Another trip comes to an end
Colombia day seventeen
20.02.2023 - 21.02.2023
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Colombia 2023
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On Cayena Beach
Time to go home, but an evening flight meant that we could enjoy relaxing at Cayena Beach for a final morning. We ate breakfast to the haunting sound of the Howler Monkeys. Or rather Chris ate breakfast as I had succumbed, at this late stage, to a dose of holiday tummy. I suspected the water here as, although we were assured it was treated and potable, my oversensitivity to such things may have triggered a reaction. I resolved to stick to bottled water for our last few hours here, and to skip breakfast in the hope that I could eat some lunch before leaving on the long trek home.
The spider living (thankfully) outside our room, and bird overhead
We packed our bags, leaving out travelling clothes to change into at the last minute, then had a walk down to the beach in front of the hotel and a short way along it. Although there is a short string of small hotels along this stretch, no one seems to regard the beach areas as private so everyone is free to walk past all of them. The waves were pretty rough and with the scattering of driftwood made a good subject for some last-minute photos.
On Cayena Beach
Back at the hotel I relaxed on the balcony until we needed to vacate our room at twelve. Then we slipped the last few items into our suitcases and left them at reception.
I decided I had recovered enough to eat some lunch, so we had a nice final meal on the terrace and then sat on a sofa there until it was time to leave. Christian arrived promptly at 2.30 (all the guides have been very punctual here) and we set off on the drive to the airport, passing at first through some lovely forest and mountain scenery near Tayrona National Park. We then hit the busier roads around Santa Marta and drove through an area being developed with apartment blocks before arriving at Simon Bolivar Airport. This has a great setting right next to the sea, and Christian ‘tactfully’ told us about a crash here ten years ago when a plane's brakes failed on landing and it ended in the sea. Thankfully it floated and no one was killed.
View of the sea from departures
At check-in we were told we could take an earlier flight to Bogota, giving us more time for the transfer there. It was a no brainer to accept, especially as they could offer us the same premium seats I’d splurged £22 on!
At the gate
Take-off at sunset
The plane took off on time and I managed to grab a few photos of the beautiful post-sunset glow in the sky – another bonus of the switch to the earlier flight. The flight was less than an hour and a half, so passed quickly. We landed in Bogota on time and made our way to international departures (not helped by an almost total lack of signage). Passport control and security were speedy and we then had about three hours to kill. We had a drink, browsed the shops and used up our remaining pesos on chocolate and some duty free makeup for me.
In the departures hall
We boarded and took off on time. A meal was served, neither good nor bad by airline standards. We’d splurged, slightly, on the so-called Plus seats, which offer a bit more leg room. That may be why, unusually for me, I managed to sleep for several hours.
All went smoothly at Heathrow, and at home we found our kind neighbours had, as arranged, popped in the previous day to switch on the heating, so we arrived back to a cosy house. Time to tackle the laundry!
Posted by ToonSarah 11:54 Archived in Colombia Tagged beaches flight airport colombia Comments (9)
