Following Tayrona National Park, we picked up our gear from Bonda and kept on travelling the short distance to Santa Marta. As usual, we had our place booked, and headed over there.
Super Host Alexandra: Casa Blanca
We found Alexandra’s place called Casa Blanca on airbnb.com. When we found Casa Blanca we were a little worried. There were no reviews and the price listed for under $23 US a night. The only thing that drew us there was Alexandra who was listed as a super host. For $23 a night, we thought it would be a worthwhile gamble, and we were right.
We were thankful it was an apartment located on the main floor. Even though the backpacks are portable, we were all very tired. It had been a long few days for us with the 12-hour bus ride a few days before and the 2 plus hour walk in the unbearable heat into Tayrona only the day before.
Alexandra welcomed us in and showed us around. It was a 2 bedroom with 2 double beds, with a very functional kitchen. This space looked to be an old medical office, with bedrooms that had large windows leading to the hallway. The living room was spacious and as a bonus feature, the kids had a tv in their bedroom.
After the quick tour, Charo and Alexandra started chatting about what to do while we were here. Santa Marta is a big city and we thought, hey let’s try and watch a movie. We’ve been on the road for over 2 months, it’d be a nice break in the action. Charo mentioned this and Alexandra responded quickly, “No one comes to Santa Marta to watch movies.” Truthfully, we still tried, but we found all the movies were in Spanish. I guess we have to wait until Australia. Trang, we have some movie dates ahead of us!
The next day in Santa Marta
I hit a wall and the kids joined me. All we wanted to do was stay in bed and relax. So I spent the better part of the day trying to catch up on some sleep and then took my time writing a blog entry. (Just to note it’s hard catching up since we are moving so often.) The kids took the opportunity to stay in their room to watch tv and play on their tablets. We just needed it.
Charo, on the other hand, was a little frustrated with us. She wanted to get going. We were in a brand new city and no one wanted to move. So, with a little frustration in her voice, she left us behind in the apartment. These are a few of the things she saw on her trip.
When Charo arrived home she was in a much better mood. We decided that we don’t have to spend 24 hours a day with our family, and it’s good for us to get on our own a bit. Truthfully, I think we had just as good a day as she had and we all benefited from it.
On her way home, Charo had taken it upon herself to purchase our dinner. I’m not sure what we had. It looked like single portions of lasagna, and I stress looked like because it did not taste anything like it. She also purchased dessert while she was out. We found desserts to be hit or miss in Colombia, this was a miss. So, with our bellies half full we decided to go out into the evening and check out the nightlife.
Charo the tour guide
While we were out we saw kids break dancing in the central plaza, playing soccer near the cathedral, and having an organized team practice of basketball at one of the multipurpose courts in the area.
Charo also played tour guide for us as she had seen some of the sites earlier in the day.
This was a pretty quick trip for us, only having one full day in Santa Marta. The next morning, we were taking an early bus to Minca to spend two full days there. Alexandra kept some of our things so we could travel light to Minca. We had agreed to return to her place for another night so we could experience Santa Marta a little more, but it wasn’t to be. We met up with Alexandra one more time when we returned from Minca, and off we went to our next adventure.
You can find Alexandra’s Casa Blanca on Airbnb at https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/38325611?guests=1&user_id=202441108&ref_device_id=11afd8a0eb3ee4c5&_branch_match_id=701610890175033243&source_impression_id=p3_1568519346_0rQtNcnRD1pJeQIA
Thanks for Reading and Happy adventuring!
Our next stop: Minca, Colombia
Our last stop: Tayrona National Park
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