The beaches Costeño and Palomino offer white sand, the trademark turquoise Caribbean sea and palm trees as far as the eye can see. Fans of coconut juice could not find themselves in a better place. You can't walk 10 meters without finding a nice ripe green coconut that has just fallen from a tree, and everyone carries machetes around with them so there is no problem opening them up.
If you are feeling really energetic you can climb a tree and cut one off yourself, but only idiots do that.
I went to Costeño first, just an hours bus ride from Santa Marta. One thing I will truly miss about South America is purchasing food from random people on buses. Salespeople stand by the road and flag down passing buses, jump on and walk up and down the bus offering you everything from natural juice to hot meat on skewers. The products change depending on the region you are in and are so cheap they are usually worth trying. So, as my bus bounced along on suspension long worn out, I found myself munching on fried banana with melted cheese (a surprisingly good combination), drinking ice cold passion fruit juice. Mmmm!
After jumping off the bus I had to walk 30 minutes to Costeño beach. On the way I passed a huge banana plantation opposite a large field filled with temporary houses made from bamboo. I assumed that the people that lived in these houses were the workers from the banana fields. It turned out that 30 families had settled there a couple of years ago when a river burst its banks and washed away their small village. The problem was, lots more people heard about this and came and grabbed their own piece of land, some even came from Santa Marta and took land for a holiday home next to the beach. When I walked past there were 1,500 people squatting on this land. They just so happened to get evicted when I was staying at Costeño! I didn't see the eviction, but apparently it was quite violent, and when I walked back the same way 3 days later the whole settlement had been reduced to a few piled of burning wood.
Costeño is an unpopulated 4 km stretch of beach that offers the best (pretty much the only) surf conditions on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. The area was owned for many years by an old hippie named Randy who used the area to grow and export massive quantities of a cannabis strain called Santa Marta Gold to the US throughout the 60’s and 70’s. When cocaine overtook cannabis as the primary drug export, the owner got out and the area was uninhabited until two Canadians bought a 30m stretch in the middle. There are hammocks and a few small huts for 30 people and the 2km each side remains uninhabited.
I did a bit of surfing but my days were mainly spent lazing on the beach, playing volleyball with the other guests and trying to walk across the slackline that they had attached to a couple of coconut trees!
The next destination was Palomino, which was exactly the same!
I had some interesting developments with my money situation while I was in Palomino though! I've mentioned before that my money is going to run out at some point on this trip...well I arrived in Palomino with only £100 left in my bank account. I have been doing a bit of work in some of the hostels for free accommodation and when I rocked up I asked the owner if I could do some work in return for a hammock. Usually this means cleaning the bedrooms or doing some gardening but the reply I got was "sure, we need some coconuts for cooking - gather 100 green coconuts and you can sleep here for free". He was speaking in English but I had to ask him to repeat himself. I spent half of each day climbing coconut trees and scouting around the ground and I came up with the goods! More money saved.
I have been toying with the idea of teaching English to try to work up some money. I have no teaching skills so have not been looking forward to it, but needs must. But I have had some great news - it turns out I worked enough of my firm's last financial year to be eligible for a bonus. And they decided to give me one! Whoever made that decision is my hero - thank you, work, I no longer have to pretend I am an English teacher!
So, life is good! As always, I leave you with some more pictures from the beaches.
Walking along Costeño beach.
The point where freshwater meets the sea. This is also the bath, sink and washing machine for the locals.
You can see right up to the Sierra Nevada from the beach.
One thing they have which Costeño doesn't is lots of cows on the beach!
And huge vultures looking for downed crabs.
Dinner!
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