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We've been travelling for seven years and have visited 80 countries. Slowest around the world with Sal & Wayne Schmidt.

Writer's pictureSal Schmidt

Hurtigruten Pole to Pole - Week nine

Updated: Dec 17, 2023


In week nine of our 13-week bucket list Pole to Pole cruise on the MS Roald Amundsen with Hurtigruten Expeditions, we explored Central America. We fulfilled a bucket list item: the Panama Canal.

Day 57 - At Sea, Caribbean Sea

Today's most eventful item was the incredible display of birds over lunch; we were mesmerised by the flying creatures following the ship, hunting fish, and even tackling each other for food. The Brown Boobies catch the fish, and the Frigatebirds attempt to steal the Boobie's meal.

We had a fantastic view from our window table in Fredheim.


Lunch was also impressive, and we tried the soft steam buns filled with delicious chicken and peppers; they were so good we had to order seconds.

As we chose to visit our Erik and King Richard in Fredheim today, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to order a crepe; we were delighted when the chef made a little taste of home for us, just what we needed. Simply lemon and sugar crepe! Thank you, team Fredheim.

Day 58 - Providencia, Colombia

Welcome to Country 57; moving our country tally up has been a great week, with another one later this week. We are edging closer to 60!

Coffee first, as always, over a chat with the lovely Seth, who happens to be working at Hurtigruten in the Customer Care team. He was a ball of energy, and we loved sharing our travel stories. Thank you, Seth, for popping over to say hello.

We were called to board our tender, and unfortunately, it was complete. Hence, a handful of us passengers had to wait for the crew tender, which, in hindsight, was in our favour due to the tropical rain arriving for a moment, so we missed the downpour and only had to receive a light shower.

Sparkling clear turquoise waters surround us, filling you with wonder and delight.

Providencia is a small tropical Caribbean island part of Colombia; unfortunately, they were still in repair after a significant hurricane two years ago. They are all busy rebuilding and cleaning up, and the small village community didn't let this get them down. They were all full of kindness and warmly welcomed us. We couldn't wait to support them and give them a little financial boost to help them rebuild faster.

We welcomed the half-hour walk to town with only a light shower, and it was a blessing to keep us more relaxed from the scorching sun and humidity. As soon as the rain stopped, you could feel it coming back; the locals welcomed us with a big wave and hello and took cover under their porch as we walked by.

The island is bursting with bright colours, slowly starting to resurface from the remnants of the hurricane damage. The locals are resilient, and I know it will return to its full glory soon.

We sought a local establishment to support lunch and a cold drink.

We finally arrived at one and raced in to spend the afternoon treating ourselves to sample the local Colombian cuisine and mojitos (in a can, but delicious). We chatted with our fellow passengers who had found the same venue and our lovely new friend Seth joined us; we had a perfect afternoon full of laughter and mojitos!

Based on Seth's recommendation, we popped into a cafe nearby and sampled the Colombian coffee; we were a little sceptical not being black coffee drinkers, but Seth was spot on, and it was incredible! Thank you, Seth!

We started our return to the tender and, fortunately, found a shuttle going by. We jumped in and enjoyed a singalong in Spanish with our driver and the latest state-of-the-art air conditioning; leave the doors open. We had a blast.

Stopping every so often to pick up fellow passengers and give them solace from the heat, I think we managed to squeeze over ten of us in, and our driver wanted to pick up more!