by Lee Harrison
(Santa Marta)
We walked into the small corner bar in Colombia's oldest city, and took a seat at a rustic wooden table. Three ice-cold beers were on their way within seconds. The clay-tile floors and the brightly painted adobe walls in the room maintain the character of the colonial era in the tropics… even though this particular colonial building had been recently-restored.
While we took a break from the Caribbean sunshine, the owners hustled around behind the bar preparing the food for the evening crowds.
This café is one of dozens of new businesses springing up to handle the recent tourist upswing in Santa Marta. Things are changing rapidly here as the city goes through a major renaissance.
Last year the city was under renovation. Today, the largest parks in the historic center—Parque de los Novios and Parque Bolívar—have been completely restored, with new brick pathways winding between green lawns and shady trees. The bright-white statues and gazebos gleamed in the sun as visitors paused to relax and watch the passers-by.
And at the end of Parque Bolívar, you cross the waterfront road (called a malecón) and come to the shores of the Caribbean…and the newly-built, tree-lined waterfront park. It's bustling with people strolling along the boardwalk, watching the kids play in the water or the cruise ships coming and going from the adjacent port.
On the inland side of the malecón, new cafés have sprung up where visitors can stop to enjoy a cold drink under the shade of a wide umbrella.
The new marina—little more than a rumor two years ago—is now hosting a number of sailboats and powerboats, bobbing in their slips. And even more remarkable is the onshore development that the marina has brought to the area, as new condo buildings and businesses sprout like wildflowers on the shoreline.
And the rebirth of Santa Marta is not limited