Santa Marta and Cartagena

On Thursday, April 21st we traveled with Alan and Sally Chalmers to Santa Marta and Cartagena. Alan and Sally are PEF missionaries. We had a great time and I really enjoyed the heat.


The beach at Santa Marta was so crowded that it was hard to find a place to walk.

On our way to Cartagena from Santa Marta we took a van that we caught at the bus station. When we arrived at Barranquilla, we had to change vans, just before we stopped the van went into this place with lots of old trucks. We were a little nervous wondering what was happening and then we saw them come with jugs full of gas to put in the van. We guess they must have gotten the gas from Venezuela where it is real cheap. This is taken from inside the van as they were filling the tank.



Cartagena is a beautiful city of both the old Spanish and the modern buildings.



The Castillo de San Felipe was built by the Spanish to protect the city from pirates. The Castillo is huge and probably about the size of Cougar Stadium.

We are inside the caverns of the Castillo de San Felipe. We were sweating outside, but inside it was like a Sauna.

As we were driving along the streets of Santa Marta we saw this woman, shredding and squeezing the sugar cane with this machine to make a sugary substance that they call "panela".


We paid a taxi to take us to different parts of Santa Marta. Here is the beach and the port of Santa Marta. Many of the goods that come to Colombia come through this port.


Santa Marta was the first permanent city established in South America. This is the view of the beaches just north of Santa Marta.



Santa Marta is where Simon Bolivar, the libertador of South American from Spain. Here are a few pictures from the small hacienda where he died.