Day 12- Santa Marta (20/7/25)

 

As usual on a travelling day, I was awake long before the alarm on my phone told me I should be. I had a better night’s sleep that the night before and felt well rested. I seemed to have found the sweet-spot with the AC unit. A shower and a quick repack later, and I was ready to go, with a good hour to spare.

The terrace on the top of the Hostel was not yet in the sun, so, with a coffee in hand, I took in the warm morning air. The terrace is lined with pretty plants and flowers, none of which I could name. Grabbing another coffee from the reception, I sat some more and listened to the sounds of the city waking up.

My cab to the airport arrived exactly on time. My driver today was Manuel. He was a very pleasant young man who was keen to practice his English. I agreed to help him if he would reciprocate by helping me with my Spanish. He actually didn’t need much help. So, our conversation was a mixture of Spanish and English. We talked about football, life in our respective countries and about my travels so far. It was only a journey of about 20 minutes, which was a shame because I would have enjoyed speaking to him for longer.

When I arrived at the ticket counter at the bus station, the woman behind the glass told me that there was another bus leaving for Santa Marta in 10 minutes, and would I like to change to that one? Obviously, she said all of this in Spanish and it took me a little while to fully understand what she was saying. Anyway, I agreed to take the earlier bus. Ironically, it still arrived at the time that the later bus was expected to arrive anyway.

The journey took a route through the north Colombian countryside. It is very different here to the bus journeys I took in the South. The terrain is flatter and more akin to the English countryside. There seemed to be more open spaces with palm trees and banana plants dotted around the open fields. I saw a man on a horse rounding up cows, wearing a cowboy hat. It looked like a scene from a movie.

Along the road between Barranquilla and Santa Marta, there is water on both sides. The road follows a narrow stretch of land that is like a bridge. I don’t know if this is a natural, or man made strip of land connecting the two cities, and avoiding a long round trip around vast lakes, or just a natural phenomenon.

Periodically, we passed small towns and villages. Crudely built houses of hollow terracotta blocks and corrugated iron roofing sat close to the road. Many had people sitting under the shade of their awnings, hiding from the sun’s glare. There were stalls set up selling fruit, arepas and grilled meet to passing drivers. The journey took about four and a half hours, but passed very quickly.

Driving towards Santa Marta, the magnificent Sierra Nevada mountains came into view. The beautiful, cloud tipped mountains are densely forested and have been home to several indigenous tribes for thousands of years.

On arrival at Santa Marta, there were two very loud claps of thunder coming from the direction of the mountains. I was actually hoping that it might rain, as the air has been unbearably humid and hot ever since I arrived in the north. Nothing came of  the storm, and the air continued to be hot and humid.

My new abode is Casa Avelina Boutique Hostel. It is more like a hotel that a hostel, but at hostel prices. It has a pool, 2 bar areas, 2 upstairs terraces and a restaurant. The room has the most enormous bed that I have ever slept in. I actually think that it is wider than it is long. I am tempted to sleep right in the middle of it tonight, but I worry that it might take me about 10 minutes to get out if I need to go to the toilet in the night.

I wandered down to the marina, which is rather lovely. Santa Marta faces West, so a sunset spot is guaranteed. The wind coming off the see was warm, but very comforting. Following a couple of Club Colombia Dorado’s, I went into the centre of the city to search out some food. All I had eaten was a bag of crisps and an Arepa con huevos y carne that I had bought from a vendor who boarded our bus just outside of Barranquilla.

There is a lovely square in the centre of the city that is simply covered by trees. I am sure that it would be a lovely place to sit on a hot day. In the centre of the square, there is a statue of, you guessed it, Simon Bolivar. Today is independence day for Colombia and I did notice a lot more people wearing the Colombian football shirt and carrying flags than normal.

Whilst I am here, it is also the 500 year anniversary of the establishment of the city. So, hopefully there should be plenty of things happening over the coming days.

I feel that this is the start of a holiday, and I intend to treat it as such. I am just going to relax for the next few days (except Tuesday, of course).