No early morning to rise for me today, I slept a full on 9 hours! Woo hoo! Got up, had a nice long warm shower, had some breakfast, and then negotiated our ride back to Cartagena with a stop at the volcano. We had a private taxi picking us up in 1 hour, so decided to venture around the Marina area in Santa Marta just to see how things looked in the daytime vs all we saw last night. Pretty much the same, just brighter and less shady people. We walked into a little street faire and did some browsing and shopping. Everything was sooo expensive in the little touristy towns, I kept thinking about how I could get this crap cheaper on ebay. Met our taxi driver and headed outta town. Along the way he was telling us about all the smaller little towns we were passing through and the history and significance for each one. We stopped along the way for some fresh coconut & coconut juice. I’ve never been a fan of coconut but somehow on this trip in Colombia, I can’t seem to get enough of it!
We turned off the main road, headed down a bumpy path and came to an area with a few people hanging outside what looked like business establishments, but I think it was their homes. We asked for a place to change into our bathing suits and the lady led us to “the kitchen”. Glad we weren’t eating there as that didn’t seem pretty sanitary to me. Once we all had our suits on, we were led to the stairs and I gave my camera to one of the guys that were helping us. In went Kacey first, then me, then Luke. The mud was thick and warm! It was so hard to get thru it, I actually had to have one of the guys inside pull me through to the other side. One at a time we were massaged from head to toe. It was a natural exfoliate, and actually, it reminded me of the mud baths in Calistoga I used to do. Trying to get back up the ladder was a chore. The mud clung to you and at the top, I had to wipe my arms and legs off with my hand as the mud dropped back into the pit. We were escorted over to the river where women sat us down in the shallow area of the water and bathed us clean. They removed every piece of our clothing, washed our bodies and hair, then helped us back out. It was a crazy experience, but really fun and I’m glad we did it. I had mud in areas I didn’t think mud could get into!
Back at the car, everyone that helped out wanted their share of a tip – the massager, the photographer, the bather, and also the lady who let us change in her dang kitchen. No wonder the local people in the mud bath were just sitting there watching, and no wonder they didn’t let anyone bath them, but just watched is. They knew! Oh well, what was a lousy $10 more dollars between everyone, it was something you don’t get to do very often. We arrived in Cartagena 30min later at our last and final place to stay in Colombia. It was the same place Luke and Kacey stayed at when they met us a few days before and it was actually really nice! The owner was really friendly and served some of the best coffee I had had since my stay in Colombia. He even gave us the name of what he was using and offered his “secret recipe” – cool, as long as I would be able to make it when I got home and didn’t require me to smuggle anything through border patrol.
Team Stertz wanted to head over to the Bocagrande (little Miami) area and see what the Miguels and I had seen when we were there on our first day. I was craving a yummy crepe again so figured why not. We re-traced our steps but went to Playa Tortuga first for a sunset pina colada, then went over to Crepes and Waffles for dinner. I had an EXCELLENT jamon, queso, championones y espagus crepe – OMG, I ate the WHOLE thing! I don’t even recall breathing! Afterward I had to do the touristy shopping thing and headed over to Hard Rock Café to contribute to my glass collection as well as bought a few other unique items along the street market. I always love buying myself something I can wear that when I put it on, brings a smile to my face and all the wonderful memories of my trip come to mind.
We headed towards the center square for our last night of drinks, entertainment, and people watching. There was a large group of people with 2 to 3 tables next to us, just pounding the shots of aguardiente and have a great time singing with the local street singers. They must have been attending a convention in Cartagena, some of them had name badges around their necks still. What was funny was how several of the street singers would try to compete against each other at the different tables by seeing who could sing the loudest. I don’t think any of us cared really who was actually singing, it was the music and the laughter that made it all a good time. We ourselves had several drinks too and just watched and listened – I was thoroughly enjoying my last night in Colombia, my mind absorbing every scent, sound, and sight that was around me. A little past midnight, I hit the sack so I could try to get a decent sleep before a full day of traveling back home. And as I drifted off to sleep, I couldn’t believe all the things I had done in just 10 days. I ventured out of my comfort zone into an experience like no other. And along the way, I had friends to enjoy it with, moments of solitude to reflect on the things and people in my life, and periods of uncertainty that in one aspect frightened me but also helped me grow. The one main thing I was taking home with me though, was a sense my personal values that resurfaced and reminded me of what was important to me in my life… sometimes in life, the right things are the hardest things.
