back to Santa Marta

We woke early to try to get a decent start on our journey back to Santa Marta. We didn’t want to risk getting stranded again. We packed our stuff and headed down the beach towards the beach village. We ran in to Jeff, one of the backpackers, on our way back. We told him about the great hotel/restaurant place we found and it sounded like they didn’t enjoy such a good time on the beach while stuck in the blazing sun all day. We suggested they pack up quick if they want to head out of town because we had heard the cars leave early. In fact, we actually heard they leave about 5:00 in the morning and we ran in to Jeff probably around 7:30. 

Kirby and I walked to the other side of town where the road leads in to the desert back to civilization and waited for someone to drive by. Things looked a bit scarce for awhile but soon some guys in a pickup truck said they would take us and they had to pick up three others. Sure enough when they came back the three backpackers were already in the bed of the truck. We throw our gear in and we went off-roading through the desert. As opposed to the trip out, this trip back we seemed to follow some type of established path. We passed by some small ponds and dry water beds that it appeared to have evidence of salt harvesting. 

Jeff talked about seeing the locals on the beach pull in a huge sea turtle about 4’ wide. This is a rare endangered animal to you and me. To the locals it was a ton of food. The flipped it over so it couldn’t get away and would suffocate. It was too big for them to carry or move so they tied a rope to one of its fins and tried to drag it behind a truck. This basically ripped the turtles fin off we were told. They finally got it in the back of the truck and it filled the whole back. Jeff said its head was super huge; the largest turtle he had ever seen. I had heard about sea turtles and fisherman catching them but I didn’t see any during my trip.

We got dropped off in Uribia very close to the same spot Kirby and I were dropped off two days previously. As opposed to the first instance, this time we had people with a car service take our packs and start loading them in a car before we were all out of the truck. As usual we had to slow everyone down and confirm they were going to take us in the direction we wanted to go. After about five minutes or so of weighing options and verifying directions we let them pack up the car again. At first I thought it was the exact same Corolla style Toyota that we rode in to Uribia. It had the same Toyota seat covers with flames, matching seat belt pads and steering wheel cover, a windshield banner, and plastic chrome colored wiper attachments. It even had the same little sandal hanging from the rear view mirror. I realized it was a different car though because the last one the driver kept the steering wheel at about 2:30 to keep it going straight and this car had to be driven at about 10:00. Somehow we fit all five of us and all our gear in this compact car. Thankfully the trip was on one long paved road.

The car dropped us off at the same remote intersection from Sunday. Our timing was perfect and we immediately got a bus back to Santa Marta that was making a stop as we were unloading the car. I think we filled the last five seats on the bus. Kirby and I were in the last seat with my pack at our feet and other luggage falling off the shelf behind me. There wasn’t air conditioning on this bus and it was blazing hot. Especially when it wasn’t moving. Once we got to the first stop at Riohacha a few people got off and Kirby and I were able to move up to more comfortable seats. Going west back towards civilization we were more closely checked by police. On the trip out they would just poke their heads in or wave us through. On the way back we were stopped at every police checkpoint. They would open the luggage storage area and check under the bus. Once we had all our IDs checked by a police that came on board.  Police in Colombia don’t look any different than a military solider often with an automatic rifle strapped over their shoulder.

I assumed the bus was stopping at the main bus terminal in Santa Marta where we picked up the bus but apparently that was not the case. Thankfully the Texan Zack asked where we were at and we discovered we were on our way out of Santa Marta. So we jumped off, got our packs, said good-bye to the three backpackers, and took a taxi back in to Santa Marta. Instead of going back to the Park Hotel we decided to try something else. The Park Hotel was more expensive than most places because it was on the beach. I can’t remember exactly but by expensive I mean somewhere around $30 for the both of us. Before I arrived Kirby met a doctor from Mexico who had a hotel called La Costa Azul one block from the beach. His story was that he came to Colombia to care for a relative and opened the hotel while he waited the 12 months it took to get his doctor’s papers. We ended up there for the rest of our time in Santa Marta paying $16 a night. I couldn’t talk to the guy but he was very nice.  They had a tree in the courtyard and a small kitten. 

It was about this time that I noticed some missing items from my pack. In the front pocket I had a small flashlight, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, and other miscellaneous items that were all gone. The stuff had to have been taken while my pack was in the back of the bus after Kirby and I moved up. The only other person I noticed back there other than our three backpacking “friends” was the bus driver assistant. Thankfully everything that was taken was replaceable and not too expensive. 

The other crappy thing that happened was my own fault. I brought a half dozen memory cards for my camera with the idea that I’d swap them out every few days so if/when I lost my camera I’d still have most of my pics. This idea works very well if you don’t lose or delete one of your cards. While checking the amount of space available on that first card I formatted it by accident. There was no confirmation message; after I hit the OK they were gone forever. All pictures up to that point were deleted. I was not happy.

Kirby and I had a decent dinner and I bought sunglasses ($4), bug spray, and sunscreen. We got on the internet for an hour at $0.50 each. Afterwards we sat in a park for a bit that we called Love Bird park because there were usually couples on all the benches. It was a nice little park with trees and fountains. Finally we went back to the hotel to pass out. This is when we discovered the disadvantage to our doctor friend’s hotel. Next door was one of the most happenin’ night clubs in the city and the music is blaring till late in the morning every night. Thankfully vacation is tiring and by the time we got in to bed each night there wasn’t much keeping us awake.

One interesting fact about living in Colombia is the plumbing. There is no hot water in the country. The sinks and showers have one temperature. That happens to be whatever the temperature of the water is in their storage tank. Usually that is about room temperature although in the middle of the afternoon it could be quite hot if the tank is in the sun. Kirby said that people with money have an electronic gizmo on the shower head that heats the water. This goes against everything I learned about electricity and water as a child. The other problem with the plumbing is that the small pipes and low water pressure cannot handle toilet paper. That means only items you have digested can go in the toilet. Every toilet has a little trash can next to it and that is where your paper waste goes. At first I thought this was quite disgusting but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. It does make you aware of how much toilet paper you use when you see the trash can fill up. In the tourist places the foreigners forget this all the time and there are reminders in most bathrooms. It felt like a luxury to just drop the TP in the bowl when I got back.