Santa Marta, Day 2

I decided once again to skip a town on my travels: yesterday I sailed right past Barranquilla and on to Santa Marta instead. With only 10 days left (!!!) I figured it was a better place to stop, with more beautiful places to see in the area.

For my last full day in Cartagena, the day after the boat trip, I went to visit the Castillo de San Felipe, one of the few forts outside the walled part of the city that were used to defend key points of the important port town. It`s a massive structure with barracks, a hospital for the wounded soldiers, rest areas, a little house where decisions were made, and an impressive and complex system of underground tunnels to facilitate evacuation and ventillation.

In the afternoon I just relaxed in the hammock in the hostel and packed up my bags, ready to leave the next day.

Yesterday I travelled, and reached Santa Marta in the evening. The first hostel I checked out, Hostal Miramar, turned out to have internet, a restaurant, more people who speak English than I can shake a tail at, and the cheapest price. So despite the crumbling walls it seems to be the best place, and is very social. Last night I went for dinner with 2 Germans, 1 American, 1 fellow Canadian, and 1 Swede, and had a lovely time chatting about the cool things you can do here.

Today I plan to wander around the city itself, but in the next couple days I`m gonna head to the Parque National Tayrona, a huge jungle park on the coast which is supposed to be stunning.

I can`t believe I only have 10 days left!