Kim and Peter

Woke up with a bad stomach but only lasted the morning. Back to the beach to relax, swim and read. Got a good picture of an iguana on a rock a few feet away. Peter (the Brit) got a call from London that a large earthquake had just hit Chile. Thought about catching a boat back to Taganga with Peter and his two friends but it never showed up. Boat usually arrives around noon and leaves about 3. The ride back is a bit rough but not as bad as from Taganga to Tayrona. The ranger called them on his cell and they said they would come out if we rented the whole boat for 340,000. Normally, you can bargain them down to 25,000 pp if they are heading back. We decided not to do it ... read more

Woke up to the sounds of birds, frogs and cicadas. Got ready and into town by 7 45. Taxi was waiting with 4 people already in it and Roddy coming down the street. I squeezed into the front seat with the driver and a grandmother. Peter and Roddy got into the back with mama and her daughter. The grandmother kept crossing herself as we went around the corners. When we got near town the taxi began doing the scenic route through the suburbs, dropping off and picking up items. Got to the Santa Marta "bus station" safely and disengaged ourselves from the taxi. Walked through a large market area to pick up the minibus to Taganga. Had breakfast with Roddy at one of the restaurants there. arepas con huevos (fried corn meal pockets filled with eggs, ... read more

Caught a minibus to Santa Marta at 7 am (15 min, 1,200 COP) and then a taxi for the half hour trip up to Minca ($5,000 COP each). Paved road with potholes, pretty steep and with lots of sharp turns. The taxi would stall in low gear so we had a Mario Andretti drive up the hills. Arrived about 8:30 in one piece, and so did the taxi, suprisingly enough. Minca is a small town surrounded by jungle. There are several rivers running through it. We liked the town and people immediately, just two paved streets running perpendicular to each other with dirt roads running off them here and there. No signs or directions, so we asked a local and he walked us to some small hotels along the Rio Minca. We chose Casa Santander, about ... read more

Another great day, hardly any wind. Went to breakfast and rented a double kayak to paddle to some beaches nearby. Nice beach, pretty large, about a 20 minute walk or kayak. No places to stay but lots of restaurants, mostly Colombians on vacation on the beach. Paddled back to Taganga for more swimming and sun. Met up with Dennis again, he said he had been planning to leave for the last 2 days but is still here. Spent the day on the beach, reading and relaxing. Met up with Mau and had lunch. Back to the hotel to take a shower and talk with the guy from Vermont who is studying and enjoying his diving course. Rolf and his wife are leaving today to fly back to Germany. They left us bottles of rum and the ... read more

Another beautiful day, the wind has died down quite a bit. Power is still out in Taganga but some places with generators are still open. Had a great breakfast with amazing coffee and fresh juice at the El Reef coffee shop. Dennis stopped by so we all had breakfast together. Checked out diving at the dive shop next door on the Main Street, Nautilus. Decided to go snorkelling to see if it is worth diving. The snorkelling is $40,000 cop per person, meeting about 8:30 in the morning and coming back around 1:30. We signed up for the next day. Off to the beach for more swimming and sun. Had lunch at Restaurante Hollandia, a good place to eat off the Main Street. Back to the hotel for showers and ran into the German couple, Rolf, ... read more