San Andres

For a place I didn't even know existed until a few months ago, we had a great time in San Andres, Colombia. I'm pretty sure it's smaller than Oahu, and we heard population estimates from 100,000 to 200,000 folks. As Johnny No. 1, our cab driver told us, if people speak English, they're locals, if they speak Spanish, they're from Colombia. In the schools, Johnny No. 1 said -- a very nice fellow who played professional basketball in mainland Colombia for 13 years -- they teach English and Spanish, and in the homes, the locals speak a sort of Creole.



Johnny No. 1 says there are too many people on San Andres now, and from the looks of the traffic, we would have to concur. There are probably 25,000 motorcycles/scooters on the island and families of four or five will hop on a motorcycle and cruise around. The side streets are just clogged with parked motorcycles.

Overall, it's a very nice island. One thing we were pleasantly surprised to discover: no bugs or mosquitoes. We both got pretty chewed up in Bocas Del Torro, Panama, but didn't even need the bug spray in San Andres. The beaches were great, and there's several small islands (that look like they could have been used as backdrops for Gilligan's Island) a mile or so off-shore of San Andres.