Cartagena to Santa Marta, 22nd Nov.

Not exactly sad to leave Cartagena, but it's been a good visit. However, I need to plough on. It's a huge country, and others await.
This post will have to suffice for yesterday and today. Packing, travelling, unpacking. You get the picture.
As planned, on the bus from Cartagena I arrived in Santa Marta at a sensible hour and found my new digs pretty easily for once. I chose somewhere within a short walk of the bus stop - huzzah!
On the surface, Santa Marta doesn't have much to distinguish it. I had it firmly recommended by one of the guys in Cartagena. It's the places that it serves as a base for exploring, so I'm looking forward to that. Some of the 'organised' trips from Santa Marta are definitely for the well-heeled tourist, so I'll be looking to find cheaper ways to get to 1 or 2 of these.
A wander around town to get my bearings was still pretty confusing. The Colombian grid system of Carreras and Calles is getting a bit more user-friendly, so something. is sinking in at last.
First impressions are that it's a 'small town with a big heart': not a bustling, wealthy hot spot set up for the big-spending international jet-setting tourist. So I'm thankful for that at least. I just wish there wasn't so much rubbish in the streets - (I'll shut up about that now, and accept the fact that this isn't Switzerland.)
If I wanted picturesque poverty, I should've gone back to India. But there's enough hereabouts to satisfy my yearnings for photogenic squalor. I have to remind myself to avoid the tendency that some travellers fall prey to of 'wanting to capture' the 'underbelly' of a country, or to put a gloss on searching out the 'real' breathing life of a place by 'taking only photographs and leaving only footprints'. Hypocrisy on my part? It's not my worst sin I suppose. I just snap with a smile and hope for the best.Read more