The sun is high in the sky and there is no cloud to be found. A pleasant breeze is keeping us cool, Latin-American music is playing through the speakers and two sweet ladies are preparing lunch for us. Another staff member just pulled the Christmas decorations from the attic to start decorating the place. The parrot, who is sitting on top of his cage, doesn’t seem to care much. Wim is reading a book, Lars and Koen just jumped in the pool and I’m writing this story. Huge green mountains are to my left, the Caribbean Sea to my right. The hotel is built against the side of a mountain, which creates a surprisingly cozy atmosphere and a great view of the shore line. Two dogs and two cats are chilling out and the guy at the reception is browsing the internet. We are the only guests in this hotel. There are six staff members to keep the four of us happy. There is nothing we have to do, nothing we have to see.
We are staying in the Bunsizanisi hotel in Gaira, 12 minutes south of Santa Marta. Gaira is well known for El Rodadero, one of the most popular beaches in Colombia. That’s what we discovered the first day when we went from the airport, via the hotel, to the beach. Thousands of people were enjoying the sun and every other minute a local entrepreneur tried to sell us drinks, foods, massages, jewelry, etc. At one point it got so annoying that we just wanted to go home.
On Monday we decide to give the beach at Taganga Bay a chance. It’s more quiet and just as beautiful as the one in Gaira. There are a few ‘captains’ who are trying to get us on their speed-boat to take us to an island, but we decide to pass on that opportunity. There are plenty of places to eat here; we can leave whenever we please (opposed to waiting for the boat to bring us back) and we just want to relax. We listen to podcasts, read some books and I spot a few Colombian teenagers playing football on the beach. “Can I join?” - “Of course you can join!”
After lunch we start having conversations with a couple of girls next to us. They turn out to be Dutch as well. What follows are amazing conversations. We transition quickly from generic travel questions like "Where have you been? Where are you going? What did you think about a specific place?", to where we are standing in life; which challenges we are facing and in which direction we want to go. At one point we’re sitting in a big circle where the water meets the beach, drinking a beer and watching the sun set. I’m enjoying every moment of it.
The following days we chill out in the pool, work on our tan, read some more and have meaningful conversations. We connect on a deep emotional level where tears are flowing, followed by ecstatic joy in the pool, where we have fun like 5-year olds.
It’s those moments, where we connect with each other, I enjoy the most. You don’t need to go all the way to Colombia to connect with your friends, but it does help when you’re in a setting where the only worries you have are figuring out where to eat and how to avoid mosquito bites.
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