We woke to quiet. The wind was not screeching and howling around our building but it wasn’t long before it picked up and we escaped down to the streets below to avoid the incessant noise. We were in search of a good cup of coffee (for Rudy) and some delicious breakfast drink for me. As always, we go out in search of food and drink with a little bit of trepidation. Yesterday, for example, we went out for margaritas late afternoon and after some aimless wandering and indecision we stopped at a place and ordered. Before we even got our drinks I was beginning to regret our choice. It smelled of sewer in the vicinity and everything seemed a little dirty. When the drinks arrived my doubts were confirmed. No ice, no salt or tahine on the rims of the glasses, and the drinks certainly didn’t taste very good. Well at least they are 2 for the price of 1, we thought. We thought wrong. They were full price and more expensive than many places we had been. Anyway, back to this morning. We found a cool little hippy place and went inside. The breeze was cool inside and the coffee was delicious (not so the vegan pancakes, but 1 out of 2 is not bad). It was a great experience all in all. A couple of stray dogs came into the restaurant and lay in the cool. Supplies arrived (a man with a huge bag of Columbian coffee beans slung over his shoulder and another man with a bag of coconuts.) There was no loud Latin music playing (instead there was some melodic folk music). We left refreshed and ready for the day.
Midday finds us holed up in the apartment. It is much too hot to venture out unless it is to the pool on the rooftop terrance. I spent time on drawing and watercolour and reading, and Rudy on photo editing and reading the news.
Around three o’clock we ventured out on a mission. Rudy had found that he could get an eSIM for his phone if he went to a bigger ‘official’ Claro store at a mall. He typed the address into google maps and we started out. But…. there are many quadrants in a city and just because you are on the corner of Calle 11 and Carretera 3 doesn’t mean you are at the right place. And of course we weren’t.
But the expedition wasn’t in vain. We saw a new part of the city and it reminded me a lot of many areas in Xela, Guatemala where we lived as a family almost 30 years ago. The area was more true to life for regular folks, I think. It was dirtier, more shops crowded into small areas, and many street vendors selling food and drinks (of course) but also underwear and plastic trinkets and electronic devices. I should have counted the number of shoe shops in one block (not to mention those selling shoes on carts). It seems almost impossible that people can make a living and sell much of anything. And what is to differentiate between one shoe stall and another? After we admitted defeat, (we had been on a road that didn’t lead us to where we wanted to go), we stopped at the bank to take out cash and headed home again.
At 6ish we headed out again. We chose a quiet spot (Don Chuco’s) for seafood. I had coconut shrimp and Rudy some delicious grilled fish with shrimp sauce over it. Don Chuco’s is just off the Parque de Novios but is quiet as opposed to the bars and restaurants across the park on the main walkway. They even had an actual singer who played guitar and it was so quietly refreshing. So far we have been subjected to mostly no-talent outfits who have an amp over their shoulder and basically they rap or sing (and I use this term loosely) karaoke to some canned music. But people must make money and it is that or sell lollipops, or jewelry, or cigarettes on the streets. It is not an easy life for a lot of people.
Tomorrow is our last full day in Santa Marta.