Santa Marta: Where I Finally Exhaled

If I had to pick the place I've loved most so far, it's unquestionably Santa Marta. Let me tell you why.

At first, I simply wanted to get away from the noise of Bogotá and from the life I'd had before Colombia: I held a senior position at an international organization, burned out completely, got seriously ill, and resigned even before the move. I needed to gather my thoughts into something coherent, figure out how and where to move forward, and simply exhale and recover my strength. For that, I chose Santa Marta, not the noisy tourist streets, but a gated residential complex with apartments and houses, its own lake, pools, a gym, beautifully kept grounds, and lantern-lit bridges right on the shore of the Caribbean Sea.

It turned out to be the best decision: I got beauty, comfort, convenience, freedom, the sea breeze, the smell and sound of the ocean, a wide balcony I'd step out onto late at night. Silence and stillness, the kind that wakes up a hunger for life and a certainty that I want to be here, to live in this kind of beauty, to build something of my own. Which means I'm not giving up, I'm moving forward, I'm breathing freely again.

Every morning I'd walk the beach for a long time, watching the waves, the people, the seashells, the fishermen's fresh catch. Then I'd have coffee, eat papaya, and head back to my comfortable apartment, only to head out to the beach again after a proper breakfast. The sunrises and sunsets I got to witness there were extraordinary, as if the world around me were saying, look how beautiful, how bright, and at the same time how gentle I can be.

Nearby are the magnificent Tayrona National Park and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, but I'll save that for my next note. The city itself, one of the oldest in Colombia, was founded in 1525: here you can see a beautiful cathedral, museum complexes, and historic houses. In the afternoon, it's always worth planning a walk through the old town, along the waterfront and through the parks, simply enjoying life.