Santa Marta
15 March 2015
3-15-2015 Santa Marta
When we came back to Serenity at Marina Santa Marta last Monday we experienced a terrific wind storm that night. The wind came over our port side and we felt like Serentiy was going to end up on top of the dock. We did not check on the wind speed, but a catamaran that came into the marina that morning said they had 60 knots of wind off the point outside the marina—wow. It has blown snot every night that we have been here (gale force) and has delayed our departure for Panama. As we had a couple of days here in Santa Marta we have gone on long walks through town each day.
Santa Marta is a mix of old and new. Santa Marta is the oldest city in Colombia and is very large with an estimated population of 432,000. Yet, the Historic District is quaint with narrow streets and church plazas that reminded us of Italy. The people have been very friendly towards us as we stumble through their language and get lost in their town. We have found the Colombians to be eager to enter the modern world and embrace capitalism. Facebook founder Zuckerman choose Bogota to host an international IT conference and the Colombian government has made the business and tourist environment very safe and welcoming. We have felt safer here than in certain parts of Los Angeles back home. It has been a wonderful experience to immerse ourselves in the modern experience of Colombia.
But all things come to an end, and it looks like we will get a good weather window opening tomorrow with winds 20-25 knots and seas 8-11 feet. Not that long ago we would have considered those conditions to rough to venture out—not now. We have gotten crazy in our later years. Hope to write the next blog entry from Panama!