Taganga: A diamond in the rough

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Stray dogs, rubble streets and tin roofed homes, are not necessarily the combination that one looks for when seeking a tropical oasis. So one can imagine that I was a little skeptical about the idea of spending 5 days in the fishing village of Taganga. However, sometimes when you dive a little deepe.... and become a little better acquainted with a town you realize that it has a lot to offer.

Taganga has a lot of backpackers that pass through on their way to Tayrona National Park or to take Scuba lessons. So, this small town sees its fair share of foreigners, but not nearly enough to make it ¨touristy¨. This means that there are quite a few great places to eat here....which are super cheap! In my brief sejour here, I have experienced this through my delicious lunch yesterday that comprised of arroz con mariscos (rice with seafood), appetizer and soft drink foronly $6 and my filet mignon dinner ( one of the best in my life) which cost me $8. There is even an organic cafe that has amazing BBQs in this town! Apart from food, the people are great and the diving is excellent...and since it is a small town people don't generally speak English so I get to speak Spanish all the time!

When I came to Taganga I wanted to learn to Scuba dive, so me and my friend, Amanda, signed up for a Scuba course. However, I never realized that it was going to entail 5 hours of practical work a day and another 4 hours of reading a day....but I guess that is what happens when you try and condense so much information into 3 days. However, I am happy to say that after 278 pages of reading, 5 videos, 4 quizzes, 1 exam, 1 pool session an 4 open water dives....I am now a officially certified Padi Open Water Diver!

Tomorrow we are off to Tayrona to see the National Park and some ruins....on a 5 hour trek!

Hopefully I will make it back to blog in a couple of days

Cheers,
Caitlin

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