CHAPTER SIX
Beach Crab
They had arrived in Colombia and enjoyed most of the places frequented by the backpacking and tourist crowd. The final location visited would be the city of Cartagena. The bus dropped everyone at the city terminal on the south side of town. After disembarking, they hailed a local cab to take them to the center of the city. A cab eventually stopped and took them into the shanty town which everyone passes through when arriving from the south. Commenting on the abject poverty of the locals and the hostile environment of the area, he drove them slowly passing tin shacks and broken cement block buildings. TJ and Athena had witnessed many areas, rich and poor during their travels, but this time was different. The poor people were pushed together, with the rich living a stone’s throw away. And to add to the mix was the hustle and bustle of thousands of tourists making the rounds throughout the area. Like a giant invisible triangle all three sides were in contact with each other.
To the east lay the modern glass towers rising above the Harbor Bay and to the west was the old stone block historic center. TJ and Athena stayed in a rundown Hostel with a magnificent view of the street front. The Lady who checked them in, failed to inform them that due to apparent ongoing repairs to the water lines there was no running water in the room and therefore the shower also didn’t work for two frustrating days. On the balconies above the street hung flower baskets of assorted colors and designs. The old cobble stone streets led into different directions and past store fronts of modern restaurants and cafes. Many stores in the center sold emeralds produced by the mines in the eastern part of Colombia. Shop windows displayed jewelry and stones shinning a deep translucent green. The newer shopping district was among the many condo towers by the Bay. One day the thought came to have a walk along the beach and sit in one of the expensive restaurants for a special dinner. Both TJ and Athena dressed in the best and fanciest clothing that they carried in the pack backs. That included basically one clean white shirt and shorts for TJ and a little white dress that caught Athena’s eye back in Peru. They set out on foot by walking along the beach beside the shade trees and large rocks. The deep blue color of the ocean washed toward their feet and on the other side stood the backs of many buildings.
Making quick progress by walking and now being at the halfway point between where they needed to go, two men were walking towards them. The taller and more athletic looking held a cooler made of plastic. His friend smiled and carried a white plastic bag. They walked with smiles on their face and greeted TJ and Athena in a polite way.
Testing their Spanish, they asked “Que tal amigos?” Good thanks they answered back. Hey, would you two like to try some of the super fresh rock crab we caught this afternoon? He pointed to the plastic cooler. It’s being kept cool on ice that we bought at the store so no worries. And we have some lemon slices to cover the crab with juice if you like. No thanks Athena said and looked at TJ for a reaction. “C’mon try it. Its super fresh and delicious and we have plastic forks and hot sauce in the bag.” One of the guys said. TJ was tempted and replied, “let me have a taste first”. The man opened the cooler and took out a piece of crab meat with the plastic fork. “Here you go, best you will ever taste, I swear.” TJ grabbed the fork with his hand and before he could raise it to his mouth the other man asked, “do you want some lemon juice with that?” A little slice of lemon was produced for TJ, and he squashed the slice over the crab. Putting the fork in his mouth he took a bit of the small piece of meat, then another and the piece was gone. “Hey that was good, eh? want some more? You want another piece?” Athena looked in disbelief at the three of them. TJ shook his head in agreement and took another piece being offered to him. Down it went in one bite as the crab was only an inch big after the shell was removed and the soft meat was cooked. “Yeah, that was tasty alright” remarked TJ. “Hey man you want another?” the big man asked and asked Athena again if she wanted some. Athena explained to the guys that she had a severe shellfish allergy and that they needed to get doing. The smaller guy kept insisting, but TJ clearly said, “no thanks, we need to get going now”. “Ok great that will be fifty dollars” the man said with a greedy smile.
Smiles turned to frowns on the normally calm faces of TJ and Athena. Except with Athena the impression was a firm I told you so! “You mean fifty dollars Colombian right amigo?” The smile turned into a very sincere and sinister expression while his voice said. “No amigo, fifty dollars American for that delicious crab dinner” he replied. Everyone had a poker face including Athena who was sure that she misunderstood how much they were asking for, pulled her change purse out and came up with some small coins. “Take it, that should be enough for two small pieces of crab meat”. The two men were getting angry at this point and doing their best to give off an air of intimidation.
TJ was standing face to face with the taller man and Athena was keeping an eye on the shorter man standing behind him. Eyes locked on each other as many seconds passed by without anyone blinking. Tension was building between the two parties on the beach with enough distance separating them from the passing shoppers to not be noticed. This turned out to be a scam robbery and the stage was set for something potentially nasty!! Athena put her coin purse back into her bag and reached for the steel folding knife she always kept stashed in that bag. She held the knife out of sight covered by her carry bag. Two minutes had passed with no one making any move or saying anything. The silence was overrun by the crash of waves on the beach. The seagulls flying low over the figures of four humans locking horns on a beach over an ounce of half cooked crab meat.
“Ok, I have twenty dollars American I can give you now and we walk away.” The tall Colombian shook his head to indicate no. TJ kept his cool while Athena held her breath. TJ pulled the two ten dollar bills out of his front pocket and held his hand out. “That’s plenty for what I ate,” he said.
The smaller of the two men reached toward TJ and quickly grabbed the money out of his hand. Everyone showed obvious relief at the machismo of not having lost face. The two parties broke the impasse and headed in opposite directions.
Walking quickly to get to the main street in the new district Athena kept making sure they weren’t being followed, then stopped and said, “next time you want to drop fifty dollars on a crab diner, make sure there’s a table with candles and a bottle of wine included”.
That afternoon TJ and Athena enjoyed the marvelous sites in the historical part of Cartagena including the location where the movie, Jewel of the Nile, was filmed in 1985, but soon it was time to move on again.
The intention of TJ and Athena was to continue traveling north all the way to his father’s house in Panama. The final part of the trip would be done sailing around the unpassable jungle between Colombia and Panama. No highways existed to travel passed this area. They searched online to find many options available. “I found it, that’s the one for us! Athena pointed to a large steel hulled sailboat called The Stahlratte.
Setting foot on the old metal sailboat was reassuring after the inflatable dingy transported them from the dock. Floating in the deeper waters within the large harbor, the ship became impressive in size as they got closer. She was a beautiful sight rolling gently on the water. Twin masts rose into the blue sky. Painted a soft reflecting white with clean lines arching from front to back made her seem sturdy in the water. “Welcome aboard everyone. Store your belongings and come back deck side for Breakfast. TJ took the two backpacks and followed Athena down the steps into the belly of the ship. They found the area and large double bed assigned to them during the four days passage to Panama. Areas were sectioned off with linen curtains and durable steel walls to give some privacy to the different passengers. Behind them was the captain’s cabin. In the front they found the Head, or washroom facilities. “Let’s go eat, I’m starved purred Athena.
Climbing up the steps, they were temporarily blinded by the brilliant sunshine. It was a perfect day with morning winds expected to increase over the course of the day. A quick walk around the deck area to inspect the ship was done. Two large BMW motorcycles were lashed tightly against the side rails. Two couples were traveling between continents with these powerful bikes. They moved toward the center area where others had gathered. The group did informal introductions. Including themselves, a total of ten passengers and three crew members called this twenty-two-meter ship their home for the voyage between South and North America.
Everyone was welcomed by a German blooded captain and two friendly men acting as deck hands. The captain was an enormous sized man with a mane of golden-brown hair, a pot belly and teeth bleached white in the tropical sun. He made a good living running the boat between many ports.
A delicious meal was served with coffee, eggs, toast, and different tropical fruits laid out for the hungry group. Conversation passed in every direction while different topics were explored.
TJ admired the owners of the motorcycles and struck a conversation with one of the riders. His name was Rob. Born in Madrid, He was an adventurous soul. The two couples had made other trips in many locations with the bikes already. “Where did you make your starting point, asked TJ. “We had the bikes shipped from Europe to Argentina by Cargo plane. “Must be amazing to see so many countries like that. TJ pointed at the motorcycles. “Yeah, it’s got its charms and pains in the ass. Chuckling about bouncing down the many back roads on a hard leather seat. “So, you had any major problems with the bike while traveling?
“Not really, a couple of flat tires fixed on the side of the road. Crazy drivers in Brazil almost ran us off the road. Worst is the attention given to the bikes and leather riding gear crossing the San Paulo area. They figured they could outrun the cops on these bikes if they stole them from us.
“They came at us from a side street and made their intentions clear. Two guys on a small Chinese imported bike. Pulled out a couple of pistols and wanted us to stop. Just hand the bikes over to them. I let them get beside me and kicked with my left leg as hard as I could. As soon as my boot hit his handlebars, he went wobbly and plowed into one of the trees on the avenue. His bike was busted up good and so were they. Rob laughed at the memory.
During the Breakfast the ship had started to make way out of the harbor toward open water. The diesel engine was growling and puffing small wisps of smoke in the bow. Cruise ships anchored at port along side massive cargo ships passed by and out of sight. “Open water ahead yelled the captain.
Navigating towards the north, they lost sight of land. A routine set in with the passengers. Everyone found a place to pass the hours and stay out of the crew’s way. TJ and Athena sat in the forward section close to the anchor motor. “It’s been an incredible trip said Athena with a big smile. “Wait till we hit the San Blas islands in two days. You’ll love it, I promise. We get to stop on one of the islands for the entire day to swim and explore the white sand beach. Captains going to have a Bon fire and barbecue with the sea food provided by locals from the San Blas communities. Over a Hundred small islands were called home by the natives who made money from passing boats loaded with tourists. The women would produce hand crafted jewelry, clothing and keeps sakes for the local economy. The men went with long open canoes to catch fish such as Barracudas using nothing more than spears and netting.
After passing the chain of islands, the ship hugged close enough to the shoreline to easily view the deep jungle still left untamed. To the left side of the ship, sat the beginning of territorial Panama which had already been reached. By late afternoon the ship pulled close to a cove. Many small boats sat among the other larger vessels in the calm waters. The Anchor was dropped down and set. Panamanian customs officials arrived in a dinghy to start the border crossing procedure.
“Permission to board ship Captain, asked one of the men. Two men climbed up the rope ladder, introduced themselves and asked to inspect everyone’s passports and the needed documents for the motorcycles. Friendly words were exchanged by the crew members and customs officials as they had gone through this procedure on other occasions. Jeeps and drivers waited to take the travelers to a small town which had bus connections to Panama City.