Ciénaga

By Lorraine Caputo

Amidst banana and African palm plantations is Ciénaga. Commotion reigns its streets, buses stopping for passengers to other destinations along the coast or deep into the heart of the zona bananera. At Calle 17 and Carrera 15 is the former railroad station and plaza, where the 6 December 1928 massacre of striking banana workers occurred. In the middle of the market leaps the statue of Juan el Machete, silently commemorating the untold numbers of victims. Ciénaga has a variety of lodging options, most of them basic hotels. If you can, make it for the town’s famed Festival del Caimán in February, when the mythical man-beast comes to party down.

On the way to Ciénaga, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Santa Marta, are the Aguas Termales de Ciénaga, or Cordobita, whose waters and muds are said to be curative. (Open daily 9 a.m.-4 p.m., not safe after dark. Entry: $2.65). Between Ciénaga and Barranquilla is Santuario de Flora y Fauna Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, a complex of over 100 swamps in the Río Magdalena delta.

(Altitude: 3 m / 10 ft, Population: 131,000, City Code: 5)

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