The Unexpected Treasure

A little story to share before we lift anchor and head to Grand Cayman tomorrow.

We floated into this little piece of heaven one week ago today, what an incredible surprise this Island became for us and crept right into our hearts.

Now I would like to transport you into my world and my beliefs when you travel to another country. You need to embrace every destination and every culture for what it is, with all its quirks and challenges.

Our first day we thought wow one week here is going to be a really long time, as there just did not seem to be anything happening, we asked someone along the street where we could have a cocktail and we got nothing, not even a restaurant, or a hint of a cocktail umbrella, 😏 just very confused people wondering why we are asking such silly questions. Still a little tired from our journey and now feeling a little dazed, we headed back to our anchorage, prepared our own cocktail and settled in for a little more rest.

All the while my brain is working overtime thinking there has to be more to this place, what are we missing?

The following day we rented the famous little island buggy (the mule) to drive the whole 17kms around the island, oh and just like that the surprises kept coming.

First place along the road, that looked like we should take a peek, was a cake shop 🙈 very tiny  and very pretty, stepping inside we get a juice and a slice of something yummy. When we walk out and see a very pasty white  young women, and of course I have to talk "you look too pale to be from here?" Naturally she says "No I am from SWEDEN Stockholm.....wait whaaat? Her long story short, she works in Swedish government defense, and chose the smallest most remote place she could find that had some diving on the map and booked herself a one way ticket, with a crazy flight schedule to get to little Providencia.😳😳 I mean really...That is not very Swedish.

We continue our ride and take one of very few right turns and find ourselves riding down a narrow little side road down a hill and BAM 💥... a beautiful beach with gorgeous little reggae huts, live music and fantastic cocktails. We knew then we were starting to scratch the surface of the soul of the island. We ended up at Rolands Reggae Bar, right on the beach in the sand. After a good walk, we settled in for a cocktail, and were lucky enough to meet Roland himself. Oh man what a colorful personality and exciting human.

This is where we heard the story of an Island, its people and their unimaginable fight for survival. In November 2020, while the world was consumed by the chaos of Covid 19, also a time where the media was reporting on nothing else. Providencia was struck by the monster Hurricane Lota, a category 5 beast that didn't just pass over the island, it flattened it. 98% of everything was destroyed, homes, schools, power lines, water systems, wiped clean off the map. The storm ripped through with a fury that left nothing standing, not even a way for the outside world to know they were still there, not even one leaf on a tree.

When the first plane finally landed, it carried no food, no medicine, just body bags. They came expecting death. The mainland thought this little Island had become a graveyard. It was weeks before real aid started to arrived. 

Against all odds they emerged from the rubble battered and bruised but alive. As Roland told me " I am thankful for life, I lost every single material thing, but I have life, my mother, my sister, and a whole lot of dreams"

Everyone we spoke to shared similar stories with us. An amazing lady in our favorite ice-cream store had her tale to tell as did an Italian man who has been here repairing coral for over 30 years. So heartbreaking but so refreshing to see how strong the human race can be, and how everyone rallied together to survive and help each other.

The damage of Lota is still very evident, as there is so much that is clearly brand new but just around the corner you still see the torn apart homes, upside down cars and the utter pain and heartache that Lota created. 

From this point we met countless people and realised that there is a small handful of tourists on this island  you can literally count them and that is what makes this place so special and authentic, tourist have not come here and changed the beliefs and authenticity of the island. The locals are kind, funny, friendly and happy, with the beautiful simple life they live.
They live the peaceful and calm life that we spend our entire life striving for, the ultimate calm and freedom. Nobody here is hungry or homeless, its just a beautiful authentic clean life.

The very best of all, Providencia is 100% crime free and they are so very proud of this fact, as they should be.

We continued to find little gems all over the island tiny little walk ways that are easy to miss, they look like nothing and before you know it you have walked into something magic.

The big excitement yesterday was a horse race with all of 2 horses on the beach. The popular horse gets quite the convoy of motor bikes as if he were royalty 😊,  I must say he was lightning, fast but very untamed, and quit the force of nature.  There was something so simple, yet so special about it, as the islanders gather together on the beach to cheer the horses on and enjoy a day in the sun with the excitement of there favourite being a winner.

We have had loads of beautiful experiences and met so many wonderful people, both locals and a handful of tourist and a couple of sailors.
Before I leave you with a photo bomb,  I would like to share a quote from Captain Jack Sparrow.

Wherever we want to go, we go.
That's what a ship is , you know.
It's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails. Thats what a ship needs.
But what a ship is.....What Intle Breeze really is ..... Is freedom