I'm happily in a hammock again, swinging alongside the pool in Santa Marta. Very happy days indeed.

It's about 36 degrees today, and blazing sunshine - definitely better than the chilly Bolivian desert I should have been in now! Coming to Colombia was the right move - it is just gorgeous here, and I'm having a great time in Santa Marta. The crowd at this hostel at great, its really sociable - at the weekend we went on a Chiva Bus - a Colombian favourite apparently, its a bus with a disco and dancefloor, plus all the booze you can drink. The bus drives around town, stopping off at points of interest (namely a huge statue of an apparently famous footballer who had very blonde curly hair) and winding up at a club. The locals were highly amused by all the gringos turning up and were keen to show us how to salsa Colombian-style!

I've squeezed in a bit of culture too, with a visit to the Simon Bolivar museum. He was Colombia's first president, 'The Liberator', and they all adore him. The Botanical Gardens surround the white Colonial-style buildings of the museum, so you can see lots of photos of cacti from there. I was really taken with an art exhibition there - a series of images painted onto gold tiles, each one depicting an indiginous man on a raft, with various things aboard - bamboo plants, butterflies, a house, carts of street food - they were really lovely.

Last night I went out in Taganga, a beach town close to the hostel, for drinks with Rosie who I'd met here before I went to Tayrona, and her Finnish friend whom she'd met on the Lost City trek. Taganga nightlife is famed in Colombia, and the Miramar (viewpoint) club we went to was really good. Full of holiday-happy Colombians (Easter is a big deal here as everyone is Catholic, so they're mostly off work) eager to show off their English and dance with the blonde girls, we shimmied, labomba-d, samba-d and salsa-d to the official backpacker soundtrack (Black Eyed Peas, Shakira, Duck Sauce and Rhianna) along with some Colombian tunes. I love clubs where you don't have to wear shoes...

Tomorrow I'm headed for Cartagena for Easter-time. Piglet has promised to save me an Easter egg as I'm not sure the bunny will know where to find me in Colombia (and the chocolate would melt). Really looking forward to it; I love the film Romancing the Stone and the city is featured in the film. Fingers crossed there are no crocodiles lurking though...

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