Jasmine's 2011 Trip: Taganga

Taganga is a small fishing village just outside of Santa Marta, on the northern Carribean coast of Colombia. We decided to stay here for a few nights because it is very close to Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona. We had heard about it from some of the the people back at Chill House in Cartagena. Some people come to Taganga for scuba diving, apparently it is one of the cheapest places in the world to get certified. This is also a popular place to start the six day trek out to Cuidad Perdida. Alex, who had only just begun to acclimate to heat, wasn't too keen on the idea of the hike, (three days of it have an arduous uphill climb and there are 6 river crossings that come up to your waist) so we opted for Tayarona.
Getting there was pretty easy. First, a 40 minute taxi (taxis are cheap in Colombia, and there are usually set prices for main destinations) from the historic center of Cartagena to the city's bus terminus, a 4 hour bus to Santa Marta's terminus and then a 15 minute taxi to Taganga.
The bus ride was scenic, and it was nice to chat with the locals. At one of the stops, the city of Baranquilla, a security officer from the bus company came on board and walked through the central aisle and recorded our faces with a hand held camera. The bus would occasionally slow down, but not stop, and pick up vendors with baskets of food to sell. Alex was a lot braver than I and had an arepa with egg. He said it was pretty good. We left around 7:30 in the morning (very early, but necessary if you want to beat the traffic) and arrived in Taganga by 1.
We stayed at Los Techos Azules, a hostel located near the main road just before you enter the Taganga. It has beautiful view of the town. The atmosphere is very different to that of our last hostel, at Chill House the party would go on until early morning... here it is very quiet.
We spent our first afternoon exploring the town and looking for info on getting to the park. There are tour companies in the village that offer trips out to both Cuidad Perdida and Parque Tayrona. One thing I found out while planning the trip out to Tayrona is that although a company may offer either boat or ground transportation to the park, it is illegal to go by boat. That's because the main gateway where you pay your admission is located on an inland road called El Ziano. A boat will only take you to a beach, and return to pick you up later in the afternoon. If a park ranger comes and finds you without proof of payment, you could pay a heavy fine.
Unfortunately, my camera connector kit went missing, so it will be a couple of weeks before I can upload pics again, but I will continue to write about the trip until then.

Our hostel had a good view of the village below.