Blogs from Santa Marta, Colombia, South America - page 4

I departed Cartagena yesterday bound for Santa Marta. I was able to arrange for a Puerta/Puerta (Door to Door) collectivo bus for the 5 hour journey. The bus pulled into Casa Nativa right on time at 1pm. The price for the entire transit was reasonable at $25. The standard bus was cheaper at $18, but factor in taxis to and from the bus terminal and the cost was around the same. I suppose I could have walked the 45 minutes to and from each bus terminal, but why make it so hard. After an uneventful journey the driver failed to drop me at the door of my next accommodation. Instead I was dropped smack in the middle of the city center. Armed with only my address in hand I set off and once again successfully navigated ... read more

a 5 hour bus journey took us from Cartagena to Santa Marta. Whilst santa marta itself is nothing special, it is the gateway and starting point for other places in the north of the colombian caribbean coast. Probably the most well known and visited is Tayrona national Park. After spending 2 days staying in an ex cartel hostel lying by the pool and doing very little, it was time to move ourselves outside our comfort zone and get into the wilderness. After bringing plentiful supplies (we had been told that it was extortionate inside the park) we caught the 1 hour bus north and entered the park. After a quick safety briefing we caught the transfer bus which took us to the furthest point within the park which cars were allowed. After that,it was all treking. ... read more

Had a quiet and rather lazy day yesterday in Santa Marta. In the morning I went to the Quinta San Pedro which is where Simón Bolívar died in poverty and obscurity, having failed to keep the states he liberated together as a single country. I took the hotel staff's advice and went and returned by taxi - the fare of 7 thousand pesos is less than £2. Unfortunately the place was mobbed by elderly and very decrepit- looking American tourists whose guides had microphones and were competing with each other in volume. Perhaps a lot of their charges were deaf. Anyway it made me think that I had better get my travelling in quick before I was reduced to doing it their way. I found out from the taxi driver that they had come off a ... read more

Hi everybody. I left Bogota today and am now on the coast in Santa Marta, in the so-called historic quarter. I can see why the Colombians go to the high rise resort next door as this place is really run down and decrepit. It is also a port with petroleum storage etc. However when I went out after dark this evening I was pleasantly surprised to see that it looked a lot better and was quite lively with street musicians and people eating out of doors round the illuminated square and in the street next to me. It certainly feels a lot safer than my bit of Bogotá at night. The reason I am here is to do a trip to Parque Tayrona which is supposed to be very beautiful. You do a trek through the ... read more

Stefan, a 7yr old boy runs to his bedroom when I arrive with Jose at his house for lunch. One of ten children he returns moments later with his exercise book and a broad cheeky smile on his face. I'm at Queenie's. The home of Jose in barrio Los Fondadores on the outskirts of Santa Marta. Unmade roads, ramshackle block houses with tin roofs packed into every square meter of land. Kids playing football in bare feet. Old men sat at tables playing dominoes. Dogs roaming the streets. Corner shops displaying their wares. Women holding their children sat in the shade of their stoop. This is the other side of Colombia. The real side. Queenie is busy preparing dinner and from the smells coming from the pot on the stove it's going to taste delicious. Jose ... read more