Santa Marta – Colombia 21-1-2020
A quick crossing saw us arrive very early in Santa Marta, and the long stop that the ARC organization requires is intended to allow even the slowest to take advantage of a few days to discover the place. The intimate meaning of moving by sea like the ancients has not only the charm of sailing itself, but above all that of discovery and knowledge. There are other reasons related to the constraints that each country imposes on the organizers, namely that of probably bartering important discounts on the boats that they will allocate for a longer period, in order to allow more substantial aid to the local economy. In fact, World ARC has provided an on-site office in each port, with a local travel agent always present to offer tours to discover the area.
This greatly facilitates us sailors and has allowed us to really enter the heart of this land.
Colombia is not a country known to the masses except for reasons strictly related to the Colombian drug trafficking, leader on the planet, but secretly hidden in their home, as if it did not exist. Like most of the countries in the SOUTH of the world, either for purely climatic reasons, or for other reasons that we Europeans ignore, there is a slow, dusty and unordered pace, only apparently uncontrolled, given the large presence of police in every corner of the most small. Attending with men in uniform has two advantages for a presidential republic with monarchical intentions (it is a matter of history, too recent to have absorbed the concept of democracy, and of a young DNA, with still tribal and non-republican imprinting), the first that of offer a safe workplace, with a uniform, to many families,thus guaranteeing the name of “government that thinks of the people”, the second that of controlling the people, for centuries like a flock to be governed. There are two disadvantages, that of a progressive dictatorial drift, and therefore an uncontrolled development of corruption.
Our stop was quite long and we were able to get a precise idea of Santa Marta, Cartagena and the activities that characterize the economy of this land. Guided tours that have taken us far away, so the time to write the diaries has contracted and I will resume sailing towards the San Blas, next stop. Guido Giatti arrived from Bologna, to tell the truth not at all tried by the long journey and ready for the next adventure; in the meantime, award ceremony last night, with dinner offered by the ARC at the Santa Marta Nautical Club and delivery of the first place plate for Ariel referring to the first stage of this long journey by sea.
Paolo & Crew
