Santa Marta itself is actually a pretty ugly town. It has none of the colonial charm or grandeur of Cartagena. However, it is a fantastic base for exploring the surrounding area which includes the amazing Tayrona National Park - also, thanks to the forward reconnaisance of one of Crystal's friends, Laura Don, who had been there a few weeks before us, we had a handful of great bar and restaurant recommendations up our sleeves.
We stayed at the Dreamer Hostel which, whilst a bit out of the centre, was the perfect choice. It has a massive inner court yard complete with swimming pool and hammocks, a great little bar area and fantastic staff. It also had a man with a van who would take you pretty much anywhere you wanted for only slightly more than a taxi and wait to take you back.
On our first full day in Santa Marta, we headed straight for the beach. We took the hostel van to Bahia Concha - one of the easier to reach (although still on a windy and poor quality road for a good 20 minutes) of the beaches in Tayrona National Park. After one of us, who shall remain nameless for now, had a cheeky vomit near the park gates, we made our way down to the beach itself. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed at first look. After the picture book Playa Blanca, I was probably a tad spoilt. However, a huge positive, was that the beach was almost deserted and after a bit of a wander further along the beach became quite rugged and untouched. We got a bit wind swept from time to time as it wasn't perfect beach weather but nevertheless had a very enjoyable day in the sun, topped off by delicious fresh fish for lunch.
In the evening, as it was Crystal's birthday, we started with a few drinks at the hostel and a birthday cake which Lesley had managed to arrange through the hostel staff. A few games of pool confirmed the we ought really turn our attention to other matters and so we decided it was time to hit the town. We had dinner at a great little Mexican restaurant and then made our way to La Portada for drinks. A funky little bar playing primarily reggaeton, La Portada came highly recommended by Laura Don and was just the right location for Crystal's birthday drinks. Whilst we spent more time collectively marvelling at the Colombian's dancing and hip shaking rather than dancing ourselves (we were a bit lost amidst the reggaeton beats), we had a great night.
The following day, the girls managed to drag themselves out of bed for a trip to Taganga but Crystal and I opted for a lazy day nursing our hangovers by the pool and in the TV room. We rejoined Les, Nic and Claire in the evening for a underwhelming sunset in Rodadego made more tolerable by a few delicious pina coladas and a subsequent, equally delicious seafood meal.
The last day in Santa Marta, and our last day with Les, Nic and Claire, was by far the highlight of our time on the north coast of Colombia. We visited Tayrona National Park making the two hour trek to Cabo San Juan, a fantastic, beautiful, secluded beach. The first hour of the trek was up and down hill through the forest (including dodging giant ants and wayward horses). The second hour was spent winding our way along a series of beaches - not too stressful! Whilst several of the beaches were quite small, they all had white sand, crystal clear water and each beach we came to had less people than the last. Amazing. We will go back, we are just trying to figure out when!
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