Santa Marta is a commercial port city bustling with traffic - both cars and pedestrians. Unlike Cartagena's walled city, Santa Marta lacks the sophistication and elegance that give Cartagena its characteristic charm. The city, at least in the area I was in, was heavily policed, with officers occasionally stopping the locals to conduct a body search. The streets were dirty and at times exuded a smell unpleasant to the nose. The people seemed to prefer to keep their distance, whether it was from everyone or just the tourists I don't know.

However, Santa Marta's temperatures are considerably cooler than Cartagena's; and the city's beach faces west, giving an open view of magnificent sunsets that light up the Caribbean Sea like an underwater fire and bring life to the whispers of clouds overhead.