Santa Marta, Colombia,
South America
Map Views
Jungles
Beautiful Beaches
A Lost City

With your world atlas, go to a page with a South America map, find where Central America connects to South America, go east along the coast just past the Magdalena River and you will find the city of Santa Marta. To get there first you have to fly to Cartagena or Barranquilla then a bus to Santa Marta or you can also fly to Santa Marta from Bogota, the capital city of Colombia.

Santa Marta, a unique location.

• The highest Coastal Mountain Range in the world (the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta)
• Amazing biodiversity in plants, animals, insects, amphibians, reptiles.
• A coast on the Caribbean so it's easy to get to, is warm all year.
• Jungles
• Beaches with warm waters, swim all year.
• A major stop for both migratory and local birds.
• A great variety of fruits and vegetables, many that you have never seen before.
• Area visited numerous times by National Geographic, magazine articles and books written about Santa Marta.
• Special UNESCO designated regions.

But just because this area is as supernatural as it gets, it doesn't mean that if you are a bit out of shape you can't enjoy this area too, because wherever you stay is close to the beach, El Rodadero, just outside of Santa Marta have lifeguards on the beach and there is no better place to begin a fitness program than in the water, and as you are swimming in the ocean you are more buoyant and will have an easier time with your get into shape program. I like to go for a swim at around 7:00 in the morning and there is already big aerobics fitness class going on right at the beach.

With the many restaurant and food vendors on the beach or close by you can start a realistic program to lose a few pounds, the more unprocessed the food the better and as an added bonus it's cheaper so you don't have to worry about saving money by eating fast food and gaining more weight, fruits and vegetables are a great bargain and plentiful, experiment with something new, eat healthy, get away from the sodas and soft drinks and have real fruit juices instead, it's all about being real here.

South America
Map of Continent

The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
An isolated triangular mountain range only about 30 miles from the coast with twin peaks of the same height, Pico Simon Bolivar (The Liberator) and Pico Cristobal Colon (The Discoverer), these two mountains are considered the tallest coastal mountains in the world at around 18,900 feet above sea level.

The boundaries of the range are the Caribbean coastline to the north, this region gets the most precipitation, on the west the Magdalena River and the Cienaga Grandeon and on the south, the Ranchería and Cesar rivers. Temperatures range from 81°F at sea-level to freezing at the 15,000 feet level. Sea level temperature varies throughout the year by less than 4.5°F.

Access to Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
From Santa Marta, it is necessary to travel 26 miles by road, first to the town of Minca, then Cerro Kennedy, then San Lorenzo Experimental Station. Before travelling it's a good idea to enquire to see if there is any accessibility restrictions to the area. This area is considered sacred to the indians who inhabit this area.

Ecosystems

• Tropical rain forests
• Open woodlands
• Scrublands and deserts
• Mangrove swamps
• Alpine tundra and snowy peaks

South America
Map of Santa Marta

Physical Activities
Mountain climb, Bird watch, Hike, Camp, Scuba Diving, Photography

Just Relax
Sun, Beaches, Sun Bathe, Sit in a local pub, Check out the different restaurants

Parks and Trails
Tayrona Park, Los Cocos Park, The Piedras Riverbed, Mamancana, Natural Reserve

Archaeology
Ciudad Perdida, Pueblito or Pueblito Chairama (a pre-Hispanic settlement)

Discovery and Exploring
Observe plants, animals, insects, The Banana region (The Macondo of García Marquez). Tayrona Park, it's easy to spend a week enjoying the sun and the beaches, Botanical Gardens in La Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino

Birds
When you take a look at where the major bird nesting areas are on a world atlas showing a central and south america map Costa Rica, through Panama are top places. If you have focused on these two countries, Santa Marta and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta are a great option as it's right up there at the top for numbers and variety.

Where to Camp
La Casa de Rosa, Palomino, Colombia

Cabo San Juan de Guia, Tayrona Park, Santa Marta, Colombia

What you will see is

• Small towns with dirt streets
• Working people
• Horses and donkeys pulling carts and sharing the road.
• People with time to talk
• People who like natural beauty

South America
Map of Colombia

Some plants and animals
The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is a special location with rich biodiversity, some of the plants, animals, birds, reptiles and amphibians cannot be found anywhere else on the planet. This region will lwave you with a lasting impression of how much more beautiful nature is than present day civilization. Palms, cacti, forests, and plains, snow-capped mountains.
Jaguars, puma, tree rats, monkeys, peccaries, amphibians reptiles, , 628 bird species counted (about equal to the total in North America) including condors and parrots, 
The mountain’s isolation has allowed for many plant and animal species found nowhere else on Earth.

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