The Santa Marta region of northern Colombia has, within a ninety minute radius, the Caribbean, the snow-capped peaks of the Sierra Nevada, desert with plentiful cactus, and rain forest.  The diversity of birds is remarkable, which is what induced my sister to suggest this locale for our trip.  We showed up wondering “how to find the birds,” but before that sentence was finished, some birds swooped down and stole part of our breakfast.

The “Tower” is a wonderful lookout point in Minca, a small town about thirty minutes away from Santa Marta.  You stand in an elevated gazebo, surrounded by beautiful mountains, and watch various birds go by.  The host family doesn’t even charge you for the drink of water.  Until not too long ago, Minca was a “no go” zone, ruled by drug lords and guerrillas.  Now there is a very peaceful revenue-generating compromise, with a lid on all the violence.  British women visit and order avocado toast, before setting off on their birding tours.

My sister has seen dozens of “lifers” on this trip, namely birds she had not seen before.  For me they are almost all lifers, except the pigeons.

You can take a several hour small boat trip to see a village on stilts, Pueblo Palafito.  The locale supports 1000 or so people, all using water taxis to get around and mostly working as fishermen.  It is not near anything else, and their power source is solar, due to a gift from the Italian government.  This was the highlight of the trip.  I am told families there typically average five children, and the schools were indeed full of enthusiastic young people.  Best is this video, you don’t need to understand the Spanish.

In the city of Santa Marta there are two (!) separate monuments to the 1958 Smith-Corona typewriter, both at major intersections.  They are intended as a tribute to the region’s best-known author Gabriel García Márquez.

The local economy is too dependent on coal export, but overall it feels bustling and reasonably prosperous.

The best food there is seafood, most of all fish and shrimp, in addition to coconut rice and various forms of plantains.  You can eat very well here but I would not stray from the area’s basic strengths.  Maracuya juice is consistently good.  I don’t usually order desserts, but here they are consistently interesting and original, often using honey, or sometimes waffles.

I would strongly recommend the Marriott hotel there, the one on the beach.  It is essentially an $800 a night quality place, with very direct beach access, but at far, far lower prices.  And you end up with the ocean and also the three swimming pools pretty much to yourself.  (Where is everyone?)  For the entire trip, and for the hotel, safety levels are just fine.

This is what the Caribbean should be, but rarely is.  Visiting Santa Marta, as a trip, is so far ahead of most better-known beach outings it isn’t funny.  From Virginia I can fly to Colombia in about five hours, and then Santa Marta from Bogotá is a mere 90-minute extra flight.

It is a common trope that genetic influences on individual behavior strengthen as people age.  If you take a trip with your sibling, you will see further evidence that this is true.

It is rare for me to get on a plane for reasons that have basically no work components.  That said, it is also easy to get work done here.