Santa Marta - The strong currents around El Morro and the dying wish of a Liberator.
(Santa Marta Photos)

I spent that first day in Santa Marta getting my bearings and recovering from my less than comfortable overnight bus ride. I also managed to plan some activities. The city itself does not offer much to the visitor, however, it is not a bad place to base yourself.

At a New Year's Eve party near Bogotá a met an amiable Cuban gentleman who has a son who does (scuba) dives in Santa Marta. So of course I called up Alejandro as soon as I arrived. As it turned out his dive shop was right next door to the Casa Familiar, my hotel. What a convenient coincidence!

The shop's battered Land Rover was loaded with our tanks and gear and we set off. We then drove all of two blocks to the part of Santa Marta's beach which is next to the port. After unloading all of the gear Alejandro wanted to park the green and cream coloured Landie in the beach's parking lot. But, after much pushing and persuasion it would not start, and so it was left on the concrete ramp.


Our chosen dive site was the Isla El Morro, big rock just off of Santa Marta. And so Alejandro, known as Cubano, Mono, our captain and I put putted off in the launch toward the rock. After dropping anchor we kitted up. It had been two years since I last went scuba diving (Whitsunday Islands, Australia), and so I was just a tad apprehensive. It was also the first time I had entered the water by sitting on the edge of the boat, facing inward, and falling in back first.

The aquatic flora and fauna was stunning. There were plenty of tropical fish of florescent blues, greens and yellows. We came across something resembling and eel that was cream coloured with yellow spots. I will have to find out exactly what it was. However, the visibility was not great, perhaps as much as 15 meters at best. The current was strong which, at times, making the dive more hard work than fun. But, we got to a depth of about 55ft (17m), and after 35 minutes I had used up 2500psi of air (about 175bar - my gauges read in US measures, I am used to metric). I thought about doing a second dive, but the body was not feeling up to it.

That afternoon, I caught one of the many buses passing by the beach that honks at every pedestrian trying to get passengers. You cannot stand still on a street corner for more than a moment without a bus, taxi or motor cycle taxi hooting their horn at you trying to get your attention. This gets very trying after a while, particularly if all you want to do is cross the street! But, this time I actually needed one of them. I headed to the dusty outskirts of the city to the Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino.


A quinta is like country house surrounded by some land. However, the Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino holds great significance for Colombia as it was where its liberator, Simón Bolívar, died of tuberculosis on 17 December 1830 at 47 years of age. After winning its independence from Spain, Colombia was facing a new crisis. During his last years, as Colombia's first president, Bolívar fought hard to keep this country from splintering apart, as often seems to happen after a country gains its independence. His dying wish was that the integrity of this young nation was maintained.

The Quinta was like an oasis in the poor, dry suburbs of Santa Marta. Its gardens are pretty well watered and maintained. The compound is divided into two parts: the main house and gardens and a large monument built for the centenary of Bolívar's death. The almost penniless Bolívar was originally invited by the Quinta's owner. The most striking feature of the Quinta is the number of huge trees, their branches reaching out in all directions. A museum was built with the monument with a number of exhibition spaces. It is a very peaceful place. You almost forget how close you are to the bustling little city of Santa Marta.