THE CARIBBEAN COAST
(Crossing Colombia Part 7)
Travel Tales Index - Crossing Colombia Index - Colombia Pix
We arrived in Santa Marta, on the Caribbean Coast, after a multi-leg flight from Bucaramanga. It was warmer, more humid and you could almost sense the Caribbean beat. The town center had a number of pedestrian areas that were clear and easy to walk. The major roads around the center had a vibrant feel and were packed with vendors selling everything imaginable. We found a nice hostel that had a great drink stand just at the corner.
Santa Marta wasn't a spectacularly beautiful town, but the waterfront was attractive at sunset. From here, we had considered travelling to Ciudad Perdida, Manuare and Cabo de la Vela. Reality caught up with our planned route and we realized these had to wait for another trip. Our new goal was to get in some quality beach time before going to Barranquilla for Carnival and finally, Cartagena.
Mark and Gerre went to a travel agency and found out about a higher end place on the beach called "Los Naranjos" that looked like an excellent beach option. Our guidebook mentioned "Nohemi Ramos who rents a cabana with spectacular views of the sea". It turned out they were the one and the same. We arranged for a two night stay at Playa Los Angeles/Los Naranjos. Prior to leaving Santa Marta, we stocked up on Ron Viejo de Las Caldas (rum), red wine and chocolate.
With some basic directions - take the bus towards Riohacha, get off at milepost 33.5 and follow the trail to the beach, we set out to find Playa Los Angeles and our awaiting cabana. While Paul was a little anxious about finding our way, it turned out to be easy as can be. About an hour and a half later, we had met Nohemi and were checking out our gorgeous accommodations.
The two bedroom cabana was on a little hill; about two hundred feet back from the water. It included a patio with hammocks for relaxing and was artfully designed in seashells, smooth stones and painted designs. The kitchen had a dining table that was one solid piece of wood about six inches thick with a tree trunk base. We had our own personal cook who made meals to order for us.
The setting was incredible, but the water was rough. After a few tries at riding the waves and being battered, we gave up. However, it was great to relax in our cabana, walk along the beach, see the sun rise and catch up on reading, writing, editing photos, etc. For our two night stay, including six meals, we paid a bit less than $500 for the four of us. We all agreed it was a fantastic spot and wanted to stay another night. Unfortunately, Nohemi had a reservation for the cabana, so we headed on.
After leaving Playa Los Angeles, we had one of the most trying days of our entire trip. We headed east to Palomino and looked for another guesthouse on the water. Mark and I left Lois and Gerre with our backpacks in a roadside restaurant while we walked along the beach. We spent an hour, seeing one basic and/or dirty place after another and found nothing. We had not wanted to commit in advance to staying at Los Angeles for more than two nights, sight unseen. Now, we realized just how lucky we had been to spend two nights there!
We decided to head to our next destination, Tayrona National Park. We killed a few more hours getting back to the entrance to Tayrona, looking for a reasonable place to stay and getting settled. We wasted eight hours riding on buses, walking along the road and looking at accommodations. Things went badly and it seemed to get harder to make decisions as everyone got more tired, hotter and more frustrated with the situation. That is the down-side of a play it by ear trip. Maybe we should have taken that Abercrombie and Kent luxury tour of Colombia instead? Nah! What fun would that be?
All over Colombia, travelers and locals alike raved about Tayrona National Park. Here was our chance to see it ourselves. The morning following The Worst Day In Colombia(!!), a tour bus of Colombians stopped and picked us up as we waited for a local bus to take us to the park entrance. Things were getting better already! The friendly and funny tour guide invited us to join his group for their day trip through Tayrona but we decided we would do it on our own. They took us into the park as far as the road goes. We hiked an hour further to the first beach - Los Arrecifes (The Reefs).
At Arrecifes, we found all the cabanas taken and our only option was to stay under a large pavilion, in hammocks. Sleeping in a hammock takes a little getting used to, but it was not too bad. There were hot water showers and clean bathrooms nearby. Two outdoor restaurants were a short stroll from our hammocks. One had great views of the beach, tasty jugos naturales and a laid back atmosphere for breakfast or lunch (including very laid back service ie. slooowww). The other had candlelit, white linen covered tables, tasty food and an international menu.
Los Arrecifes had thundering waves, a sandy beach with palm trees, lots of vegetation, large, grey boulders scattered about and a backdrop of lush jungle covering low lying hills. Sounds beautiful and it was, however, there were signs warning people not to swim due to a high risk/likelihood of drowning! We walked along the shore to La Piscina (the swimming pool) another attractive beach, but this was protected from the open sea by a barrier of large rocks. We swam in warm, calm water with gently lapping waves.
The final beach we went to in Tayrona was Cabo San Juan which was only accessible by foot, horse or boat. After an hour hike, we arrived and found a huge tent city of mostly young backpackers, slackers and beach bums. It looked like an all day and night party which instantly confirmed, in our minds, the decision to stay in Los Arrecifes. The beach was the shape of a half moon with extremely calm waves. This was probably the best swimming beach in all of Tayrona National Park.
From Tayrona National Park, we went to Taganga; a beach town outside of Santa Marta. At one point, we turned off the main road onto a side road and started to go up, up, up a tall hill. We rounded a curve and saw the village of Taganga and beaches below. From a distance, it looked great. Up close, we found a low key, relaxed town with a restaurant lined malecon and a small grid of mostly unpaved streets with plenty of comfortable guesthouses.
The nicest beaches in Taganga were a short fifteen minute walk out of town. Beach chair were one dollar to rent for the day, there was a jugos stand and a large selection of simple restaurants with similar menus. There was even a vendor with a floating ice cream cart that he pushed through the water! We picked our spot and spent the rest of the day enjoying life.
That night, as we walked around Taganga, we saw preparations for Carnival were well under way. The partying had started and everybody, even small children, was getting ready. This left us all the more excited as our next destination was Barranquilla which is reputed to have one of the best Carnival Celebrations in Latin America...
Paul
& Lois
McLean, Virginia
December 12, 2010