POKI HAS ARRIVED!
According to Maersk Tracking the Maersk Wakayama carrying Poki arrived in Cartagena at 05.42 this morning.
Friday, 23rd August.
In the morning I had a long WhatsApp chat with our shipping agent, Josue. After confirming the Wakayama had left Manzanillo and was due here on the 25th, we discussed the next steps. When should Dennis meet Josue at Customs to remove Poki from the container? Josue thinks this will not happen until Tuesday. However, Dennis will not be able to take Poki then, we’re not sure why, we will have to wait until Wednesday. Our concern is once she is out of the container, will she be secure?
In the afternoon we walked to the old town centre again. This time we clearly saw a mother sloth and a baby. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get a picture of the baby.
The camera wouldn’t quite co-operate.
We found an Exito supermarket, in fact I think you would call this a hypermarket as it had a food floor, a floor for clothes and further hardware floor. Check out at Colombian supermarkets is slow.
We picked what we thought was the shortest queue. A gentleman with a trolley was standing slightly to the side. The gentleman in front of me advised he was ahead of him in the queue. Dennis didn’t hear this and thought the gentleman with the trolley was pushing in. Oh dear, all hell broke loose. Colombian’s are certainly volatile. Everyone was shouting and gesticulating in our and the surrounding queues. We were the focus of attention.
At this point the gentleman to the sides’s wife returned with a packet of herbs she’d obviously forgotten and gone to find. She was very apologetic. We also tried to be with our few words of Spanish and, fortunately, things calmed down.
There’s obviously a very creative metalsmith active in Cartagena.
…and artist.
Saturday, 24th August
The Wakayama is now docked in Barranquilla, just up the coast. Getting closer.
The accommodation we have booked for 28th and 29th isn’t far from here. Just 9 minutes walk away. We decided we would go and check it out. It looks smarter than where we are at the moment. It should be, it’s twice the price. It does have a lovely large parking area behind locked, metal gates. Just what we need to prepare Poki.
The port isn’t much further away, so we decided to go and investigate. As we approached some entry gates, the road was slightly flooded. Nothing unusual here. Either from the frequent thunderstorms or broken pipes. Dennis asked the young lady on the security desk where Maersk vessels unloaded. She didn’t know and explained the entry we were at was for tour and private vessels.
The commercial port is obviously further along the road. The cranes and stacks of containers showed this. However, by this time the water levels had increased considerably and we could not continue walking down the road without wading through quite deep water. Giving up, we decided we would wait for Josue to give us directions.
Sunday, 25th August
I had a very bad night and couldn’t sleep. Not sure why. At one stage we could hear water rushing. Dennis got up to investigate. It was pouring with rain and the gutters were overflowing. I did get to sleep after this, only to be woken by myself shrieking in pain. What was happening. Were we under attack. No, Dennis was dreaming he was kicking a football and scoring a goal. My foot was the ball. Unfortunately, he had a sharp toenail which scratched my ankle. I wasn’t amused 🙂
Well, Poki is here. Customs obviously don’t work on Sunday, but we’re not sure about port workers. The fact that Josue thinks it won’t be until Tuesday before the container is opened, indicates that unloading probably won’t be until tomorrow. We await further news, very impatiently.
Views: 99
Good news on Poki, hope there are no hiccups in the release. Just had a call from Ash in Edinborough, head winds so wisely taking trains for a bit. Heading home in a couple of weeks.
All good on the home front with spring making it’s self felt. Reservoirs low after a dry winter and could well be a hot summer. I can see several reasons not to save my (meager) savings. Might buy a push bike and ride round the block a few times. To hell with the expence. Adventure before dementia and all that.
Stay safe you two.
Hi Bro, thanks for the update on “the little fella”..:)
It’s possible, due to rain for much of the night here, now day, we are entering a wet patch.. Just in time, if so!
Lets hope you will get some of it, as a hot summer without water won’t be much fun for you.
Re cameras. See if you can tell which pics are from phone and which from camera, either camera?. Clue, the camera photo’s are mostly date stamped.
Good to hear that your reunion with Poki sounds imminent, i hope you don’t encounter any last minute paperwork hassle or “queuing aggravation”
Dissapointed to hear that Dennis had to foul you Jen in the process of scoring his undoubted dream wonder goal , hope you yellow carded him.
Good luck on hitting the road all ship shape asap.
Good to hear from you, Mel. Dennis unloaded Poki from the container this afternoon. She’s all in one piece and started first time. Wonderful news! We can’t collect her until tomorrow, though. Then we’ll spend a day putting stuff back on the roof and sorting ourselves out. As for Dennis’s dream wonder goal, it was a serious foul. He’s been red carded.