vacation in Santa Marta or...?

Mr. Hollywood says on Jul 17, 2005, 12:55:

My suggestion I think Santa Marta is a perfect balance of your needs.

There's a place there called Irotama that is a nice beachside resort for someone who just wants to drink Piña Coladas under an umbrella. They have small houses there that would probably accomodate you all. But the good thing is that within a very short drive of SM you have Tayrona Park , Taganga (diving), The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Barranquilla, and La Guajira.

Make sure your friends get Yellow Fever shots before they come down because they must be at least 10 days before you can go to Tayrona.

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Gator says on Jul 17, 2005, 13:50:

Yellow Fever Inoculations... for the park no longer required.

"Credidi pretio parvo emere et magno vendere tibi in animo fuisse!" .

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vicshere says on Jul 17, 2005, 14:13:

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta should be kept out of the picture for gringos as there is still small factions of undesirables nested in the mountains.....who like to kidnap gringos for dollars...as for places to stay I like the Rodarao(sorry spelling) it has lot of restaurants hotels discos bars ...like most other beach resort you will find in the Caribbean.... you can rent a apartment for 60,000 a night that accommodates like 6 people..that's 10,000 a night per person or less than 5 buckaroos for you gringos hehehhehe.....Tayrona Park yes do it beautiful..... do the horse back tour to the beach....they let you ride on your own and the horse finds there way back to stables at 5:00 the horses show up to pick you up.... dam horses are smarter than some of the people heheheheh....Taganga (diving) didn't do it no comment..... I found Santa Marta the city very dirty and didn't like it therelisto
"con mucho gusto"
Vic
homepage
http://spaces.msn.com/members/jacintoplace

listo

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Copete says on Jul 17, 2005, 17:01:

Not Santa Marta If your friends only have a week, you need to work out a schedule that gives them a fair general picture of the country, while at the same time gives them a meaningful amount of time for each of the places they visit. And as much as I like Santa Marta, I don't think it's a destination I would fit into a 1-week trip.

First, you probably want to organize the trip around two main cities; one in the Andean Region and one in the Caribbean makes sense for the sake of having "general picture" of Colombia. Three or more is probably too many. The Andean one should be Bogota, since that's where you live; 3-4 days would be a good time to experience the city and hopefully a couple of places nearby. And for the Caribbean city, Cartagena is just unparalleled as a city, although the city beaches could be better. But to solve that, you should make the trip to the Islas del Rosario and spend at least a whole day there, or better stay overnight. Playa Blanca would be my first choice for this. And BTW, I don't recommend the "traditional" Islas del Rosario day trip; too many stops, not enough time to relax at each place, and the Oceanario may be fine for someone from Bogota who has never seen a shark or a dolphin, but the place doesn't hold a candle against any of the aquariums you can visit in the US, for instance. The whole Cartagena would take you at least 3 days.

Again, I love Santa Marta, but to do it justice you would have to squeeze out Cartagena, and that would be a mistake. Parque Tayrona alone is worth at least a couple of days, and as you may know, the Sierra Nevada trek takes at least 5 days (contrary to what's said above, I'd recommend it to anyone of adequate physical fitness, including gringos). I would certainly put Santa Marta in a 2-week schedule, but on a 1-week schdule it'd be too much.

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Gator says on Jul 18, 2005, 14:14:

Santa Marta Is Great... but I suspect Cartagena would be more fun for you and your amigos.

"Credidi pretio parvo emere et magno vendere tibi in animo fuisse!" .

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psahlmann says on Jul 22, 2005, 21:51:

here is where to stay in SMR Hi, for the beach person Cartagena will be to stressy
(load of sales guys) and for all gringos the trips to
cuidad perdida (sierra nevada) could be dangerous so
we would suggest you travel BOG-CTG, check out the
must sees there and then catch a bus (4 hrs) to SMR.
Here you do the Colombian life thing, incl. a 2-3 days
trip to Tayrona park. Whilst protection is always good,
I have never used any injections prior to going there.

Our place is close to the SMR nightlive scene, so if you
come here please pop in to say hello.

Kind regards
Patrick
Hostel Sun City
Best Place in Santa Marta
www.sahlmann.net
+57 54 211925

Kind regards Patrick Hotel Sun City Best Place in Santa Marta www.sahlmann.net +57 54 211925

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soccerstud says on Jul 25, 2005, 13:47:

i agree with GIB san andres is awesome i stayed at hotel caribe also, which has i think 3 campuses, and i went to caribe campo and i tried to learn windsurfing and it's very private the bar is on the second floor u can eat all u want and relax. caribe centro is the main hotel and it has the best club on the top floor and i think u get some free drinks and they also have a pool and shows every nite. if not then i would suggest cartagena it is an awesome city with a great nitelife. it has the castle which u can visit. and the beaches r great if any vendors come up to u just ignore them and they'll go away.

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platano says on Jul 25, 2005, 14:11:

Mr. H, I have stayed at Irotama. It is dangerous... They must have 5-star chefs on board and you are guaranteed to gain two kilos of extra weight.... ah, but it was worth it!

Plátano, el banano gordo
Oxigeno Verde ¡Libertad por Ingrid y los demás!

plátano

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