Wandering Gringo: Santa Marta from Tayrona to Taganga

I wrote below that the road to Santa Marta was not without its challenges, however, eventually we reached our destination. Santa Marta rests between the mountains of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Caribbean Sea. For the last five hundred years, the city has served Colombia both as an important port and as the capital of the department of Magdalena.

Home to just over 400,000 people, Santa Marta is one of Colombia's top destinations for fun-in-the-sun thanks to its warm climate, sunny beaches, and access to the natural magnificence of Tayrona National Park.

For tourists, there are two sides of the city to be experienced. El Rodadero (pictured above) is the modern, hyper-developed tourist center full of gringos, hotels, restaurants, and a stunning beach. However, if you are in the mood for more of a Spanish colonial vibe, the historic district of Santa Marta proper is currently experiencing a surge of redevelopment.

One need look no further than the port of Santa Marta to see why. What once was serving primarily as a point of export for bananas, coal, and other goodies from the interior is now also serving as a point of disembarkation for sun-burned, gringo tourists on large, modern cruise ships. Great for the local economy, which can use all the jobs it can get to tackle its serious poverty issues, but bad for the authentic feel. But hey, small price to pay for some much needed economic development, right?

In my opinion, the five hundred year old coastal city is beaten, hands down, by the ageless natural splendor of the Tayrona National Park (above). One of the most important nature preserves in the country with the second most biodiversity in the world. Tayrona is simply awesome.

There are a number of trails that lead you through dense rain forest out to the sea. If you don't want to walk, you can ride a donkey, which coincidentally is how they get all the beer out to the several low-key seaside restaurants that occupy a few of the beaches - an acceptable intrusion on the pristine scenery.

Once there you can camp out in a tent, cabin, or just a hammock. Not bad.

After two days of checking out the beaches in Tayrona, we headed to a small fishing village just outside the city, Taganga (right). While tourism appears to be the largest business nowadays, there are still plenty of fishing boats and nets dotting the beach - proof that there's still something worth catching out there (likely to feed hungry tourists.)

From the village you can hop on a boat for a ten minute ride to one of several nearby, secluded beaches. A great place to pass the day snorkeling, swimming, sunbathing, eating fresh fish, and drinking cerveza. Since we were there just after Christmas, one of the high seasons for tourism, it was a bit crowded, but still beats the Jersey Shore boardwalks.

In addition to its coastal attributes, Santa Marta is also famous as the death-place of Simon Bolivar, the much-revered Latin American liberator. La Quinta de San Pedro, the estate where he past in the 1830s, has been well maintained and is a great destination for history buffs.