A day in Santa Marta

Well like Jacques said Dad has to write the blog today.  What to say where to begin?

Let’s talk about what I did today.

To begin with,  I saw Jacques off this morning bright and early kind of like when he was in Boy Scouts back in Gladstone.  He put everything into his back pack they told him plus those things experience has taught to take with just in case.   He will be hiking through the jungle and camping out under the stars in the mountains of Columbia filling his canteen in mountain streams etc.   Plus they will wonder through local villages and stop for a beer along the way.  We’ll see how good it was when he returns.

From saying goodbye have fun I started cleaning the interior of the boat with Murphy’s oil soap.   When you make a long passage such as we just completed the whole interior gets a sticky gritty feeling to it from salt spray that seeps into the interior and just doesn’t smell fresh, so we do a full spring cleaning after each trip, which takes a few hours.  I also made water with our reverse osmosis water maker.  The water at the marina isn’t safe to drink.

Then I went into Santa Marta to do some shopping.  It’s like the shopping frenzy on black Friday.  The streets are wall to wall venders selling everything imaginable.  There must be 50 cell phone venders alone.   People selling vegetables, hand made purses, hand made dresses as well as every chick name brand on the market.  It is truly capitalism in its truest form.  Very little regulation and buyer beware. However for the most part everyone seems honest and wanting to please and always always ready to bargain.   But since I don’t speak Spanish I could only point and ask how much.

Also every few blocks there is a memorial square filled with statues dedicated to some famous person in their history.   I found these people to be proud of who they are and of their heritage.  They keep their City clean and preserve their historic places.   It feels very safe, especially since there are armed military police on every street corner.   Many of the structure go back to the early founding families.   They also have a Super Market called Excite which has everything you will find at home or in WalMart.

Square just off of Celle 14

Outdoor Cafes and bars

Busy Street Filled with Venders

Statue in a Square

Expensive Hotel from the 1950’s

Finally I ended the evening by being invited to dinner by some very nice neighboring boaters from Canada Cedric and Janet Miller who have been cruising for the last five years, now they have some stories to tell.

Tomorrow I go to Cartagena by bus.  They tell me it will take 5 hours to go 120 miles and that the ride is eye opening, we’ll see.  We won’t be writing again until Friday

Thanks for Checking in

Dale