Reflections: Palomino, Colombia

Back to LOCOMBIA!! A vacation from our vacation, we relax on the Caribbean beach and soak everything in. A much needed reflection time, we look back on all that we have experienced and continue to appreciate and learn from our many adventures. WE ARE SO FORTUNATE!

Deciding to completely cut ourselves off from the rest of the world for a week to reflect on our trip without distractions, we found a beautiful sanctuary called "Eco Sirena" at the base of the Sierra Nevadas de Santa Marta. We stayed in hammocks on the beach and spent lazy days writing in our journals, reading our books, laying on the beach, stretching, and playing with the beach dogs. Some days I would just sit in the shade of the palm trees and look out at the water for hours. Time does not exist here. We awoke with the first rays of sun in the morning and walked along the beach in search of seashells; it was paradise.

The "town" of Palomino was about a 20 minute walk from the beach and we would walk there to buy some vegetables and water. It was a very poor town in the middle of nowhere, and only stretched for about a kilometer. Tribal people would come into town for some supplies but then head back to the mountains - most people seemed to keep to themselves in this area. The kids would run down the road barefoot spinning bike tires with sticks, or help their family hammer palm fronds to the roof. Sometimes we would find GIANT snakes (boas) with their heads smashed in with rocks on the side of the road... it was a little rugged in town so we mostly stayed in our little paradise on the beach.

We met some amazing people from all around the world and shared travel stories, it was so inspiring! Sometimes in the evening we would get together for a little pow-wow on the beach and dance around the fire!

"Without experience, there is little wisdom..."

The pelicans would dive in the mornings, the bats would swoop in the evenings, and the chickens would cluck all day long. With every step down a trail, tiny lizards would scurry in every direction, and giant iguanas and red-tailed squirrels would run up the palm trees. We would watch the fishermen take their tiny wooden boats into the crashing waves in the mornings, and come back with buckets full of fresh fish and lobsters in the afternoons. The local boys would walk up and down the beach with giant machetes, followed by a pack of wild beach dogs.

Of course there is always the cost of paradise...Being exposed to the great outdoors for a week we were ready to head to an actual hostel closer to town with an actual BED to sleep in. We are pretty bug bitten and it took quite a few showers to get the sand out of our ears. We are now buying fruit at the grocery store after a bad experience with a worm infested pineapple and severe stomach aches, but we are doing much better now! I think we have gotten all the bugs out of our bags (we don´t want to bring those nasty poisonous furry caterpillars with bad intentions home with us..) Ahhhh our last week of travel now, still soaking up the sun and every experience we can!

Watch for falling coconuts...