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Published: July 29th 2011
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**I wrote this last week but didn´t publish because I couldn´t upload pics at the place I was at.
I took a 15 hour night bus from Medellin to Santa Marta on Monday evening (18th?). I had read that the long distances buses in Colombia blast the AC and you need to dress warm if you don´t want to freeze. This was not an exageration as I was still a little chilly in jeans and sweatshirt. But sure enough, I woke up at about 5am sweating, the AC stopped functioning. The last 7 hours of the bus ride were uncomfortable to say the least. The sweatyness really hasn´t stopped after 5 days on the Carribean Coast.
Santa Marta is Colombia´s oldest colonial city and was really unimpressive. The centro area is basically a giant swap meet. Much of the crumbling colonial architecture can´t be appreciated because tarps and umbrellas block the view. I really don´t understand the purpose of some of these street markets and how the vendors manage to get by. Who is buying from the 10 different guys that exclusively sell TV remote controls? How are they making a profit at the end of the day? Or
the newstands that display worn 5-year-old magazines? I don´t get it....
Anyway, the nearby Tayrona national park is beautiful and is the reason most people visit. On wednesday I took an hour long bus to a spot just on the other side of Tayrona. A 30 minute walk led me to Costeño Surf Camp. This was a cool setup located on a coconut plantation. It´s owned by two Canadian brothers. I left the hostel in Santa Marta bright and early so I was able to get several hours of surf in before the wind came up around noon. The waves were better than expected, mixed up peaky windswell (standard Carribean beachbreak), about chest high. There was a pretty decent sandbar right in front of the camp but there were lots of holes on the inside and strong currents so all of the campers walked south to a spot that was more suited for beginners. This meant another solo session for me which was great. I was told several times that I wouldn´t get any surf up there so I´m stoked. It was better than nothing.
Thursday I took a bus down to Cartagena. The last two hours of
the ride I found myself totally consumed in a movie about this dude who scams his way into working at a beach resort so he can meet gringas. It was really funny and I was feeling pretty good about myself for having no trouble following the plot and most of the dialogue.
Cartagena is much more attractive than Santa Marta. The colonial buildings, the forts, and the wall surrounding the old town are all very impressive. But it is oppressively hot. I´ve spent most of the last two days walking around, soaking up the vibe of the city while sweating profusely. Last night I was planning on heading out to experience the nightlife but I was so exhausted from all the walking that I ended up passing out at like 9:00.
One annoyance here is that Cartagena (and Santa Marta too I guess) has that super touristy feel that I haven´t experienced anywhere else in Colombia. Prices are noticably inflated; tourists are taking pictures everywhere; and random dudes on the street constantly approach me speaking English trying to slang stuff I don´t want (¨I have EVERYTHING man¨).
I decided this morning that I´m going to take a
bus south all the way to Cali, the salsa capital of the world. It leaves at 3:00 and will be almost 24 hours (hopefully the AC works the whole way). The guidebooks describe Cali as ¨sweaty,¨ hopefully not more so than here.
**That post ended there, and here´s what happened in Cali:
I was in Cali Sunday through Wednesday. There really isn´t that much to do in Cali tourist wise and I don´t think the salsatecas really get going until Thursday. So my stay there wasn´t incredibly exciting but I did really like the feel of the city and its people. I hope I can return someday.
On Monday I took a salsa lesson and that went well. We didn´t get into any advanced spinning or twirling but I got more practice on the basic steps and it was fun. Then tuesday I hiked up to ¨las tres cruces.¨ This was a steep 1.5 hour trek up to these crosses that overlook the whole valley. It was really cloudy and foggy that morning which was good except that I couldn´t get any good pictures. I think I posted one from about halfway up the hike before I
was in the clouds.
Tuesday afternoon I met some local Caleños and ended up hanging with them all night. They were super nice and I wanted to stay in Cali and hang out with them some more but I had to get back up to Medellin for the flower festival. I´ve only got one week left...
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Lynne Haman
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Carribean Coast
Sounds like a lot of interesting travels! I can't believe you are learning the salsa! I will see you late Thursday!