Going coastal

Days 8/9

La Brisa Loca, Santa Marta > La tortuga, Taganga

Our journey to the coast took a light 15 hours door to door. We had booked an overnight bus from San Gil which we boarded at 7:30. We had been allotted the front-most seats on the bus, which after and initial happiness switched to the usual resentment once the aircon began dripping onto us from the TV screen which we couldn't watch as we were too far forward.  This aside, we all slept fairly well, waking up only occasionally. On one occasion I went to stretch my legs without the other sleeping girls and ended up having a tinto with the bus driver where we discussed his orange juice and our destination, Santa Marta, in broken Spanish. Surreal for 4 in the morning.

La brisa loca

We began approaching our destination at around 9 and finally got herded on to another, more stuffy bus which took us to S.M bus station. Even at this time in the morning we could feel the change in temperature, now a humid 30 degrees, and were grateful for this. Luckily, our hostel, la Brisa loca, had a luxurious swimming pool in its midst so we quickly cooled off on arrival. La Brisa loca was quite intimidating to begin with; pool rule signs hinted at a party atmosphere ('rule 1. no mankinis, rule 2. Girls swimsuits optional, rule 3. No jumping off the balcony etc etc) and I was slightly worried we weren't 'party' enough for this place. But after an afternoon of relaxing at the bar under the cool breeze of ceiling fans with a glass coke bottle/ cool beer in hand, we felt relaxed. This was what we needed after an active week.

Santa Marta itself leaves little to write home about, as we had been warned. It's a hub for Colombian tourists looking for a weekend break and, as such, we suffered under the 'tourist' umbrella much more so than in our small hillside towns. With market stalls and vendors lining the streets vying for everyone to buy their goods (everything from blenders to live chicks) we quickly bypassed them to the airconned supermarket (oh so western). Prices seemed high, and the fruit not so fresh, but in our tired post-bus state we were looking for a quick fix. 

We rapidly got back to our hostel haven, having gleaned that Santa Marta is one of those places where you tend to stay in the hostel! However, with a nice rooftop space, a restaurant bar and the pool we didnt feel so guilty about this. Plus our promised beach was not within a decent distance - the hunt continues...

Bean conked out quickly after our delicious prawn nacho dinner, the sun and bus ride having taken its toll, and Lizzie and I were approaching sleep when into the scene bustled the group of boys we had met in Bogota. This was mainly coincidence, and a nice surpirse.  Armed with a number of stories which made our trip seem very tame, they explained that one of them had left their passport and camera in a taxi. Supisingly unphased by this, we got ourselves together and made the most of the in house bar facilities. The night was fun, if a little cut short by closed salsa venues. Luckil for Shane who had lost his bag - it was found in the taxi, handed in with camera, passport and money still in tact. A real testament to the lovely Colombian people as I doubt that would have happened in the uk!!

The boys left early to catch a flight to Medellin, a future destination of ours, and we went Across to Taganga, the cheap diving hotspot, around 20 mins from Santa marta. This next day was spent on the rooftop space in hammocks, reading and sipping coke. The sunset was particularly beautiful!

I will leave it here for today and talk about Taganga tomorrow as it´s certainly different from other places we've been! 

Ciao x