Day 3 Of World Cruise

Today the ship docked in Santa Marta Colombia. We got off and wandered into a tourist trap. There were lots of knickknacks for sale and many people yelling out their prices. We decided to ignore the expensive souvenirs and head into the city away from the tourists. After a few minutes of walking down the main road we met a nice local man who said he knew someone who could get us rental bikes. He made a few phone calls and spoke some Spanish. Within a few minutes he had given us directions to a hotel where we could meet somebody to get the bikes. He also recommended a good local restaurant.

After a bit more walking and a short ride up an elevator we were at the very top of a beautiful hotel where we waited until eventually a woman stepped very eagerly off of the elevator with a sign that said BIKES? Get this, her name was Farrah Fawcett. Next, we followed her out to a dirty lot with walls that were caving in. She let us choose from a selection of dirty old bikes. We chose the nicest looking ones and headed out to the town for just $20.

Farrah Fawcett Letting Us Choose Our Bikes

The first thing we did was ride to the edge of town. We thought it would be fun to ride out of the polluted town and find a beach to take a dip in the ocean and cool off. Unfortunately, riding out of the town was a lost cause due to the large Sierra Nevada mountains surrounding it. We stopped about halfway up the road out of town and turned around.

The highest point of our bike ride

Next we rode to the middle of town. The heart of the city was insane! Small blue buses were everywhere with drivers who were not planning to stop for anybody. In between the buses were taxis with drivers who seemed to be just as determined as the bus drivers. There were privately owned cars peppered into the whole mess and to top it off there were, quite literally, hundreds of motorcycles weaving in between the other vehicles. There were so many motorcycles. It was like a plague.

We were on the side of the road avoiding imminent pain and possible death.. There was a sidewalk, but it was only about six inches wide and was completely overcrowded by people standing around and even an occasional motorcycle. Yet, we lived. We just went with the flow and followed the path that the city provided. I almost got hit by a bus and a motorcycle. It was so much fun, and quite a thrill as well.

Eventually we found the local restaurant. We had Cayeye which is a mixture of mashed bananas, onions, tomato, and minced garlic. It was very good. We also had pork belly with onion and cilantro. It was in a delicious barbecue sauce and had full kernels of black pepper sprinkled over it. It was good, but the pepper made it just a bit too spicy for me. We also had Samario Un Arepa de Maiz Fritos, a small piece of bread with cheese, eggs and cooked tomato on top. It was good. We also had frozen coconut lemonade and a bottle of water which cost 3,703.70 Pesos. It was a superb lunch.

  Our Colombian lunch

After lunch we returned the bikes to the creepy lot and headed to the ship. We got on a bit early, but we were content with what we saw. We settled down for the rest of the day. We had dinner in the dining room, went to a piano performance by Naomi, and saw a movie. It was a fantastic day!

Till next time!