Victor and Carina: Santa Marta

Santa Marta was little bit of paradise in the middle of our trip.

Staring at the bay from our hotel window there is a marina on the left and a working sea port on the right, complete with freighters and tug boats.

Pineapples?

We spotted a giant ancient-looking ship labelled “Dole” departing the bay, and imagined all of the cans of pineapple stored within, bound for Seattle.

In between the marina and the port is a sandy beach with children building sand castles and couples swimming together.

The port city is protected by offshore islands, creating a quiet, sandy shoreline where the waves gently lap along - large enough for a bit of a splash, but gentle enough for non-swimmers (James) to feel safe.

The weather is hot, but 85° is quite tolerable (and the humidity is less as well), and the sea water is deliciously cool. After the beach, we returned to our hotel across the street, with sandy feet and dripping seawater, and took outdoor showers near the pool. Then we continued to swim for another hour.

It is a city that dates back to 1525, and the colonial architecture is quaint.

Pedestrian-only streets lead to “Lovers’ Plaza” (Plaza de los Novios), a brick and cement square filled with shade trees and benches and surrounded by shops and restaurants.

Hmm...wonder how these novios are doing?

We ate some very tasty wood-fired pizza at Restaurante Ouzo. After-wards we strolled again, and Sam Sam had fun pushing James around in the stroller at high speeds.

A light sprinkle of rain came. Another plaza (Plaza de Bolivar) is a few blocks away. It was there that we found iced lattes at the local Juan Valdez Café, aka, Starbucks of Colombia. Ahhh. Life is good.

From Santa Marta we returned for a night’s stay in Barranquilla before flying back to Bogota. Upon exiting the plane in Bogota, we were at once delighted to feel a cold breeze. Yes! A nice return to 67° weather.

We spent one night in Bogota at a hotel well-accustomed to adoptive families. They feed you dinner, let you play soccer on the Xbox and even have a washer and dryer. We payed $5 for one wash and another $5 for a dry, which is somewhat outrageous, but Carina was still thrilled.

Now, we are in the small town called Anapoima, 2 hours from Bogota. On Monday we filed the paperwork for our adoption decree. Now, once again we wait. Wait and swim.