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Published: April 13th 2009
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TAGANGA
Taganga is just outside Santa Maria on the Caribbean coast. What is there to see in Taganga? There are cool beaches as well as cheap scuba diving courses. You can get P.A.T.I. Open Water certified for about $200. As far as I’ve heard it’s the cheapest in the world at this point.
We found an apartment right on the beach for the same price as a hostel because the hostels were all booked up. We were paying the exorbitant price of about $25 per night. Shock! Gasp! I know, but that’s expensive for us. We had a balcony with some hammocks that we quickly jumped into and never left. “Should we go to Tayrona? (the ridiculously overpriced beach that takes 3 hours to get to).”
“Why? We’ve got a nice beach here and we’re saving money.” We needed a break anyway. The rigors of travel can be hard sometimes. Besides, Ammi fell in love with a local cat that she named ‘Patches’. She somehow convinced herself that it was homeless and it was our responsibility to steal it…uh…liberate it. We bought tuna for it and after that it never left us alone. It ate better than we
did.
We knew we had to get up off the hammock and do stuff, but it was just too comfortable. “Hey Am, you know what’s better than having a beer after a hard day’s work? Having a beer after doing absolutely nothing at all.” We realized a week later that we hadn’t even turned on the television in the apartment.
At one point we were lazing away on the hammocks, reading a book when we heard a strange scratching sound on the metal tin roof above. Was it a person? No, the roof was too thin. What the fudge was it? The sound was moving, heading towards the edge. We followed it wide eyed. Then, a five foot long iguana leaped off the edge, grabbing onto a thin branch and swinging like Tarzan. It freaked us both out. In fact, now that we thought about it, this seemed to be the iguana mating epicenter, as we’ve seen plenty crawlin around.
We had decided not to do the P.A.T.I. course, but just the mini-course, which was around $45 for two dives up to 12 meters. When I was a kid I wasn’t able to scuba dive in Hawaii
because I had asthma, but considering I haven’t used my inhaler for years I decided they didn’t need to know. One of the questions was: “Do you have allergies?” Of course! What am I going to do, sneeze under water? We both got approved and took the boat to the dive area. Since it was our first dives I figured we’d be practicing in a pool, but we got all suited up and loaded with the heavy tank and had to practice in the waves. Since Ammi was a competitive swimmer she wasn’t used to breathing out of her mouth in the water. Plus it was hard to stand up on mossy rocks with flippers on our feet and waves pummeling us with heavy equipment on. Ammi was about to give up right then but she decided to give it a shot. As I dove down I realized that you just have to relax and ignore your instincts. What would happen if I ran out of air or my mask got filled with water and I was deep down and couldn’t surface without decompressing? I tried not to think about it. And the first order of business was learning how
to signal to your diving partner if you’re out of air and need to borrow some of theirs, and how to clear your mask if it gets filled with water. It’s really pretty easy. Am had to use some hand paddles but she was fine.
One of the guides handed me an underwater camera. For the record HE handed it to ME. I got a big grin on my face and proceeded to snap about 50 pictures. After the tour at the office I asked for a copy of the pictures. “So YOU’RE the one that took so many pictures!” I didn’t realize that she had to color correct all of them on Photoshop. She did something weird to them that made them too grainy as well.
“Sorry.” I wasn’t really.
CARTEGENA
As the bus pulled in to Cartegena I tried to think what I knew of this city. As usual I get most of my information from movies. So I expected seven year old kids to steal cars and alligators to swallow giant emeralds. The truth is Cartegena is a giant slum. About the only unique things in this city are the fortifications built to withstand
pirate sieges. We met a number of people who said Cartegena was one of the most scenic cities they’ve seen on their trip. We quickly came to realize that they were all coming DOWN from Central America. Everyone who was coming up just said: “Yeah, it’s ok, I guess.”
We explored the old town and the forts and saw the underground tunnels that were built to house supplies to withstand sieges. We also went to a strange volcano that spewed out warm mud. Ammi swam in it but I said: "I already put mud on my face in Chile. Once was enough." No matter where we went there was one thing in common. People would not stop trying to sell us CRAP! Sunglasses, hats, cigars, T-shirts, jewelry. People would come up with a bunch of sunglass and I’d say: “Look at my face. I’m wearing sunglasses! Both of us are!” That person would leave and then the next guy who was politely waiting his turn would come up and try to sell us more sunglasses. UGGH!! It was enough to make us just want to stay in the hostel. We had already seen everything this town had to offer
and we had to wait here a few days before our sailboat to Panama left. “We should have stayed in Taganga and lounged on the hammock for a few more days.”
TURBO
Our sailboat left from a tiny town next to the border of Panama. Most of the boats left from Cartegena, but they spend most of their time in open ocean and everybody just spends the trip throwing up. This boat would skirt the coast and spend more time in the San Blas islands. Getting there, however, was the problem. We took a 6 hour bus over a bumpy dirt road to a small town called Turbo. The only room that was available in our hostel was filled with rubble from the owner renovating. At least it was cheap. We were leaving early in the morning anyway.
We had to catch a small boat to our next destination. Our bags were wrapped in trash bags and we set off. This was without a doubt the WORST boat ride of our lives. The small craft would not slice through the water but rather smack down on each wave feeling like 3 hours of being on a Tedder-Todder
and the other person getting off at the wrong time. Someone yelled at the guy driving to slow down, but he just shook his head and went back to texting. Between each bone-jarring jolt I managed to think: “I hope this sailboat is worth it. It certainly couldn't be worse than this.”
Next stop: Sailing to Panama! Chao!
***TRAVELERS' TIPS***
-If you're wondering where this apartment is, it's one building left of Casa Blanca. Ask at Casa Blanca's restaurant to rent the apartment. (Taganga)
-Be careful taking a boat from Taganga to Tayrona. They will tell you the park entry fee is included, but it's not. At the real entrance they are starting to give out wristbands and if you don't have one be prepared to cough up some dough.
-While not as pretty as Tayrona, Taganga is cheaper and there's more to do.
-Cartegena is more impressive if coming down through Central America. If coming up through South America it's not that impressive. From what people tell me
-The sailboats to Panama from Capo Gana are better than from Cartegena. Here's the boat we went with Getting to Turbo and Capo Gana is a pain but worth it I think.
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Maisondubonheur
Pierre-Alexandre
Welcome to the divers world...
Cool entry you've got there...Cartagena is on my wishlist also...