13/05/2019 – Travel day; Taganga to Palomino, Colombia

We got up and had breakfast at the hostel before packing our things and settling the bill. We walked a couple of minutes to a place we had seen the bus stopping before (there doesn’t seem to be bus stops, just places along the road that locals seem to know about!) and there were a few people waiting already. The rickety blue minibus pulled over and we piled on the local shuttle bus to Santa Marta (it cost about 40p each!) Our bags had to come onto our laps a little way in as the bus got so packed which made things pretty hot. About 20 minutes in we had a feeling we had missed our stop so Josh asked a local sitting near us. We got told we had already passed our stop, but the local guy said to get off with him and he would help us find our next bus (well we didn’t really know what he had said but we got the gist that maybe he would tell us when to get off the bus or something so our plan was to stay put until he said or did something!) Sure enough, a good 45 minutes later, he gave us a nudge and we got out of the bus with him, he said wait here and a bus will come for your destination. Thank goodness for the nice guy! Within about 5 minutes we managed to flag down a minibus with a sign for Palomino (our destination) in the front. The bus was packed so we had to get on wearing our big rucksacks. The driver was off again before we had even managed to take the bags off so it was interesting trying to dismount them standing on a rickety minibus trying not to hit anyone with them! Josh was left standing, I was sat next to an indigenous Colombian in his all white outfit who had a huge a sack of rice between his legs, which I guess is what he had popped to Santa Marta for. Some other people got off along the way with boxes and boxes of groceries, I think we were heading towards the countryside! It was a good 90 minute journey. Josh managed to sit for the final leg until the drivers assistant (he basically walks up and down the bus collecting the fares off people) gave us the nod that we were at Palomino, our stop! We got out with our stuff and found our bearings and walked five minutes to our accommodation, called Posadas Gallinas. It wasn’t obvious but luckily some locals helped us and pointed us in the right direction. We were shown to our room, it is probably our most beautiful accommodation yet, and got settled in. It is a little three bedroom place with a small communal courtyard with hammocks and an outdoor kitchen.

Our lodgings for the next couple of days.

It feels very newly built, I am not sure how we lucked out here but maybe they are trying to build up some reviews or something! We went for a stroll around the village before finding a spot for lunch. The village is so bohemian, it is absolutely amazing! The main dirt track is lined with little cafes and restaurants and interspersed with craft stalls selling things like jewellery, dream catchers, clothes. After some food we followed the track all the way down to the sea. It is a jungle lined beach, with rolling waves. We have read that it is not wise to swim in the sea here because of dangerous currents, but lots of people were swimming and surfing anyway.

A vendor selling his trinkets on the beach.

We got a coffee from a beach bar and sat on some stools facing the sea, watching the sun come down. Another beautiful sunset, reds and purples cast across the sky! We walked back stopping at some of the street stalls for a browse on the way. About five minutes after we got back to our room the power tripped out and there was some thunder and lightning! We sat in the hammocks in the courtyard (too hot inside) and watched some Netflix with the three cats that live here. There is a banana tree in the garden and we saw some little bats swooping down to catch the insects flying around the fruit. The power came back on a couple of hours later, which meant we had a fan in our room again (there seems to be no a.c. in accommodation in this village, maybe not eco enough?) so we got into bed (our first mosquito net!) Josh edited some photos and we watched some t.v. before falling asleep in a hot and sweaty mess (must have been at least 30°C still here at bedtime!)