Without the backpack under my head my sleeping position had not been as comfortable and my sleep not as deep as the night before. I wanted to recover the missing sleep of the night now in the morning and stayed as long as possible in the shade; I did not really get more sleep but definitely more rest. I walked to Fran’s house, connected the computer and spent the morning working on the front terrace in the shade. For some hours, for one morning I became part of his family, the mother in law offered me coffee, the children played with me and the neighbors gathered around Fran who was working next to me on some speakers.
Please click on “View Album” to see pictures in a Google+ Album.
I wanted to avoid the situation of maybe being invited for lunch so I packed my stuff together, asked to leave the backpack in the house while I would drive to the center of Santa Marta to spend the afternoon sightseeing. I took the same bus like yesterday, the only bus from Taganga to Santa Marta and got off at the bus station at the entrance to the main street. I passed a small stand with two men working; one being a shoemaker, the other being a tailor and remembered that my document belt needed to be fixed. I did not know whose work it would be; it was the tailor who fixed my belt in 3 minutes for 1000 Pesos, 1 Real. I walked straight to the snack stand from yesterday and had my Colombian potato and an Avena drink.
Please click on “View Album” to see pictures in a Google+ Album.
I walked first to the port, to the eastern end of the bay of Santa Marta and at the same time the beginning of the promenade and walked then all the way to the western end of the bay, to the restricted military area, passed the Bolivar square, the newly built marina and numerous newly built front line beach residential towers.
Please click on “View Album” to see pictures in a Google+ Album.
The city beach was not busy at all; metropolitan Santa Marta had two famous beach areas for the locals for the weekend and for the tourists all year around, the bohemian beach of the fisher village of Taganga to the north and the luxurious beach of the district of Rodadero to the south. I turned around and walked back to the marina and spent some time looking at the sailboats for sale and had a little dream; maybe one day the project ‘Sailing from Natal to Tahiti’ will become reality.
Please click on “View Album” to see pictures in a Google+ Album.
I had seen the port and I had seen the beach and walked now to the Bolivar square and ran into the old customs building which now was home to the historical museum of the city and the province of Magdalena. The building was very well reformed and the exhibition was very well presented. I did not want to miss the sunset but I did not want to miss the exhibition either.
Please click on “View Album” to see pictures in a Google+ Album.
I read the display quicker than normal and watched the items less intense, but the museum was too interesting, the exhibition too well to miss just one room or one sign board or the smallest exhibit. I still had time to walk around the corner to the main church and the church square. The sun turned golden and illuminated the white walls and the tower of the church and turned them into a warm white. The sky had no clouds at all and the blue turned now into a deep and warm blue.
Please click on “View Album” to see pictures in a Google+ Album.
The sales stands were open, the mobile snack stands arrived and the tourists arrived and the daily ceremony for the sunset of Santa Marta had begun. The marina and the sailing boats to one side and the small island Morro to the other side were the perfect frame for pictures. I really enjoyed my third sunset in a row; I had seen 2 sunsets in Taganga and now 1 sunset here in Santa Marta. I arrived back at Fran’s house and worked for 2 more hours. Fran was almost ready with the speaker and when the sound blasted out of them it was time for me to say good night and good bye. I went to the football pitch of the village again to stay for the night.
Please click on “View Album” to see pictures in a Google+ Album.
