Santa Marta

Alex and I took a taxi from Taganga to the Dreamer Hostel in Santa Marta. We were planning on taking to trip out to Cabo del Las Velas for a couple of days, maybe even Punta Gallinas, the northern most tip of South America, depending on our time schedule.
Once we checked into the hostel, we walked down to Santa Marta's commercial center, where there is a mall called Buenavista. We decided to take it easy for that day (we were getting up at 4 am the next day). We had lunch and watched "Que Paso Ayer? II" (the Hangover 2), in English, with Spanish subtitles. We had a great time, and actually very relaxing to walk around a giant brand new air conditioned mall. There are a lot of things to do in Santa Marta, but we just didn't have time to do it. Next time!


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Parque Tayrona

Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona is one of Colombia's most popular parks, with trails through a rainforest leading to remote, beautiful white sand beaches. Although there are places available in the park to stay overnight, from hammocks to eco-friendly cabanas, we decided to make it a day trip. Getting to Tayrona was easy, we took a taxi from Taganga to Santa Marta, where a mini bus was waiting to take us to the park.
From the main entrance, El Zaino, there is a 4 km road before you begin the trek into the forest. After that, it's about 40 minutes to the first beach, and then about 20 minutes between the next three beaches. Our final destination was Cabo San Juan de la Guia, which is about a two hour hike in. We spent about 2 hours on the beach before we headed back. The hike wasn't to difficult as far as climbing went, but because it had been raining the last few days (and while we were returning) it was pretty muddy and slippery.
That night, we got back to Taganga, hot, muddy, exhausted, and happy. Enjoy the pics!

The main entrance

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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.

Main Street Taganga

Playa Grande

This little guy joined me while I was taking pictures our last morning in Taganga. I couldn't resist taking one of him.

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Cartagena

Cartagena is HOT. And very humid. It's been years since my last visit, and I can't believe I'd forgotten how brutal the heat can be. Anyhow, as I mentioned in the last post, my brother Alex graduated from high school and he decided to join me for a few weeks.




Lol, Alex is a little tired from his big weekend.



The old colonial town of Cartagena de Indias, a World Heritage Site.






We stayed four nights at the Chill House Backpackers Hostel, which is located in the northeast section of the walled inner city.






These colonial walls surround the historic center of the city.









One day we visited the Museo del Oro, filled with beautiful gold work of the Zenu people, who lived in the region prior to the Spanish Conquest.



Monumento a la India Catalina, a beautiful Carib woman who served as an interpreter to Pedro de Herida.



Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas, the greatest and strongest fortress ever built by the Spaniards in any of their colonies.





















One day, we took a trip out to Volcano De Lodo El Totumo, a volcano that spews mud instead of lava.



It's only 15 meters high!





At the top.



The mud is warm and slippery. It was hilarious trying to sink lower (you can't, you always float back up).



Afterwards, our group had lunch at a beach.




























A sculpture by Botero.



:)






I love Colombian cumbia! These dancers, performing in Plaza de los Coches, were amazing. They performed a variety of styles of dances, my favorite being the frenetic Mapale.












Puerta del Reloj



The next day, we were off to a small town called Taganga.

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