Colombia Act 1

Colombia – Act 1

Our point of arrival into Colombia was Santa Marta – where we were welcomed by the crew on the red dinghy and guided to our slip.  In Colombia an agent must be used to handle the paperwork for customs and immigration.  After many visits to these kind officials in the 20 some islands we have visited, an agent sounded like a nice deal for us.  Our agent was a charming gal who asked to be call Jelly. She was most efficient and had us clear through immigration quickly as those officials happened to be on the dock when we arrived.  Customs took a few hundred copies of paperwork and photos of key engine and boat numbers, but we were successfully cleared and issued a cruising permit so when we finally decide to leave, we will be able to stop along the way west. (With the disruption of the Covid-19, departures are all a mystery.)

Santa Marta is not one of the “big” tourist attractions in Colombia and some have not given the town great reviews.  However, we found it a vibrant and colorful introduction to Colombia with extremely helpful folks in the marina office (Kelly) and in the shops and services we visited.  Thanks to Google Translate and our 10 words in Spanish, we are managing to get along.  Interestingly most people we meet also pull out their phones and also use the app to communicate.  Haircuts – no problem, repairing Steve’s money clip – piece of cake as were the airline reservations we made to travel a little in the country. The market street and food stalls were sensory overload and we wondered if this was not a key place to visit, how will those more famous stops compare?

street vendors

bustling market area

shades of San Agustin....