Blogs from Santa Marta, Colombia, South America - page 10

After waiting for a bus which never arrived, we were forced to take an expensive taxi to the Manaus airport. Three flights later, a pop in at the swish Panama airport and we landed safely in Santa Marta. Not after a couple of hours spent in Colombia´s capital, Bogota. We visited the famous Gold Museum - a world class museum. Our jaws dropped at the amount of delectable baked goods and fruit juices on street corners everywhere. We also had our first good taste of torrential downpours as we ran back to the airport for our final flight. One runway was closed due to it being struck by lightning! Santa Marta is a small town on the Northern coast of Colombia. We were happy to catch a small minibus outside the airport, but our mood changed ... read more

I had high hopes for Taganga as i had read and heard really good things about it from people i had met. I did really like it, its this cute little sunny fshing village full of backpackers on te varibbean coast but i didnt think it was as amazing as people had said. It had a really good vibe as Reggae music literally courses through the whole place and everyone seems really chilled out and relaxed the whole time. The nightlife was really good on the weekend, we went to a bar overlooking the bay and it was really nice to dance and drink outside looking out over the ocean with the stars all around us. I loved all the salsa music that is played throughout the bars and clubs and the locals salsa dancing with ... read more

So, after 4 months in Colombia, I have finally left the country, reluctantly. I did not think that I’d enjoy one country to the extent that I could imagine doing business or even living there for a while. I was sceptic at first, very aware of safety issues and so on. G showed us the family life of uncles, aunts and the holy Easter week celebrations in Popayan. This was a great time. Mainly because everyone was so hospitable and interested in G’s international friends. We were served fabulous Colombian food, made fresh juices, driven around to see the best local attractions and viewing points, bars and what have you. It was a great time. And with G as our local Colombia guide, we were ensured to be given the best prices for all things. Once ... read more

After leaving Cali we got the bus up to Cartagena on the Caribbean coast. Cartagene is the biggest port in Colombia and is where all the boats arrive ferrying people to and from from Panama. The city has 11km of old walls around the historic part and a big fort which used to defend the city. It's full of old colonial buildings too so has a really nice feel to it. The weather here was a massive change though, being really hot and humid so was a bit of a shock to the system! We decided to spend a couple of days here to see the sights. The first day we took a tourist bus around the city as it was too hot to do much walking! The second day we did a tour to a ... read more

Maandag 15 augustus: naar het strand in Santa Marta. 15 augustus is net zoals bij ons een feestdag in het Katholieke Colombia en een vrije dag voor heel wat mensen en zeker voor de schoolkinderen. Anuar moest daarom niet naar school en zo konden we samen op uitstap naar Santa Marta. We stonden rustig op en maakten ons klaar. Telkens gaat het ontbijt met smakelijke koffiekoeken gepaard met een heerlijke koffie van het topmerk: Juan Valdez. Oma was eerst verbaasd dat hier alle ramen wijd open worden gezet van zodra men thuis is. Al snel begreep ze wel dat dit als doel had om elk briesje op te vangen om de temperatuur draaglijk te houden. Boven de eettafel draait een grote ventilator constant rond en zorgt voor een bijkomende en permanente afkoeling. Oma die anders elke ... read more