Venturer's Log: Santa Marta

"The travel bug" is a curious phrase isn't it? A quick Google search suggests that the travel bug is when someone has a strong urge or desire to travel and explore new places. Seeking out adventure, a keenness to learn about new countries, cultures, food, people. 

I'm sure Nick would liken us to the Enterprise's mission: To explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilisations. 

And yes, we are going boldly into an unknown - an unknown for us anyway. 

I've always had a travel bug. My parents raised me on their stories of travelling abroad, exciting adventures they had before they met each other. In New Zealand we have a term called the OE: Overseas Experience. A lot of Kiwis, at some point in their lives (if they are lucky enough to have the means), will leave the country to travel. Whether it's a Contiki tour in Europe for a month, backpacking around Asia, or a working holiday in a foreign country, especially between the age of 21 and 30, Kiwis travel. Sometimes they get stuck somewhere and put down their own roots, kinda like how I did in London. I would almost say that this Overseas Experience is part of our Kiwi culture. 

So, growing up listening to these incredible stories my parents told, I naturally had itchy feet and a month after I graduated from university I flew to Athens, Greece, on a one-way ticket, with a plan to move to the United Kingdom and base myself there for work while I travelled around the continent. Soon afterwards I met Nick and probably within the first year of our relationship we had exchanged ideas of travelling South America. 

Anyway, I digress. 

Traveller's bug

While the travel bug is a metaphorical term to encompass that feeling of wanderlust, traveller's bug means something completely different. 

Do you see where I'm going with this? 

Unfortunately I have been bedridden all day today, with fluids coming out from each end (apologies for that image). I awoke last night at about 4am with the intense feeling of needing to pass gas. A few trips back and forwards between the bed and the bathroom and I quickly realised that the next 24 - 48 hours would be... Rough.  Thank goodness for private rooms with en suites, because I pity the poor suckers who would need to share with me (sorry Nick). 

Traveler's diarrhea is a super common phenomenon: When you travel to a place that has a different climate or sanitation practices, you have an increased risk of developing a bug. South America is a particularly common region of the world to contract it, and even though we have been super careful with our drinking water (thanks to our handy dandy Water-To-Go filter water bottles) it's pretty difficult to avoid getting sick at some point or another. Nick had it in Palomino and now I've got it - thankfully we've had it at two different times because it would be a battle trying to get enough toilet time. 

I'm not a health practitioner so I can't say what would work for everyone to recover from traveller's diarrhea but bed rest, lots of water, plain food, and dioralyte (rehydration sachets) have been helpful so far. I do feel slightly better than I did earlier today but I still have regular tummy cramps, a big headache, and am making regular trips to the toilet. 

Santa Marta

Due to my inability to leave the bedroom today, there's not much more I can say about our time in Santa Marta so far. In fact, we're not even supposed to be here. As Nick wrote in our blog post about Barranquilla Carnival, we were meant to be spending the 9 - 15th February in Barranquilla, but our accommodation cancelled last minute and we had to quickly figure out alternatives that would work for us. Ultimately we decided to double back on ourselves and come to Santa Marta. We spent a night here before we went to Minca but didn't get the chance to actually see the city. 

We did have flights booked from Barranquilla to Cali (our next stop) but thankfully they were fully refundable so we cancelled those and booked them from Santa Marta instead, meaning that we don't need to get on another bus back to Barranquilla. 

I'm hopeful that tomorrow I'll be feeling a bit better and will be able to go out and explore the city. Nick very graciously spent the morning looking after me before heading out to get some food, so he'll have more experience of the city than me so far. It would be nice to go out and see a bit of the city but until I feel confident that I can spend 2+ hours away from a toilet I'll be taking it easy.