The restart of the
rally to sail on to the San Blas Islands, Panama,
has been deferred by 24 hours due to high winds and
rough seas. The hot, dry and sandy conditions here
in Santa Marta remind me of a shamal in Qatar…. and
the rattling of all the rigging in the marina makes
me think of Wellington harbour on a typical breezy
day - although with temperatures well above 30
degrees C this is certainly NOT New Zealand.
Here are some images which give a
flavour of this vibrant city - the lanes of the
old city are quite narrow with lots of wall murals
and street performers. But to truly appreciate the
atmosphere here you also have to HEAR it - horns
hooting, music blaring, street vendors shouting
from dawn until well into the small hours of the
morning. There are also lots of dogs roaming the
street (which are more practiced at crossing the
roads / dodging traffic than we are!) but they are
usually silent as they really can’t compete with
all the other noises.
There are lots of brilliantly coloured
things to buy here but it is rather too hot to
consider shopping a pleasure - so far the only
footwear I have purchased is a pair of not very
exciting flip-flops! Fresh fruits such as papaya,
passionfruit and pineapple are so far my favourite
purchases.
The World ARC team have arranged
various local tours, including to the place where
the Liberator Simon Bolivar died and a museum of
gold displaying very intricate treasures made
prior to the Spanish invasion.
Nicki
UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_f430. UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_f3d2. UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_f42c. UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_f43f. UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_f37f. UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_f422. UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_f431. UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_f440. UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_f399. DsnHN+ecRdukR+6Ef6bSCw_thumb_f397. UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_f3f1. UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_f41d.