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We caught a 5 hour shuttle bus from Cartagena to Santa Marta as it was only a little more than the public one. We travelled with Mike and Kate and Tijs and Jacqueline, but unfortunately all stayed in different places as we had all booked separately.
If we had been lucky with the heat in Cartagena our luck ran out in Santa Marta. We felt like ants under a magnifying glass and after 3 nights we decided to run for the hills (the Andes) earlier than planned. Santa Marta was not a pretty town but made a good place to briefly explore from. On our first day we visited the house where Simón Bolívar died (he's the guy who fought the Spanish for independence and won in several South American countries). The house was small but a large building had been built nearby called the 'Altar of the Father Land' and near that a modern art gallery. We also saw the bed where Simón Bolívar had died and took a sneaky photo when no one was looking. That evening we met Mike and Kate and Tijs and Jacqueline in one of the few nice places in Santa Marta; a little park where a fashion show happened to be that night. We watched some kids breakdancing while we had a couple of beers on a nearby roof terrace and then eventually found a good local restaurant.
The next day we got up early to visit the nearish Tayrona National Park. We caught the bus from the end of our street and an hour later were at the park gates. We paid a hefty entrance fee, £13 each, and after a short bus ride up the hill walked with an English couple, Andy and Helen, into the park. We thought that we had met them before so for the next few hours tried to work out how. It was eventually worked out that Andy and Katy had briefly been in wind band together at Bristol Uni and that we had all been at Mike Hales' wedding together a couple of years ago - small world! It took us 2 hours along the stunningly beautiful coast to reach the furthest beach where we found Tijs and Jacqueline. The whole coast was forested, although very dry, and covered with huge boulders that used to be worshipped. We cooled off in the rough sea of the bay and chilled on the beach before having to head home. On the way back we met Mike and Kate who had started later than us but were staying a couple of nights in the park. (Their route was now separating from ours but I'm sure we'll see them in other parts of South America.) The walk back was long and hot but we eventually made it and said goodbye to the Caribbean, which we have followed since Belize, as we now head south for the mountains.
Simon
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