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Jun 20, 2013, 11:12am

Any Port in a Storm :: Compass Points :: South America :: Post Message

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Posted by bjd on Jan 12, 2010, 4:35pm

After Cartagena, we went to Taganga, a village 15 minutes by bus or taxi from Santa Marta, about 4 hours east of Cartagena.

Santa Marta is trying to attract some of the tourism that comes to Cartagena. We saw one cruise ship there.
Taganga was a small fishing village, but in the past year has become more and more popular as a backpacker's place and dive centre. They were paving the street in front of the beach while we were there, and there are plenty of bars and discotheques, but if you go one street up from the beach, it calms down, and two streets up you get the sound of shops blaring vallenato music at all hours, roosters crowing at all hours, etc.

The seafront in Santa Marta. You can see the size of the cruise ship on the left.
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The little girl with her hands in front of her face asked me to take their picture. This was in a small back street.
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Santa Marta wants to compete with Cartagena for the tourist trade
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The most popular tourist area is around the cathedral
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Posted by bjd on Jan 12, 2010, 4:42pm

Guess which ones are the tourists
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And two blocks away,one of the shopping areas
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arepas -- things make from corn meal and often with melted cheese inside
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Posted by bjd on Jan 12, 2010, 4:59pm

Taganga

Early morning in Taganga
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To get to the next beach, you either walk over the hill or get one of these boats
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New seafront at 7 am while the backpackers are sleeping
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Fresh juice -- choose your fruit
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And a couple of minutes away
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Posted by bjd on Jan 13, 2010, 6:37pm

Just bumping these up so that you know it's there

Posted by hwinpp on Jan 14, 2010, 7:20am

Those boys playing with the bike could be here in Cambodia, BJD.

The water in the bay looks pristine and so clear. Did you go swimming?

Posted by bixaorellana on Jan 14, 2010, 7:41am

And less surprisingly, so much of it could be right here where I live.

Taganga is lovely. Is it dry season there -- some of those hills looked pretty brown.

I am intrigued by the arepas -- they are so white! Are they already cooked?

Of the places you visited, did you have a favorite?

Posted by bjd on Jan 14, 2010, 7:55am

Yes, we went swimming every day. In Taganga the water gets deep quite quickly so the water is cooler than in Cartagena, for example. There are also beaches around Santa Marta, where it's shallower for longer, so the water is warmer. Just over the hills are other beaches where the water is very clear and you can snorkel. Taganga is also a scuba diving centre.

However, in Latin America people are not so concerned with environmentalism and even in beautiful beaches further along the coast where we went on excursions, there are plastic bags floating in the water. There are also jellyfish. But there is not a single garbage can along the beach in Taganga, for example, whereas there are lots of people. One end of the beach is for swimming, the other for the fishermen's boats.

Rainy season ended in November, although we had a couple of downpours. Given that much of the vegetation is cactusy, I think it's always quite dry there. There are water problems in the village.

Bixa, the arepas in the back of the pic are brown on one side, so I guess the ones in front are still uncooked on the top. The flour used is really white, so they stay white. I admit I find them absolutely tasteless but my husband really liked them and we were served arepas at breakfast nearly every day in Taganga.

I can't say which place I liked best. We spent the most time in Taganga with family and friends, so I suppose that would be an unfair bias. It was a real vacation -- just poking around, reading, going for a swim and an occasional outing somewhere.

Posted by bjd on Jan 14, 2010, 8:05am

The fishermen's end of the beach
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The swimmers' end
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Much of the area is dry
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Children

Typical activity in Taganga
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Little Indian girl whose mother came to show woven bags at the house
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Posted by casimira on Jan 14, 2010, 11:16pm

More splendid treats BJD! Again,so reminds me of parts of the Yucatan although,20 years ago. I love that you went swimming everyday.
This is a real treat,thanks so much.

As an aside,the Carribean colors I have always loved,four years ago when we did our massive renovation we went with several of the pastels. One can certainly get away with it here. They have proven to be very soothing,particularly in the heat of the summer.

Posted by kerouac2 on Jan 15, 2010, 12:25am

You have absolutely sold me on Colombia, bjd, although I was mostly sold already, along with Argentina. I am also beginning to take an interest in Brazil, albeit not necessarily Rio (which I will not at all boycott when I get to that country).

Posted by bjd on Jan 15, 2010, 8:30am

Oh, we have lots of pictures of Argentina too, Kerouac!

Posted by casimira on Jan 15, 2010, 11:36am

I would love to see your pics of Argentina BJD.

Posted by bixaorellana on Jan 16, 2010, 5:27pm

Bjd, it's hard to express just how much I am enjoying this thread. I put that in the present tense because I've returned to it several times to really take it in. Of course it is informational in that your pictures convey so much. But it's your comments and deft touch in putting everything into context with the great photos that really make this thread and your other two threads on Columbia so extremely interesting and enjoyable.

I particularly appreciate that you show how a place can cater to tourism, yet retain its identity and the charm that brought tourists there in the first place. I've laughed up my sleeve so many times on LPTT at the naive queries for "completely unspoiled" places by people who obviously have done little or no traveling. They forget they'll want atm machines, a not-too-3rd-world place to stay, and probably burgers, too.

Also, thank you for your thoughtful answers to each and every question. To me, that is one of the great boons of this kind of report -- it's like sitting next to a friend on the sofa and getting on-demand explanations of the travel pics.

And I've said it before, but ..... I love your photographs. You really have an eye for composition, color, interest, etc., creating photos that not only are informative, but can stand alone because they're so good. Please accept my applause for this fabulous three-part visit to a place that barely existed in my mind before.

Now, about Argentina ..................

Posted by kerouac2 on Jan 17, 2010, 4:01am

Yes, we do indeed need to see Argentina, even if we are not done with Colombia yet.

(I like the way the pastel clothing on the children matches the buildings.)

Posted by bjd on Jan 17, 2010, 9:48am

Then you would like this guy
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Posted by bixaorellana on Jan 17, 2010, 3:32pm

And the food he's selling also matches! Great shot, Bjd. Any idea what's on his cart?

Posted by imec on Jan 21, 2010, 8:26pm

Love these pictures bjd! Never been to South America - I must correct that.


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