Make a plan and plan to change it. This is the mantra I carry with me when I travel and the one I had to use three times in Santa Marta. They all led to great things. First, my bus ride into town was supposed to take me to the town center, but apparently I was the only one going there, so the bus driver dropped me off at a mall on the outskirts of town and told me to take a taxi. I didn’t really mind because I was planning on taking a taxi to my hotel anyway, but that is when I met Oswaldo, the music loving taxi driver. He became my personal driver, taking me the hour ride to Tayrona a few days later, and the hour and a half drive back to the airport. So much fun.
But I did have a slight moment of panic when half way to Tayrona, with not a gas station in sight, I looked at the gas gauge.😬
Next, my hostel sent me a message a few days before I was to arrive saying they canceled my reservation because a big party wanted to book it. There were plenty of other hostels, but then I thought of my poor tortured body after hiking La Ciudad Perdida and an image of my own room and a bath popped into my head, so I found a place called La Casa de Leda. I did not know before getting there, but it is based off Leda and the Swan, Leonardo Da Vinci’s lost painting. This mural below greeted me at the reception. Also they had a special on their suite with a bath tub, so I spoiled myself.
Lastly, the tour company I booked for the hike called and said no one signed up for the 5-day hike I booked, so the only option was to put me in the 4-day. If you read my previous blog you know how much I loved that group. So they all worked out. One to Santa Marta…
The History
Santa Marta became Santa Marta on July 29th, 1525, when Spanish Conquistador, Rodrigo de Bastidas founded it making it the oldest surviving Spanish settlement in Colombia.
The death place of Simon Boliver, the famed liberator of Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela from Spain.
Banana Massacre occurred just outside Santa Marta on Dec 5-6, 1928. Gabriel Garcia Marquez fictionalization the event in his book One Hundred Years of Solitude is actually based on real events. However, the actual event involved workers from American company, The United Fruit Company, (now Chiquita) striking and the Colombian government surrounding and killing at least 1000 workers and their families and children.
What I Love about Santa Marta
Other than that amazing bathtub, what I loved was the families out enjoying the beach. I spent two of the three nights on the boardwalk for sunset watching families swimming, enjoying the street food and views. Calle 3 was a pedestrian street full of bars and restaurants with lights overhead. It did have a somewhat dilapidated feel to it, with many crumpling buildings and beggars, but it had a unique beauty. I didn’t visit the gold museum which I wish I did, but it’s not going anywhere.
Best Airport Lounge Ever
When Oswaldo told me it’s okay if I get to the airport early because I could go to the beach, I was not expecting this. I literally dropped off my bag at check in, walked one minute and my feet were in the sand. Best airport lounge I have ever been to.
To Conclude…
If I was not for the starting and ending of the hike I would have not gone to Santa Marta, but so grateful I did. The friendly man at the lavanderia (laundromat), the after hike dinner with Ellen, Martijn and Andrea, the luxurious bath while it was raining outside and the incredible sunsets all made Santa Marta a positive memory.
Quite a coincidence about the La Casa De Leda, and you admiration of Leonardo! And interesing coincidence that you ran across the Botello Leda and the Swan as well!