Costa de Caribe

Ok so first things first. We would love to post some pictures unfortunately Melissa lost the cable that runs from her camera to the computer box so we are unable to pst picture until we can find a computer with a card reader built in...
I didn´t lose it persay... It´s actually the movers fault. They packed it. Idiots.
Anywho. we will post pictures when we have the ability to, sorry gang. So as the title of this post eludes to, our next stop was the carribean coast of Colombia. We stayed in 2 different cities while we were up there. The first was a town about the size of Victoria called Santa Marta, and the 2nd (the size of Calgary) was called Cartagena.
We arrived in Santa Marta after a 17 hour overnight bus ride from hell. Well maybe it wasn´t that bad, we actually dídn´t know how well we had it until last night but I digress.
Lets just say bus drivers shouldn´t pass 6 or 7 vehicles while traveling down hill in the oncoming lane, around a turn, with nothing but a siren and a lot of honking as a forewarning to the oncoming traffic... Our arrival in Santa Marta was a "hot" one. Bogota had a fairly moderate temperature range at around the mid 20s, while Santa Marta liked to sit in the mid to low 30s pretty much all day long.
I thought I might die. Within an hour of being there, I had to lay down and try not to throw up.
Pleasant! So other then the weather Santa Marta is a happening joint. Every night there is a huge party with bands, food, and mimes. We spent 2 nights at this beach town which is actually a vacation spot for actual Colombians so they know how to party without needing all the safety precautions required by international tourists. The beach is lined by 1 road that runs all the way along it, and the street is lined with bars and restaurants. Beer was a little more expensive there. (about a buck) The beach itself was beautiful, the surf was fairly low, and there were Colombianos everywhere. You didn´t have to walk more than 5 feet to find someone willing to sell you beer, or bags, corn, pipes, straw hats, or any little trinket with Jesus´ face on it. We spent most of our time in Santa Marta strolling the streets. We also took well to the tradition of having a siesta at about 2pm until 4pm when the sun was at its hottest.
I personally believe that the sun was at its hottest whenever I was outside. Seriously though, Santa Marta was amazing. Our hostel was about 30 seconds from the beach and unlike Bogota, we felt safe wandering around at night. It`s probably a good thing considerig our room was the size of a jail cell complete with a single bed, ants all over the floor and a tiny ensuite with no hot water or toliet seat.
Yeah... It was hard to spend a lot of time in there. Colombians arent to big on toilet seats either. The bowl is good enough for them I guess. Don´t fall in!
All that squatting suggests they don´t have access to thigh masters.
Wow! So Santa Marta was awesome, and no one got in our faces. The bus ride from There to Cartegena was nice. It only took 4 hours and it was during the day.
Maybe it was nice for you but the first seat I chose while you were putting our bags underneath the bus had vomit all over the floor, and the second seat was right in front of the bathroom so every 5 seconds or so a warm breeze would bring the scent of urine wafting to me...the WHOLE ride!
Thats to bad for you becuase I found the secenery pleasent. We skirted along the coast line for a good part of the way, which was beautiful. Cartagena has been called the Jewel of the Carribbean, and it is considered to be one of the most romantic cities. Its past is tainted by being one of South America´s largest slave trading ports, but its cleaned up its act since then and is now one of South America´s largest tourist towns. The old city is surrounded by walls not unlike the one surrounding Quebec city. These walls were formally used to defend against pirate attacks. It took almost 200 years to complete them, (pirates often killed the workers constructing it) and now the overall effect is a 17th century spanish colonial town sealed off from the rest of the world. The old city is on its own little island separating it from the new all-inclusive resort section, and the impoverished "rest of the city" Our hostel or room in some hairdressers apartment (Every hotel/hostel was booked solid) was located in the old town which made touring pretty easy. Like Santa Marta we spent most of our time just strolling the streets, drinking beers, and sitting on the beach. Melissa do you want to add anything.
Nope.
Ok. It seems to me the police presence was slackened here although they still stick to key spots. The financial areas like banks, and places where people are prone to be drunk.
Ah yes! Our last morning in Cartagena we were reading and watching the tourists pour in off the cruise boats in Simon Bolivar park. Some drunk dude started talking to us and kept grabbing my hand. Eventually Chris got him to leave and the police immediately swarmed him and gave him a stern talking to. I was kinda hoping they would use their billy clubs but he was pretty subdued.
heartless. We left Cartagena on saturday by 12 hour bus (nightmare) and arrived where we are now in Medellin the former drug trafficing capital of the world, and home of the late Pablo Escobar. We´ll get to that next time though.
So long
peace

PICTURES OF SANTA MARTA

PICTURES OF CARTAGENA