Arepa belly

So life in Santa Marta rolls on. After a bit more consideration and a chat with Paulie, one of my friends here at FMA, I decided I would continue to go to the Barrio Fundadores (where I was robbed) for sports day. Why not, lightning doesn’t strike twice right? Although I was a little apprehensive everything was fine, with no guys popping up with knives on the bus this time.

Sports field at Fundadores

The next day was sports day at the other Barrio, Oasis. Fortunately Lisa, who is another friend working for FMA, had found a local guy Jason who is going to help out from here on in. Being a local Colombian he immediately commanded respect from the kids, something I continue to fail at spectacularly. If he continues to come along, life for me, and for whoever takes over sport when I leave, is going to be immeasurably easier and more enjoyable. That night was Miles’ last in Santa Marta and so was fittingly large with Miles drawing a big crowd down to the language exchange he started months ago. We ended the night in La Puerta where Ximenita attempted to teach me Salsa, attempted being the key word considering my inability to conquer spacial awareness on the dance floor.

I find being hungover and/or tired doesn’t do you any favours with trying to learn a new language. Nevertheless I managed to battle through another two hour Spanish class with my ever so patient teacher, Elsa. I still feel like it’s one step forward and two back but she assures me I’ve improved (which my friends kindly pointed out is in her best interests to do). I’m going to try and write a blog in Spanish soon…miran este espacio. That night felt like deja vu, with a huge group of us going to Pachamama for cocktails and then making our way to Mirador. With a constant flow of volunteers here there seems to be someone’s going away party every week. I think it would have been a repeat of the week before, had I not felt chronically sick in the stomach post cocktails. I didn’t last long in Mirador and ended up feeding the fish in the sea at Taganga before going home with my tail between my legs.

After six weeks here I’d decided a weekend trip to Parque Tayrona, one of Colombia’s most popular tourist attractions, was overdue. Emma, Paulie, Lisa and I met up at our favourite EXITO to stock up on supplies before heading out into the national park. Paulie, Lisa and I walked into the park whilst Emma decided to take a horse and we met at the campsite next to Arrecifes beach. It was typically hot and humid as we passed through the jungle, which looks and feels similar to parts of Brasil I visited earlier this year. You see plenty of birds, the occasional monkey, and a lot of iguanas and insects in the jungle, with mosquitoes and sand flies being the biggest nuisance. You can’t swim at arrecifes beach because of the rips, so that afternoon we walked around to the next bay for a swim alongside a few locals with the ever present but never pretty ‘Arepa belly’ in full view. The costeños (people from the Colombian coast) are infamous for their bellies. It’s common to see men on the streets with their shirt pulled up rubbing their belly with a look of immense satisfaction. Although initially taken aback I’ve decided to embrace it myself as it feels pretty good.

Finca don Pedro, Arrecifes Beach, Parque Tayrona

Paulie and Emma at Arrecifes

The next morning we packed up and moved from Arrecifes to Cabo San Juan. It was about an hour walk along the coast and up through some more jungle. Cabo San Juan is the most popular place in the national park and for the first time in a while I felt like a proper tourist again. There is a big campsite fronting onto a nice little bay with a cafe for food and drink by the beach. Thanks to some typically incompetent staff we missed the Gucci hammocks which are perched up in a hut overlooking the beach but it didn’t really matter. We made the most of a nice day by lying on the beach, with my two books being Principito (the little prince), which I’m reading in Spanish, and Shantaram. With 900 odd pages it is making me want a kindle more than ever.

Postcard perfect Cabo San Juan

Juice on the beach with Emma, Paulie and Lisa

Lisa and I decided to exit the park via Pueblito, which used to be a small, functioning, indigenous town but is now some ruins in the jungle. It was an hour walk straight up hill and so was pretty hard work in the heat. We picked up a random Colombian man from Bogota along the way which made for some good Spanish practice. After we got there and rested for a while we continued on for another two hours before reaching the road to take the bus back to Santa Marta. We hardly crossed paths with anyone making our way across streams, small jungle paths and through the back of local farmland. I returned to Santa Marta feeling satisfied I’d seen Parque Tayrona and finished that day with a “field trip” to the local mercado with my Spanish teacher.

Yay, made it

Pueblito

With a new week came a new role. I was asked if I could take over teaching an English class with CSF in Gaira after another volunteer made a sudden exit. I decided I could fit in three classes a week, Monday/Tuesday/ Thursday, and so will be teaching English for a group of kids 10-13 years old for my remaining time here. I started that and continued with my Spanish and sports classes as per usual. Importantly, we have picked up another local volunteer, Marcos, to help out in Fundadores. In terms of continuity of programs this is a great result because there is now a local who can run sports day at both the neighbourhoods. It also makes my life a whole lot easier as from here on I’m basically an assistant.

There wasn’t a whole lot new going on as I continued my weekly routine in Santa Marta and for the first time I started thinking seriously about planning my exit strategy. I’ve decided two more weeks is enough, that will be two months volunteering in total and after that I’m going to go do the lost cities trek to celebrate. My motivation is really waning, which is kind of pathetic after such a short period of time, but at the same time there have been a number of issues and frustrations with one of the organisations I’ve been involved with and although it has been a good experience overall it hasn’t quite been all I was hoping for. What it has done is re-invigorate me to start travelling again, which is nice because I felt like I was losing my travel mojo a bit prior to Santa Marta.

But back to life here. Paulie, Emma and I went out to Costeno surf camp for the weekend just past. Initially I was a bit unsure if I wanted to go back to the same place twice, but had my rubber arm easily twisted by the girls. It was another super chilled weekend, with a night of beers, a night of cocktails, lots of conversation around the communal table and plenty more beach time. Although it’s not the nicest beach in this area the staff are great and the vibe of the place well and truly make up for it. We were joined by Cerys on Saturday and so all four of us took the mini bus back to Santa Marta on Sunday. It always brings a smile to my face when locals get on the bus with a chicken or chickens in hand. I find it reminds me I’m a long way from home. This time two guys got on carrying roosters, which seemed humorous, especially when one cocked like it was sunrise, until they got off the bus and we realised there was a gathering of sorts and they were probably going to fight them. So it goes.

This week seems to be passing by reasonably uneventfully. I taught one child the English alphabet yesterday and no kids turned up to my English class this morning so I just joined in the Spanish games Cerys had organised. Yesterday was another day of celebration in Santa Marta, this time for Saint Carmen. Apparently she is the saint for drivers (taxis, buses etc) and there were some parades in the streets, Costenos getting drunk, and a lot of amateur fireworks being shot into the air. That seems to be the standard formula for a festival day, which as I’ve previously mentioned, there are an abundance of. Point in case this Friday is Colombian Independence Day, granted it’s an important one, but it’s another public holiday. We’re making the most of it and going on a trip to La Guajira, the northern most point in Colombia, which I’m really looking forward to.