Santa Marta & Minca

Founded on July 29, 1525, by Spanish Conquistador Rodrigo de Bastidas; Santa Marta was the first city founded in Colombia and second oldest in America. Located between the Caribbean Sea and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Mountain range, it has a privileged average temperature between 27 to 35°C at sea level; Santa Marta stretches up to the snowy twin-peaks of the highest coastal mountain range in the world, the Simon Bolivar and Cristobel Colón, at 5770masl. The city is a popular tourist destination with its wealth of history, colonial architecture, beaches and nearby Tayrona National Park, which make it a supremely attractive and desirable place to visit.

Simon Bolivar passed away here on December 17th, 1830 at Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino estate; which today remains a museum exhibiting personal objects of the great Liberator. Northeast of Santa Marta, a zigzag route brings you to the fishing village of Taganga. Nestled deep in a bay and surrounded by green mountainous vegetation, its striking landscape contrasts the blues of the sea with the greens of the surrounding hills. Here, traditional fishing practices endure, and it remains a departure point for boat trips to Concha Bay and Playa Blanca, beaches named after the white color of their sand.