was confusing. There was a lot of staff from various hotels and vendors for for golf cart rentals. We weren’t too sure where to go or what to do. Eventually our hotel guy found us and we were loaded into a golf cart to go to the hotel. Our room wasn’t ready yet, as it was 9:30 am and check-in was at 2 pm, but the hotel held our bags as we hung out on the beach. The kids loved the beach, which wasn’t a surprise. We had to force them to rest under the umbrella once or twice to reapply sunscreen but they went strong until 3:00… with only a few cheeses Ritz cracker sandwiches and strawberry Kists. The sun was definitely getting to me and Joel. We were drinking cervas and not enough water. Joel was getting crabby and sunburnt. I was feeling faint every time I’d stand up. Overall, it was a good day, just with some arguing from Caroline about sitting under the umbrella. Naturally we all got a little to sun kissed.
We skipped lunch but had dinner at Angelina’s. It was a 5 minute walk from our hotel and the prices were about half the cost. The kids had $8 burgers and fries, which were $20 for the burger alone at the hotel. Joel had prawns and I had a grilled fillet, each around $15. It was all good. The restaurant was basically in someone’s yard. The family home’s patio area was right next to the restaurant tables. The only thing this place is cash only, whereas we can charge at the hotel. Cash is quickly dwindling as everything is cash only. It’s quite stressful especially knowing there isn’t an ATM on the island and we’re here for 2.5 more days. Luckily breakfast is included with our stay, so we just need money for a light lunch and dinner.
After dinner we met with the folks who will be taking us out on a snorkeling/fishing trip tomorrow morning. It’ll be a private tour, and they’re aware that I get motion sickness so it’ll be nice because they can drop me off at beaches when I’m not feeling well. After the details were squared away, we locked the kids in the hotel room and made our way to the supermarket to get some water for the next few days. 600ml bottles of water are $3 at the hotel and water isn’t necessarily safe to drink. It probably wasn’t a great idea to go out. Mosquitoes were ferocious. Plus it was dark and we were walking in an area we didn’t know. The island itself is really small and the supermarkets are about 10 and 13 minutes away from the hotel… and the further supermarket is maybe 3 minutes away the other end of the island. So that’s about 15 minutes to walk from one end to the other at the narrowest part of the island. People mostly drive golf carts, although there are a few cars. Anyway, we went to the first market and bought a pack of 20 waters for $10, which is outrageous in MN, but such a deal out here. Then I mentioned I wanted to check out the second market since they’re so close to one another. Joel told me to walk ahead, since he was carrying the pack of water. So I did and got us some beers and candy for the kids. I was in there for a few minutes and when I paid and left, joel still hadn’t arrived. It was so odd, I thought to myself and assumed he didn’t walk all the way to meet me since the water was heavy. I started walk back towards where I left him but didn’t see him. Did I mention the road is sparsely lit so there are stretches where it’s so dark I couldn’t see the ground I was walking on. From a distance I saw someone that looked like it couldn’t been Joel but they were walking away from me, so I assumed Joel had set the water down somewhere and was going to grab it. So I followed and when I got closer, I saw it wasn’t him. So then I debated if I should walk to the hotel but considered how he would really never leave me to walk back alone. So I turned around and started walking back to the market again. There were 4 men working on a motorcycle next door to the market, so I was thinking about how I’d try to ask them, in horribly broken Spanish, whether they saw a man carrying a pack of water. Luckily before I got to them, I saw Joel walking towards me. He nights been grumpy on the beach but now he was extra grumpy. Apparently someone had offered to drive him to the market and he took them up on it, which is insane. They dropped him off there and when he tried to opened the market’s door, it wouldn’t open. I had the same issue since the door looks like you need to pull on it, but it actually needed to push. He saw the girl working the till but she was counting the drawer. Since the door didn’t open and she was counting the till, he assumed they were closed and kept walking to find me thinking there was another store. He got to the other side of the island and realized there wasn’t and started heading back. That’s when he saw me from a distance, as I was walking towards fake Joel. What a hassle. Plus again, super dark road, unfamiliar area, and no cell phones. I’ve had cellular on my cell phone up until this point but turned it off since Google Map works without cellular, and we can get WiFi from the hotel on the beach. Anyway, made it back and now everyone is sleeping but me. And it’s only 9:12. I’m so glad for them! Tomorrow’s goal is to be extremely diligent about reapplying sunscreen. Caroline’s lower back is so burnt she’s having a hard time sleeping. Poor girl. I’ve been applying my super expensive antioxidant/vitamin face serum onto the kids’ super burnt parts, hoping it’ll help heal them faster.
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