It was a bit of a mission getting to Palomino after coming back from Tayrona National Park because we had left our rucksacks at the other Dreamer hostel in Santa Marta, so had to collect them first before going to Palomino. Basically Tayrona is in between both hostels, but the Palomino Dreamer is actually closer to the park than the one in Santa Marta. So in hindsight, we should have checked into the Dreamer Palomino first, then gone to Tayrona another day. But as we wanted to get there early that morning, we wouldn't have had time to go to Palomino first to drop off our rucksacks. But hey ho, you live and learn. Palomino is about an hour and a half on a bus from Santa Marta, so as bus journeys go, this is right on the doorstep of Santa Marta. 

I'd never even heard of Palomino before I left home, or had even thought about adding it to our itinerary . The reason we heard about it was at the Dreamer Santa Marta, they have picture boads in the main reception of this lovely new Dreamer Hostel with a pool and surrounding palm trees and it just looked like a really cool place. As we'd enjoyed our stay at the Dreamer hostel in Santa Marta including the pool and outside areas, we thought that the new Dreamer Hostel in Palomino would be equally as good. So although not a place we'd considered before, we decided to give it a go after our hike to Tayrona. This was just what we needed to relax for a few days. 

We got one of the local buses from outside the supermarket in the Mamatoco area of Santa Marta to get there. We'd already taken a bus back from right near where Palomino was this morning and had to backtrack on ourselves, but had to get the bus back in the opposite direction to get to the new hostel in Palomino. The driver just shouts where they are going and if it's suitable, you hop on the bus. We were hoping to get on a slightly larger bus this time, as we had our big rucksacks with us . When we went to Tayrona on the smaller buses, it was ok, as we just had our daypacks. When we left the Dreamer in Santa Marta, it was about 3pm, and it was so hot, especially carrying our rucksacks to the bus stop. So we decided to take the first bus that came along to Palomino, and guess what, that just happened to be one of the smaller buses. So as we had our packs with us, the driver let us put them in the boot. I didn't even think those smaller buses have a boot, but it was handy, as we didn't have to sit with them in our laps. Most of the smaller buses have no storage space like the ones you get back in England so if you get one, you'll normally need to keep the rucksacks with you. 

The bus journey was pretty much un-eventful so we made it to Palomino safely, however, nearer Palomino, we had to change buses which was a bit annoying but all the same, it got us there. When the bus dropped us off, we were going to get a taxi to the hostel, as when in any new place, it's easier if the taxi knows where it is and saves you lugging your stuff around somewhere you don't know where to go . There were no taxis about tho, but plenty of moto taxis, guys on motorbikes who take you places. I wasn't sure about hopping on one of those with my rucksack and day pack, looked a bit dangerous for them to take you and your stuff all in one go. But they said there are no taxis round here, so it was either take one of them or walk. We said ok we'll get one, so both John and myself each hopped on one, with a driver and our rucksacks. They balanced our rucksacks on the front of the bike, and we carried our own daypacks on our back. They weren't even wearing helmets and I thought at any point, we could easily fall off the bike. Which I had done when riding the back of a moped in Ibiza years back, so I was scared to get on it. But anyway, we went off down the dirt track road, told them we wanted to go to the Dreamer Hostel, I didn't have a helmet on either so was worried I'd fall off. The driver was a young boy, talking to me in Spanish, so I practised my Spanish and tried to tell him to go "muy lentamentate por favor" (very slowly please) . He drove slow for me so I felt a bit better and down the dirt track road, it was a really bumpy ride, but we got dropped off at the Dreamer safely. John loved the journey and thought it was fun so gave them an extra tip. It was about 6000 pesos to get to the hostel, so about £2.00 in total. 

We got there just as the sun was going down, so by the time we'd checked in we couldn't see much of the area. We got there early enough to realise it was just like the pictures advertised in the other Dreamer Hostel. It was much more chilled out than the other one, but it had a bigger pool, and more space by the pool to sunbathe, with some parasols and sun beds. We were definitely going to enjoy a relaxing stay here for a few days. While we were checking in, we met Amy and Clayton who said they were going to come here for a few days too, so it was cool we could chill out with them. So after checking in and taking the things to our room, we just walked round and had a look at the place . It was really nice and we were pleased with our room, we had to have a deluxe room again as there were no standard double rooms. But actually that was good, as we had a fairly large room, with our own outdoor terrace, complete with our own table and hammock, so we were happy. We were only staying here for 3 nights, but you could have easily stayed here for a week or so. But as we'd stayed for nearly a week in the other Dreamer Hostel and didn't do much, we thought best to stick with just 3 days. 

We were starving as we'd trekked back from Tayrona that morning and had got up at 6am to trek back so it wasn't too hot. So went into the restaurant area to get some food. The way the place was set up was pretty cool, as they have big mattresses for everyone to sit on, with plug sockets so if people wanted to sit there to chill out they could. Although there is no Internet connection there as its just too slow to do anything online here. Luckily we prepared ourselves and knew that we wouldn't be able to get online while we were here . There were also some tables to sit at for food, so we sat on one of them. The food menu was the same as the other Dreamer as they are part of the same chain, they are keeping things similar for both hostels. I ordered a pizza, and John had steak fajitas. When the food came, it was really good as usual, and the pizza I had was such a nice one. John could have done with a bigger portion of fajitas tho. As I was so hungry from all the trekking I ate the whole pizza, which I can normally never do. So no leftovers for John! 

After dinner we went and joined Amy and Clayton who were talking to an American girl they'd just met so we all got together and started chatting. They did do cocktails here, and a happy hour like the other hostel, but luckily for John, and unfortunately for me, they had only one choice of cocktail Cuba libre, which was served with rum. So John ordered one, as its happy hour, it's buy one get one free, so John had two. I tried it, but it was so strong and was like drinking pure rum, so I couldn't drink that one . I tried to order some other alcoholic drinks, but there was no alcohol left at all, as the guests of the hostel had a heavy night the night before we got there. So as there was no alcohol I liked, I just had to end up drinking Sprite.... Great! Oh well, at least I wouldn't have a hangover the next day like I did in Santa Marta. We were so knackered from trekking back that morning, that in a way, I was glad I wasn't drinking to be honest. I think John got a bit drunk even from just those two he had from happy hour as they were so strong. We were all just chatting for a while, and then John and Clayton started to play pool, as John won all the games that the other hostel, Clayton was determined to beat John. But John being John, won all the games as usual, so they said did we all want to play doubles. Amy was tired so went to bed, so it was Clayton and myself against John and Lauren, the American girl we'd met. I am really crap at playing pool so don't normally play as I'll show myself up by not even hitting the balls. Lets just say Lauren was about my standards so it was kind of a fair game . This was a stroke of luck for me as I trebled the black, potted it and won the game for the team which was a shock for everyone. So I held my head up high. After our game we retired to bed, well actually the barman asked everyone to drink up as he wanted to close it up at 11pm. But that suited me fine as we had a long day and were tired. 

Fully recovered the next day after catching up on how little sleep we had at Tayrona in the hammock the night before, we were ready to start the day. We did mean to see what activities there are to do in and around the area of Palomino, but as we were just lazing by the pool again, we didn't get round to doing anything. Basically the things you can do around the area are go tubing in the Palomino river, it's not suppose to be that good from here, you can ride horseback in the Sierra Nevada mountains, you can go to Tayrona from here, which is best as its nearer, and just watch the sunset- they are suppose to be really good sunsets here too . So we just decided to go watch the sunset that evening. During the day we just went for a walk to the beach, it's a really long stretch of sandy beach, with palm trees surrounding it, and at one end, the river meets the beach, so one side you have the sea, and just the beach splits this from the river. The river is where the locals were swimming. The place is almost untouched by tourism and this is what's good about it here. There are no street vendors trying to sell you things, like in other places we've been to. There is a nice little stall on the beach selling jugo naturals, so of course we stopped to get one of those. There are also a few restaurants along there, but apart from those, nothing but white sandy beaches and crystal clear blue water. Paradise. 

That evening we came back to meet Amy and Clayton so we could all go for a walk along the beach to watch the sunset go down. The stretch of beach is so long so you feel like you could be walking forever. We just decided to walk to the bit where the river meets the sea, there are also the Sierra Nevada mountains in the background . Taking photos of the places, does not do it any justice, it's such a beautiful place. We all sat down on the beach to watch the sunset go down and took plenty of photos as usual. The sunset was amazing as it sets between the sea and the river, and the sun was an intense burnt orange colour when it set. Once we'd taken our pictures and the sun had gone down, we started to walk back along the beach. There were loads of little crabs all over the beach, so you had to be careful not to tread on them while walking back barefoot. 

Once we made it back to the hostel, we all decided to grab a bite to eat together. There was the American girl Lauren already there with another couple of people so she said shall we all join tables, so the more the merrier. We'd placed our food order so just had to wait for it to come. In the meantime, there was a bottle of rum going around the table. Also Clayton introduced us to a Colombian spirit called Aguardiente, which is a rum-like sugar cane. So we all had some of that, to me, it tasted exactly like sambuca . While we were waiting for the food to come there were loads of dogs around us, they seem to appear around dinner time. We just thought they belonged to the hostel, so asked the owners about the dogs, and they said they don't have any animals here. So they are all just the stray off the street. When Amy and Clayron got their food, a little sausage like dog suddenly jumped on my lap, poor little thing, must have just wanted some company and food. So when the food came, me being me, gave the dog some of my food. I felt sorry for it as you don't know if they've had any food already or not. I'd got it off my lap before the food came obviously. There were quite a few dogs, so hopefully other people eating their food give them something to eat. There is such a big problem with stray dogs all around Colombia, and it gets worse as they don't get neutered, so there are more and more dogs all the time. They are all pretty nice dogs tho. 
 
So after dinner we just spent time chatting with everyone and sipping more aguardiente and rum . Although I'm not a bit fan of the rum, but tried some anyway. The hostel still didn't have any more alcohol, so I couldn't have any of the nice cocktails I'd had back at the other Dreamer Hostel. Again the barman wanted us to leave the bar by 11pm, so we just went back to the chalet and chilled out there. It was so peaceful at this hostel, the only sounds you could hear were the crickets outside. 

Our last full day today, and Amy and Clayton were checking out, so we got up early for breakfast and sat with Clayton. We went over to where they reserved a sun bed and sat with them until they went back to the room to check out. We said our farewells, it was really nice meeting them, and hopefully when we visit Australia we'll try and get to meet up with them. Once they checked out, we sunbathed for a while and then it started to rain, so we took a walk to the restaurant on the beach for some lunch. We walked up the beach after it stopped raining and went back to where the river meets the sea to watch the sunset again . Afterwards, we just came back to the hostel and had some dinner and chilled out for a bit. We sat in our own hammock outside our room, it was so peaceful here and we could have easily stayed there for a week. But this was our last night at Palomino, so we had to go pack our stuff. This is the annoying part of travelling, to keep unpacking your rucksack and re-packing every time you leave to go to a new hostel. I'm glad I have the packing cubes tho, as they are actually helping me to keep some kind of order to my pack. John is also glad he has some too, as he wasn't going to get any. So we packed everything up ready to leave early morning to get a flight to Medellin. We have to take a bus back to Santa Marta as we are flying out of there to get to Medellin. The bus journey would have been over 20 hours, so we're saving time again. We will have to take those long bus journeys soon tho. I've loved my stay in Palomino, so chilled out and relaxed. It's just nice to go to a place where it hasn't been changed by tourism. I'd say if you came back in 10 years or so, it wouldn't be the same, as it would be more geared towards tourism, but it's fine just the way it is in my opinion. We weren't originally going to come to Medellin, but had been told it's a really nice city and not to be missed. So we're going there, and will probably extend our stay in Colombia, as we were only going to stay 3 weeks, but it will now be a month as we've loved the country so far.