Taking flight

Grabbing the harness, I pull the bar with all my weight and watch the kite billow. The rope goes taut, and I start skimming over the waves with a gathering pace. Fortunately, my instructor watches my back, for fear I go flying off into the sunset. At one point my board takes off, and I really do take flight – if only for a few seconds. It feels incredible. By the end of my stint I’m exhausted, elated and energised. I’m also starving.

Fortunately, Playa Blanca’s small selection of budget-friendly fish shacks come up trumps, and I indulge in some grilled red snapper, fried green plantain and arroz de coco. I doze to the sounds of the ocean and the occasional albatross diving into the blue, until I’m woken by the beaming skipper from our boat, who tells me it’s “time to head  back to the big shore, lady”.

Looking at the paradise around us, something tells me the skipper can only be keen to get back for one reason – it’s time for the next insane booty-shaking party.

More on Cartegena at cartagenainfo.net 
More on kiteboarding with Colombia Kite at colombiakite.com
Windsurfing is also big business in Cartagena; see windsurfcolombia.blogspot.com for more

KEEP READING for our must-do daytrip.