Santa Marta, Columbia

We made the cardinal error this morning of getting up late-ish...so breakfast was heaving and far from a serene start to the day.

A little after 9am, we ported in the industrial port of Santa Marta. Off the ship, we had to get the bus a laughable 300 metres through the port for health and safety reasons. But before we even got near the bus, the heat was stifling. Over 30° by 10am and rising, it made walking around Santa Maria a real challenge, even when drinking lots of water.

We popped along the sea front and up to the cathedral to start with, before heading along shopping streets that resembled Bangkok - traders on the pavements creating narrow pathways between them and the shops. The heat, the noise and the smells made for a real assault on the senses that was seemingly inescapable wherever we went! Walking through a local park, we passed an unusual cemetery before going to the Tairona Oro Museum which looked at indigenous culture of the region. After a frozen lemonade and a failure to find wifi, we walked along the sea front in the sweltering heat before heading back to the ship hoping that the pool will be quiet!Read more