Have you ever heard of a small little island called Providencia? I was visiting San Andreas Island in Columbia when I found out about it. It's gotta be the least visited island in the entire Caribbean because it's the hardest to get to. There are two ways to get there, you can ride on a catamaran ferry which is nicknamed the "vomit comet" for 3.5 hours in rough heavy seas. Once aboard they give you a complimentary seasickness tablet and a plastic bag, doesn't that sound like a good time? You can also take a plane on a very limited flight schedule (two flights a day) that always sells out quickly because it's everyones first choice if available. I have no idea how I did it considering I don't speak Spanish, but I took my. phone into a travel agent office and pointed to what I wanted. I was able to get a round trip ticket from San Andreas to Providencia the next day.
Providencia is an island that is part of Columbia, but it's much closer to Nicaragua than Columbia. Once you arrive on Providencia, it's as if time has stood still. You half expect to see Ernest Hemingway walk down the road, it's really hard to describe the exact feeling. It's also a pirate island. Most of the locals on the island truly believe that they are a direct descent of a pirate and that Bob Marley is God. I wish I was kidding, but I'm not. It's a small island and you ride around on golf carts to get to wear you need to go. I was there to collect sand so I knew the hot spots of where I wanted to go.
Captain Morgan (you might of heard of him, he has a rum named after him) lived on the island and ran his pirate operation on the island. Supposedly Captain Morgan buried some treasure on the island that has yet to be found. I was able to visit and collect sand from Morgan's Cave where this treasure is supposed to be buried. I also got to go to Morgan's Head which is literally a rock that nature carved to look like a human head. It's a nice hike through the jungle and I got to sing very loud pirate songs all the way there because let's face it, who's going to hear me? Plus if I sing really loud it could scare away any jungle animals or snakes that might think I look delicious to run away from me. Aargh, a pirate's life for me!
Providencia is an island that should be on your bucket list. I was really fascinated by all the Captain Morgan history that was there. It might even inspire me to create a pirate line of jewelry some day! Life here is so simple and so exposed. I would worry that everything would be destroyed by a hurricane one day. If anything, Providencia will always bean island where you can live out your pirate fantasies.