Coffee, Calculations and Colombia!: in my next life I'm living on the beach

January 2, 2010

in my next life I'm living on the beach - and there better be a boardwalk

Greetings from Santa Marta, Colombia - a beach town on the northern, Caribbean coast of Colombia! Allison and I arrived yesterday from Cali, after 2 plane rides and a 3 hour layover in Bogota, where I introduced her to Crepes and Waffles.

Upon arrival we dumped our stuff at our hostel, La Brisa Loca, and headed over to the beach front. Since it was New Years Day there were TONS of people everywhere! Apparently the Colombian thing to do on New Years Day is go to the beach with everyone you know. There were so many people bustling around everywhere, and as Allison noticed, everyone was actively engaged in some activity. People swam, read, played catch, etc. but no one just sat there sun bathing. Probably because the sun is so hot and out all the time! We walked along the beach for awhile before enjoying some crepes and pizza along the boardwalk. At night we walked down the beach a little further to a look out point where tons of people were perched along rocks just enjoying the evening breeze. What a treat to be able to sit along the sea in a sundress and talk with a friend on January 1st! That has definitely never happened in Minnesota!!

Santa Marta at night from the rocks.

Oldest cathedral in South America.

Tomb of the founder of Santa Marta.

Al enjoying some casual yogurt for breakfast in Parque de Bolivar

In Parque de Bolivar

Today we loaded up on snacks of bread, fruit, coffee, yuca chips and granola cookies before heading to El Rodadero beach for the day. The beach was again packed with people but we managed to secure ourselves a tent and two beach chairs for about $9 USD for the day. We planted ourselves in the sand and read, chatted and relaxed for our last day before our six day jungle hike! I just started Deception Point, by Dan Brown, which I have been dying to read, and like all Dan Brown books, I cannot put it down...in fact its next to the computer as I type. :) In the late afternoon we watched the sunset and met up with my friend Lori, another teacher at my school who is doing the hike with us. We had a delicious last meal with Chicken Parmesan pasta for some carbo-loading and have retired to the hostel to finish packing (aka removing anything we possibly can from our backpacks!)