Day 511 – Santa Marta

Getting a Police Report in Santa Marta

Today we woke up and got ready to head out to the Fiscalia URI office to get a Police Report for my wife’s missing phone. Yesterday, a staff member advised us to come as early as possible to beat the crowds. Therefore, we skipped breakfast and walked to the Fiscalia URI building.

Getting a police report for our stolen phone

The same guard from yesterday was managing the gate. Once again we used Google Translate to tell him why we were there. The place only opens at 8am, so we were told to wait outside with a handful of other people. 

Close to 8am, the crowd formed a line that we joined. There were 6 people in front of us. 15 minutes later, we were at the front of the line. The guard only allowed one of us to pass, so my wife went inside, while I waited outside.

Since my wife would need to use Google Translate to communicate properly with the government officials, I gave her my phone. This left me with nothing to do as I sat on the side of the street. We had also written down the entire incident on my phone the night before, which was translated into Spanish.

Three hours later my wife came out with the police report. Turns out that reception had given her an incorrect ticket type, so she had to wait inside twice.

To pass the time, she had talked to a few people with the aid of my phone. One person was robbed at gun point for the white goods in her own home. Another person was there to collect money for school uniforms. A diverse crowd.

Once my wife saw the correct staff member, she showed the Spanish version of the incident on my phone and was given a Police Report without any issues.  

Buena Vista Shopping Centre

We walked back to Carrera 5 and caught a blue local bus that was going to Motocroca. We got off at Buena Vista Shopping Centre, with our phone this time.

Since we skipped breakfast, we were super hungry so we headed straight to the food court. I felt like Maccas, while my wife had noodles.

Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino

After lunch, we decided to cross the road and visit Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino. This is where we wanted to visit yesterday, before all of the drama.

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Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino (San Pedro Alejandrino Village) is famous for being the place that Simon Bolivar spent his last few days before his death in 1830. The place was actually built in 1608 (180 years before the “first fleet” came to Australia!) as a sugar cane farm and sold throughout the centuries. 

There are two distinct sections that we saw. The old yellow buildings that would have been the residence of Simon Bolivar during his final days and the modern white section that houses a memorial, offices and art galleries.

The historic site also has nice gardens. We spent 1.5 hours on the site. English tour guides can be hired at the entrance, but we were satisfied with the signs in both English and Spanish for the majority of the artefacts.

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Rest of the day

From the Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino, we caught a local bus going towards ‘Centro,’ which is the Historic Centre if we understood correctly. As the bus was going on Carrera 5, we got off. As we walked to the hostel, we had ice cream from a small dessert shop. Back at the hostel we fell asleep for a few hours.

Later that night, we headed back to the restaurant Subway for dinner. Today is our last night in Santa Marta and it was very windy until midnight. 

Travelled January 2020

Main Expenses

• Bus – Carrera 5 to Motocroca (Buena Vista Shopping Centre) – 1,800 COP (~$0.75 AUD) per person
• Lunch – Buena Vista Food Court – 41,500 COP (~$17 AUD)
• Entrance Fee – Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino – 23,000 COP (~$9 AUD) per person
• Bus – Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino to Centro (Carrera 5) – 1,800 COP (~$0.75 AUD) per person
• Dinner – Subway – 22,600 COP (~$9 AUD)