Wednesday 23 January 2019

Colourful Santa Marta

The restart of the rally to sail on to the San Blas Islands, Panama, has been deferred by 24 hours due to high winds and rough seas.  The hot, dry and sandy conditions here in Santa Marta remind me of a shamal in Qatar…. and the rattling of all the rigging in the marina makes me think of Wellington harbour on a typical breezy day - although with temperatures well above 30 degrees C this is certainly NOT New Zealand.

Here are some images which give a flavour of this vibrant city - the lanes of the old city are quite narrow with lots of wall murals and street performers. But to truly appreciate the atmosphere here you also have to HEAR it - horns hooting, music blaring, street vendors shouting from dawn until well into the small hours of the morning.  There are also lots of dogs roaming the street (which are more practiced at crossing the roads / dodging traffic than we are!) but they are usually silent as they really can’t compete with all the other noises.

There are lots of brilliantly coloured things to buy here but it is rather too hot to consider shopping a pleasure - so far the only footwear I have purchased is a pair of not very exciting flip-flops! Fresh fruits such as papaya, passionfruit and pineapple are so far my favourite purchases.

The World ARC team have arranged various local tours, including to the place where the Liberator Simon Bolivar died and a museum of gold displaying very intricate treasures made prior to the Spanish invasion.
Nicki


No comments: