Why San Andrés?
Because it’s easily reachable from Colombia mainland. Isla San Andrés has a long history, it used to be colonized by England, so in the island locals can speak English, with a sort of Jamaican accent. In the street or buses, they like to play kind of Reggae music, compare to the Salsa music played in Colombian mainland, I like Reggae better, I must say.
There has been a long territorial disputes of the island between Nicaragua and Colombia. In the map, it’s located only 150 km from Nicaragua. In the end, it belongs to Colombia. So from major Colombian cities: Bogota and Medellin. Colombia has one of the best low budget airlines within and outside the country. So if you ever go to Colombia, San Andrés can be your easiest and cheapest Caribbean experience.
Also because it’s not as touristy as other bigger island in the Caribbean sea, so you can still find a deserted beach easily. Price is slightly more expensive than Colombia mainland but still rather cheap and nice food.
首先来说说为什么选择去圣安德烈斯岛呢？
因为非常容易过去，从哥伦比亚大陆飞过去菜不到3小时，而且哥伦比亚有世界上数一数二的国内廉价航空网络，我从波哥大飞去圣安德烈斯岛大概花了不到200人民币。所以如果只是在南美旅行，顺便走到哥伦比亚的话，可以抽出几天逃离城市飞去这个小岛放松度假，从麦德林和波哥大飞过去每天都有不同班机。
说到圣安德烈斯岛，其实也很有历史，他曾经被英国殖民，所以现在一些岛民还是说英语，而且略带一种牙买加式的口音，街上公车上放的音乐也是偏雷鬼。跟哥伦比亚大陆满大街的拉丁音乐相比，其实我倒更喜欢这里的。在地图上看，其实圣安德烈斯岛离哥伦比亚挺远了，相反他离尼加拉瓜到挺近的，只有150千米，其实尼加拉瓜和哥伦比亚就这个美丽的小孩也存在很长一段时间的领土纷争不过最终哥伦比亚赢了，所以每天非常多的哥伦比亚游客来这里旅行。
但是由于这个岛真的特别小，我开着高尔夫车大概4小时就能环岛了……但是小有小的好，除了哥伦比亚的游客，其他游客很少。所以在这么小的岛上也可以轻松找到只属于你自己的海滩，不亦乐乎。
Most of the hotels are all-in hotels in the island and they are often booked out by Colombian tourists. The family sitting next to me on the flight was super excited about the trip. I expect the island must be amazing. I love the fact that it’s so small so that I can walk along the beach from the airport to the accommodation. I walked along the waterfront promenade and suddenly feel the vibe of holiday.
在小岛上，大部分酒店都是全包式，在同一飞机上的哥伦比亚人告诉我他们一个月前就定了，他们特别兴奋很期待这次旅行，听他们这个一说我也特别期待。而我其实是临时起意去，我就最好一秒钟定了个Airbnb。这个岛真的很小，我查了一下地图，离我住的地方才10分钟走路，加上都是临海步行道，于是就背着背包一边欣赏海景一边走。
Day 1
San Andrés at the first sight 一见钟情呵呵。
I stayed in one of those Airbnbs close to the main street. After dropping off the luggage, I decided to take a walk downstairs. Look what I found! An old lady was selling street food. I absolutely like street food. Every time I go somewhere, the first thing I do is looking for street food. This one was great! Coconut rice, potato salad and fish with rich sauce, with a super spicy sauce. I love spicy, and this one is similar spicy level as in Bolivia, if you know that Bolivian tomato sauce.
把行李放在住处以后，我就迫不及待出去走走，因为我没有选择全包式酒店，所以我需要寻找食物。在圣安德烈斯岛寻找食物其实并不算难。有一些小餐馆快餐，但是也有我喜欢的街边小吃 。每次我去一个新的国家或者城市，我都会去寻找当地最地道的小吃，这总能让我回忆学生时期三五好友成群吃大排档的夏夜。而在圣安德烈斯岛，我找到一个老婆婆，她卖各种当地的小吃，我选了椰子饭＋土豆沙拉＋鱼的组合。我很喜欢这个鱼的酱料，很鲜。对了这个辣酱很厉害，我是中国南方人虽然家乡不吃辣但是我特别爱吃辣。这个辣度有点像重庆那种辣。
After the food, I just wander around, some locals try to get braids done on me, I really love their braids but I think my volume is not that much like locals, so I didn’t dare to get it done, many shops were close during the siesta. Instead I got myself some nice ice cream and lay on the beach, reading and relaxing the whole afternoon. I absolutely love the sunset that, amazing colors!
吃的很满足，然后我就随便逛逛，几个当地的青年吆喝要给我编那种黑人小辫子，我特别喜欢但是还是觉得发量没有他们那么多编起来肯定没那么好看，于是我就婉拒了。下午的圣安德烈斯岛很安静，很多店铺都午睡关门了，人们喝着果汁，坐在路边聊天。我买了个好吃的冰淇淋，也就躺在沙滩上看看书，这样一下午一晃就过了。那天的日落非常美，加勒比海真是蓝的透彻啊，连日光落下也还是蓝色的。
In the evening, I went for some juice and cocktail, while looking at sky and counting stars with the star app on my phone. It was a great day.
晚上的时候跟新认识的朋友去海边喝果汁和鸡尾酒。丰盛的一天。
Day 2
The second day in San Andrés, I decided to rent a Golf Buggies. It cost around 40 dollar for a full day as I can remember. Golf Buggies is a very popular way of transport in the island, many travelers have done that. You can drive everywhere in the island, with fresh sea breeze and when you see something interesting, you can easily stop and spend some time there. I can’t think of a more relaxed and flexible way of traveling in San Andrés. There’re also convenient and cheap public buses around the island, I also used that during my trip, will mention it in the following days.
第二天我向楼下租车的小哥租了一辆四轮卡丁车，开始了一天的环岛之旅。我记得花了差不多300人民币左右租一天车，还是挺值得尤其你能找到跟共享一部车。四轮卡丁车在岛上非常流行，基本上所有来这里旅游的人都会尝试，卡丁车的速度并不能开太快，但是小岛上交通不繁忙，开起来很惬意。吹吹海风，从北部的圣安德烈斯小城一直到最南部的观景台，中途想在哪厅就停哪儿，非常轻松愉快。当然了，在岛上也有大巴，由于当地人大部分不住在旅游化的圣安德烈斯小城，所以他们都需要公车进城，我时隔很喜欢公共交通的人，在接下来的游记也会提到公车。
Let’s start our round-island day trip. First thing first, put on the sun cream. I’m kinda obsessed about 
sun creams, I wear it every day, even in Belgium. Look at the sun cream I bought in San Andrés. SPF 85?! That’s tropical level SPF, I guess.
在海岛旅行，最重要的就是防晒了，这个是老生常谈了，所有人都知道但是也有很多人玩的兴起容易忘记，所以每天都涂防晒霜的我，也必须提醒自己不要忘了。看我在岛上买到的防晒，85 SPF? 果然是热带！
Driving through the calm and peaceful seaside road, with palm trees as background. I discovered a nice beach called San Luis, it was 11 am when I arrived there and there were barely any tourists, only a local boy who was making some construction work for a little restaurant. Compared to the main beach in San Andrés town, here seems to be a better place to bath, take in the sun and to soak in the sea air. I was super excited, thinking probably the next 2-3 hours, I will stay here.
顺着沿海公路开了一阵，穿过一片热带阔叶丛林，忽然出现一片被阳光照的金光闪闪的白沙滩，接近中午居然还是没有任何游客。只有一个当地青年在用木材，为附近的一个仅有的小餐厅制作一些椅子。跟圣安德烈斯小城随处可见的全包酒店的游客相比，这里只要稀稀落落的几个客栈，有一种原始的美丽。我很兴奋，虽然不是特别哎晒日光浴的人，但是这里真是太适合躺在日光里，或者去海里游泳弄潮了，我从卡丁车里拿出一些毛巾和零食，决定在这里待上几小时在去其他地方。
When it’s about noon, the local boy from earlier the construction work walked by and told me now the restaurant is open, I can order some food. He also told me they were still taking care of the fruits for fresh juice (which is my favorite thing in San Andres and the whole Colombia), he said”There are only some artificial juice for now”. I simply liked this way of simpleness, and I also love the setting of the restaurant. The restaurant is basically few chairs and tables on the beach. The sun shines right above the head at noon, so the boy kept moving my chair to the shade of the palm trees. I think that was funny.
快到中午的时候，刚刚给餐厅制作椅子的当地青年走过来告诉我现在餐厅开门了，我可以进去吃饭了。他告诉我水果还没有到，新鲜果汁（顺便说一句，我好爱哥伦比亚随处可以买到的新鲜果汁！）需要等一会，现在只有人工假果汁。我特别喜欢这种简单直接的交流方式，餐厅非常贴近大自然，其实就是摆在沙滩上的几个椅子和桌子。正值中午，太阳很晒，青年时不时帮我移动椅子到椰子树的树荫下面。现在想想觉得挺有意思的。
Auntie of the boy is very nice, smiley and can make the amazing food even though they don’t have many choice of dishes. I ordered fish curry, it was super fresh and tasty, the curry sauce was rich. It remind me of Thai curry but a bit different, less spicy but more sweet. I suddenly realized a friend from Martinique used to tell me the food in Caribbean sea are a little bit similar as Asian food. I absolutely love it! After the meal, the boy told me now I can drink lulo juice instead of artificial ones, amazing! Lulo juice was my favorite one during my whole trip in Colombia, and it’s a super Colombian fruit.
青年的阿姨负责烧菜，她人特别好，笑嘻嘻的。她做的菜也特别好吃，虽然菜单选择并不多。我点了她推荐的鱼咖喱，非常新鲜，汤汁也很入味。这个咖喱的做法让我想到泰式咖喱，但是又有点不一样，泰式咖喱比这个口味淡但是更辣一些。我忽然记起曾经有个马提尼克岛的朋友告诉我他在比利时也经常去吃亚洲菜，因为他觉得他们加勒比菜和亚洲菜有一些相似之处，现在看来还真是呢！吃的差不多的时候，当地青年告诉我现在有刺茄果汁可以喝了。在我整个南美洲之旅，我最爱喝的就是这个刺茄汁，它是一种产自哥伦比亚的水果， 非常清新解渴。
After a satisfying meal, I just relaxed in the beach for a couple of hours, sleeping, reading, listening to podcast or music, playing with the dog, or simple doing nothing……Emptiness is not that obvious anymore in nowadays modern world, everyone is busying with the important things.
吃饱喝足，我开始又一天的防空生活，躺在海滩上，打个盹，读读书或者听听博客和音乐，看看人，和小狗玩……我忽然开始思考，其实这些空荡荡的时光越来越难能可贵，在如今节奏越来越快的社会。
Afterward, I decided to hit the way, I passed by a drinking booth selling coconut juice and some coconut based cocktail, hahaha why not getting a Piña colada, one of my favorite cocktail. It’s especially nice with fresh young coconut juice.
放松了一阵以后，我觉得继续上路，途中看到一个买饮料的小屋台，买一些椰子汁和以椰汁为主的鸡尾酒，我买了一支Piña colada，最喜欢的鸡尾酒之一，新鲜的Piña colada永远是最棒的！
I was driving through the mirador on the south most, some couples who went there also with the Golf Cart, were taking selfie and playing with the wind. Then I drove through a wonderful natural swimming pool, thinking tomorrow I will definitely need to come here to swim and snorkel with tropical fishes. Super decision made, I drove back, returned the cart, finishing the second day in this amazing island, already falling in love with it!
我继续开去南部，在岛的最南部有观景台和阳光下晶莹剔透的闪烁海水，有一些同样开着卡丁车过去的情侣在那里一直自拍，在大风下欢呼。在回去的路上，我发现了一处天然游泳池，有很多的热带鱼，在那里你可以和热带鱼一起浮潜游泳，看上去很有意思。我觉得明天就去那里了！想到了下一天的计划，我就开回去把车还了，然后结束了我在圣安德烈斯岛第二天的行程，这是非常放松属于自己的一天。顺便也慢慢爱上了这个小岛。
When I drove the Golf Cart passing by the great natural swimming pool, they called it La Piscinita in Spanish. I decided to come on my third day here in San Andrés, . I always liked to swim in deep water, more than by beach. This spot seemed amazing for bathing. But this time, instead of hiring a Golf Cart, I decided to take a local bus to get there. As you can see, San Andrés is basically a sea-horse shaped coral island, the airport and the biggest town, San Andrés, are situated in the North, the beach I went earlier San Luis and the pool are situated in the South (see as the two stars in the map). The road in the island can’t be simpler, main road is the bund line around the island and there are also a few connecting the houses in the inland.
在前一天我开着卡丁车环岛时，注意到了那个天然游泳池就决心接下来一定要去那里，当地人叫这个天然游泳池小泳池，其实还挺大的。跟海滩跟浪花和沙子游泳相比，我更喜欢在深水游泳，尤其还是跟那么多小鱼一起。但是这次我决定不租卡丁车了，而是打算搭当地的大巴直接过去。在地图上圣安德烈斯岛其实就是一个很小，长得很像海马形状的珊瑚岛，机场和游人酒店最聚集的圣安德烈斯小城在岛的北边，而昨天去的圣路易斯海滩和这个天然泳池则在小岛的南部。整个小岛的交通其实简单到不能再简单，除了沿海的一圈公路，就是数条小路贯穿内陆，这么一想公交肯定也不会复杂到哪里。
I’m that sort of person who always loves to take local public transport, train, bus or whatever. One reason is that I studied transport for my bachelor, which somehow made me a big fan of train ride. Every country I go, I try my best to take a train,
In India, Georgia, Romania, Bulgaria, Morocco, Bolivia, etc (weird, isn’t it?) But with my growing travelling experiences, I think the more important reason for choosing public transport becomes that I find it a great way to get to know the local people, I heard local folklore music in the bus and I feel the most warm-hearted people in the bus/train.
This time in San Andrés, I again used my very limited Spanish to get some help from locals. They told me where the bus stop is and the direction. The bus looks lovely and the bus ride was fantastic. It stops a few times along the bund line and the driver played the whole time Reggae music. I love it!
我是一个不管去哪个国家，会不会那个语言，都喜欢坐当地公交汽车或者长途火车的人。其中有一个原因是，我在大学学的是交通工程，本身对列车运营系统就有点兴趣，这也让我成为了一个火车的巨大拥护者，在中国，印度和一些欧洲亚洲国家我们有很完善的火车系统，但是甚至在一些火车渐渐没落的国家比如：格鲁吉亚，玻利维亚，保加利亚，罗马尼亚，我也尽量安排长途火车旅行。但现在，随着自己旅游经验越来越丰富，我也给选择公共交通想了个更好的理由。因为在公共交通上，总是可以更好的感受当地的人民，他们才是这个国家最广泛的代表，而我也也大巴车上听到了最民俗最能代表当地文化的民俗音乐，在很多公交旅行的途中，我感受过最热情善良的人民。
这次在圣安德烈斯小城，我用一次用了我有点蹩脚的西班牙语问了几个当地人公交车站和方向，在他们的帮助下，我顺利找到了我要搭的公车。公车看上去很可爱，沿着沿海公路走，中途会在几个固定的地方停靠。在公车的全程，司机放着雷鬼音乐，我特别喜欢。
The bus stops quite close to the pool, I decided to take a small walk in one of the inland small road on the way to La Piscina. The road was beautiful with some scattered little houses. Local people enjoy their relaxed life, sitting there saying hello to me. It was about 32-35 degrees, I can’t wait to go swimming in the pool with fishes.
公车停在离游泳池不远的一个车站，我决定顺路绕去内陆的一条小路看一看，内陆地势稍微高一些，两边都种满椰子树和芭蕉叶。虽然烈日高照，我还是走得很开心，沿路稀稀落落有一些小房子，当地人有着相对慢和放松的生活节奏，他们坐在门前，很友好地向我问好。快到正午，30几度的高温，我也迫不及待冲去游泳池，跟鱼游泳。
Yes, we are here now! I paid a small fee to get inside. There was no ATM, luckily I had just enough money. I really felt surrounded by nature with marvelous fish swimming next to you. It was challenging but exciting jump from 3 meters high into deep blue waters. It’s unbelievable how many different kinds of fishes I can see while swimming with them. It was totally wonderful.
终于到了，付了一天的门票以后，我非常庆幸带了现金，因为他们不接受刷卡。泳池所在的区域很美，有一些人在附近练习潜水，我感觉被大自然包围，游泳的时候到处都是各种小鱼，非常有意思。虽然从3米高一跃而下进深水池，刚开始我有点担心但是真正跳下去的那一瞬间真是爽呆了！那么多不同种类的鱼在身边真是不可思议啊！我真是太爱这个游泳池了。
After a few hours swimming and talking to the fishermen there, I went to a restaurant nearby and had a big bottle of Colombian beer with paella. I don’t know if you ever tried Colombian beer but I love it! They make paella in a slightly different way compared to the Spanish way, it has less strong flavor, I think in San Andrés people like to eat a bit light taste but I like it too.
大概在这里待了几个小时，游游泳，然后跟渔夫有一搭没一搭的瞎聊，然后我离开泳池去找食物。在附近有一家海鲜餐厅，在圣安德烈斯岛海鲜很好找，我点了一大盘海鲜饭还有一大瓶啤酒。哥伦比亚的啤酒还是挺好喝的，很爽口也不很厉害，比利时的啤酒很多动不动就7，8度，真是不敢多喝，而这里随意喝都没有问题。海鲜饭做的有点跟西班牙不一样，酱没有那么多更像炒饭，但是还挺好吃的！
I was enjoying my food and beer, while looking at the beautiful sea, this lovely Caribbean coral island has so many different shades of blue, from royal blue, to sky blue, to turquoise. I felt I was indulged into a heaven of blue and couldn’t get enough of this!
吃晚饭抱着啤酒，望着大海发呆，加勒比海的珊瑚岛真是美啊，有着从蔚蓝到到天蓝再到荧光蓝的渐变的各种蓝色。各种美丽的颜色夹杂在一起，像一个色彩天堂，真希望可以天天有这样的海看。
San Andrés town is quite small and walkable. Main street is a sea promenade along which there are a few souvenir shops, restaurants and sport shops, like you can imagine, similar as many coast cities, the price in San Andrés is rather reasonable. That’s also the reason I love it, as one Steemer who replied in my last post, it reminds him of the trip in Thailand. It did also remind somewhere in a Thai smaller island, such as Koh Phangan. I walked a bit away from the seaside, the view became suddenly more livable. I saw some small squares where local were playing, funny statues with which I took a few pictures, a little bar where local boys were watching football, a big supermarket where I found an interesting frozen Margarita cocktail, you can simply freeze it for a few hour then it tastes like a frozen margarita. I was so excited to give it a try because it’s my favorite cocktail.
圣安德烈斯小城其实很小，到处都可以用走的。滨海大道是主街，两边有一些纪念品店，小饭店，运动用品点，就是可以想到的，很多海滨城市的配置。当然圣安德烈斯岛价钱倒是很合理，一点不能算贵，人还是很淳朴。这也是我喜欢这里的原因之一。昨天有一个回复告诉我圣安德烈斯岛让他想到他曾经在泰国的旅行，这么一想好像真的有点像一些比较小的泰国岛屿，比如帕岸岛。我离开滨海达到向内陆走一走，忽然变得越来越生活化：一些小孩在广场上玩耍，很多当地青年聚集一个简单的小酒吧看足球比赛，他们一定是狂热的球迷，我还跟路边有意思的雕塑拍了一些照片。最后在一个大型超市里，我找到一个看上去很神奇的冰冻玛格丽特鸡尾酒，我最爱喝的鸡尾酒，只要冰上几小时，就可以像冰沙一样的口感，我像发现新大陆一样，很兴奋地想试一试，结果真的挺不错。
Funny statue in the street 有意思的街头艺术
I notice this interesting street art in the square. Even though now it’s not that easy to find locals cooking and eating together in the island like the old days any more, but in many small places in Colombia, they still do. I traveled to a small village coincidentally also called San Andrés (de Pisimbalá) of 1000 in Southern Colombia, and enjoyed eating and cooking all together with them everyday. I bet people still missing those best old times.
在广场上，我发现这个涂鸦墙，人们穿着传统的服饰，一起聚在海滩上烧菜，如何一起其乐融融像一个大家庭一样享受晚餐。当然了，现在的圣安德烈斯岛上很少有人这样分享食物了，但是在很多哥伦比亚的农村小地方还是保留着一样的传统，比如我去过一个南部只要不到1000人的小村庄，碰巧也叫做圣安德烈斯。在那里的几天，当地人一到吃饭时间也唤我一起吃饭，然后吃好了大家一起洗碗。非常有意思。我觉得岛上的人民应该也多多少少怀念旧时光吧。
Later I packed my luggage to get ready, just a 30L backpack. I always travel super light. I want write a post about how you can pack light. It will benefit very most during a round trip or long journey.
I mentioned in first day when arriving, one thing I love San Andrés a lot is that the airport is so close by, with a small pleasant walk down the waterfront promenade and after crossing a lovely little park, the airport is right there. Walking to there seemed a hassle free and more relaxed way. I lovely the little green park right next to the airport. I still had quite some time so I just sat in the park, drinking my ready-frozen cocktail. What a great way to kill time.
晚些时候，我打包了行李准备出发。我的全部行李也就是一个30升的小背包，我喜欢带小背包出门。我挺想写一篇如歌把所以东西塞进小背包的帖，因为它真的很方便，尤其是你需要不停换地方不停打包的旅行，也让你轻松不少。
刚来的那一天，我就觉得机场的位置特别方便，离酒店旅店都很近，有点像日本的福冈机场的位置。只需要步行15分钟就可以到机场，省去了找机场大巴留出足够时间的困扰。反正我的背包也不重，所以我就沿着美丽的滨海大道，有一次享受海景，最后穿过一个可爱的小公园，就到了机场，时间还有点多，我就坐在公园的绿地里喝刚刚冰好的鸡尾酒，这真是打发时间最棒的方法了。
On the plane, I met the Colombian family again, they sat again next to me. Full loaded with vitamin Sea, we were talking and laughing, sharing the snacks we had, while enjoying the magnificent view of this lovely little carol island. From the plane, I can clearly see the seven (or more) shades of blue. It made my San Andrés trip complete.
在返程的飞机上我又遇到来程遇到的哥伦比亚家庭。旅行充满电，我们开始大聊特聊，也分享大家的零食。俯瞰整个圣安德烈斯岛，真是太美了，不愧是珊瑚岛，可以看到各种不同程度的蓝色。就着欢笑，俯瞰这美丽的海景，简直让旅程完满了，我爱 圣安德烈斯岛还有哥伦比亚人民的乐观和开朗。
Thanks for travelling with me.
The end.
