Sunning in Santa Marta

The last few days have been spent lying in the sun, and discovering the best eateries in Santa Marta. On Tuesday nightt, two Norwegians from our hostel took us to a sandwich and smoothie shop called Lulo. The food was fresh and delicioius, and we went back for more on Wednesday as well. Nothing beats a fresh mango, papaya and pineapple smoothie and a mango salad with avocado on a hot day! Aside from a late lunch at Lulo on Wednesday, Ryan and I spent much of the day relaxing in the sun by our hostel pool. We also attempted to take another Spanish lesson, although that went horribly sideways. We had agreed to meet him at “cafe del parque”. We spent a good half an hour searching until we found Cafe del Parque, when the instructor had been waiting for us at Juan Valdez Cafe, the cafe near the park. It was all very confusing, to say the least. After missing our Spanish lesson, we set out to find children’s books in Spanish to help us with our reading and understanding. Everything here takes much longer than at home, so we burned a good chunk of time scouring the town. The hunt was successful though, and we spent the evening making dinner and attempting to read and understand at a 5 year old level.

Yesterday, Ryan and I set out for Taganga, a small coastal fishing village 15 minutes away from here. Upon stepping out of the cab, we were immediately accosted by locals trying to sell us knick knacks and tours; this was the first of this that we have experienced in South America. We explored the Main Street of the town for a few minutes before purchasing a boat ticket to La Playa Grande, the beach around another mountain. The beach was quite lovely there, and was similar to The Beach in Koh Phi Phi, although everything is a touch browner here, due to the unrelenting heat. We spent $1.50 on beach chairs each and camped out there for the next few hours. By early afternoon, the beach was swarming with local vacationers so we made our way back to Santa Marta to enjoy a sea food lunch. We had rescheduled our Spanish lesson to our hostel, so we successfully continued to learn the correct pronunciation, conjugation and verbs to use when going about our day here. We are learning… slowly, but surely. After our Spanish lesson, we lounged around (the sun is tiring!), and then went for appies and 2 for 1 cocktails at a nearby Mexican restaurant with a few people from the hostel.

Although Santa Marta has numerous amazing restaurants and cafes, the city itself is not overly beautiful. Many of the buildings are run down, and the main attraction within the city is a church. Despite this, the city draws thousands of locals and tourists due to it’s location. It is the gateway to Tyrona National Park, which has numerous treks and hikes, including the Lost City Trek. The park is filled with waterfalls and local wildlife, and the beaches throughout this area are reportedly breathtaking. For this reason, we are off to a remote ecolodge for a few days to escape the sights and sounds of the city. It’s like a mini vacation inside of a vacation!

Ryan and I have easily adjusted back to life out of a backpack. My backpack stays organized, and Ryan somehow misplaces everything in his! Both of us have also stepped right back into the roles we played on our last trip; I organize everything, Ryan gets us around each place without getting lost. I’m nearly certain that I would still be wandering the streets somewhere in Europe if it were not for Ryan’s keen sense of direction! I am slowly getting used to sleeping in a common area where people are on different schedules and from different cultures. I’ve been spoiled living in my quiet apartment the last few years, so this has been the biggest challenge so far. I’m not certain that I’ll ever be able to sleep through other people talking in the middle of the night, although I think that in the coming weeks, I will become more adjusted to it. For now, I’m looking forward to a quiet sleep on a mountain in the middle of nowhere!