Before the day gets too hot and before the streets are too busy, Jens and I jumped on our bikes to explore the town of Santa Marta and get a few pictures of some of the sights. We stopped for a nice cold glass of freshly squeezed orange juice from a street vendor. It tasted better than Tropicana and at 50 cents for a glass, I guess it is also a bargain. The midday temperature is about 30 Celsius with about 70% humidity. Luckily the evenings cool down and a breeze picks up, so it is quite ok for sleeping.
Santa Marta is the oldest surviving colonial town in Colombia. It was 1525 when Rodrigo de Bastida landed here in search of gold. The native Indians, the Tayronas had many gold treasures and objects which were stolen, melted down and the gold returned to Spain. The Tayronas soon perished due to the arrival of the Europeans who brought with them diseases for which they had no antibodies. Unfortunately, this is a common story in the Caribbean islands.
Santa Marta is home to the oldest church in Colombia, Catedral Santa Marta, although it was only completed in the 18th century. Santa Marta is also where Simon Bolivar spent his remaining years having died here in December 1830. Bolivar was responsible for bringing independence to six Latin American countries, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama and Bolivia. He is an interesting character and I suggest you read a little about him on Wikipedia. A few interesting facts: He was orphaned at nine; he was a freemason; and he was responsible for freeing the South American slaves 40 years before the US civil war.
Santa Marta Cathedral
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