Taganga to Palomino

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Today we are up & moving slowly. Those darn tequila shots. Wow. We saw Daniel walking by this morning while we were eating breakfast out front. He's heading to the dive shop. Lucky. Oh well, we are on our way to the little beach town of Palomino today. Once we had some breakfast & of course, coffee we headed to our room & slowly packed up & caught the bus out of town. We had to stop in Santa Marta so we did just a little more shopping. It's like the thought of heading home has made shopping important. Trinkets are necessary for our memories!

Of course, it is swelteringly hot today & we waited for our bus on a very busy street corner with lots of noise & exhaust fumes. My favs. Our bus to Palomino was more along the lines of a van. It was probably the most ghetto bus we have been on for our entire trip. The linings on the walls were ripped out, the side door didn't really shut, the windows were hokey, & it was really like a van with seats thrown into it to make more room for more passengers. And, to top it off, our bus driver was super annoyingly slow. Usually everyone drives as though they have a team of police cars chasing them. But not this guy, he was taking his time like an elderly Sunday driver. It took us 30 minutes to get out of town & onto the highway. The other day in the cab it took less than 10 minutes to go the same distance. Crazy. Then, this guy stopped so often. To buy water, use the bathroom, buy a chain for his bicycle, get a snack. We were getting a little frustrated. But, at last we made it to Palomino & were done with the Scooby Doo bus.

We get off the bus in Palomino, which is basically one of those teeny tiny blink & you miss it kind of towns along the highway. So, we're standing there wondering how we're going to catch a cab to our hotel (which is a 45 minute walk away & we would really prefer not to walk it...) when two guys on motorcycles pull up & ask us where we need to go. It's very interesting because in Colombia there are Moto-taxis. They are guys on scooters or motorcycles who function the same as taxis, but are a little cheaper & might get you there faster because they can drive through traffic & such. I am not a big fan of motorcycles in general so I wasn't super excited to learn that they are the only taxis in town. Darnit. Also, I've never once ridden on the back of a motorcycle with a complete stranger & my 30 pound backpack on my back. Yikes. It was quite an exciting ride. But we made it safe & sound to our hotel. Phew. I was nervous.

We arrive at our hotel, El Matuy & are greeted by Rosio who shows us to our room. This place is awesome. Beautiful white sand beach, blue Caribbean water, & our own little thatched roof room with a king sized bed (that's super comfy) & a huge shower/bathroom that is all open air with walls, and no roof. A perfect place to end our trip. We're stoked. There's also no electricity at all so we have candles in our room & nothing to do but be lazy on the beach & swim & read. Excellent!!

All of our meals are included with the room so we arrived just in time to get changed, have a swim in the ocean & then lunchtime! Perfect. Lunch was incredible. A whole fish, broiled with patacones. They cook all the food over a wood fire & don't even have electricity or gas in the kitchen. There are only a couple other people staying here & we all ate lunch together on the beach at big picnic tables under a thatched roof gazebo with a sandy floor.

Then we spent the rest of the day in the sun, in the water, in a hammock. Reading, napping, & relaxing. The reality of going home is setting in & we are enjoying every last minute of our time together being lazy & soaking in the sun & walking along the beach. There are a couple other small hotels along the beach but they seem empty. It feels like we have the entire beach to ourselves. Perfect.

By the time it was time for dinner, I was still kind of full from lunch. But managed to find a way to eat dinner of course. With each meal they serve fresh squeezed juices. Oh, how I love the tropical juices. At dinner they light propane candles that are set in metal chandeliers above the tables. It's really beautiful & romantic. The food is amazing & it's fun to talk with the others staying here. There's a young guy from Chile here & a couple from Bogota & a woman from Britain. Always an interesting mix of people. Always fun to chat. With happy, full bellies we went to bed.

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