Tayrona to Taganga

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Much more comfortable in the tent and mattress scenario. Got up at 6:45 and hit the trail out of the park. Beautiful sunrise. Had a wonderful walk through the jungle to Piscina beach. Saw lots of birds, crabs, lizards and a group of squirrel (?) monkeys. Small and cute with white faces, tails and legs. Walked past one pristine white sand beach after another with the sounds of the jungle and a cool breeze. Seemed to take a lot less time to walk out than in.

Stopped at Arrecifes and had a cold mango and bannana smoothie. Heaven. Met up with Mariam at the restaurant, who is also walking out. Had an amazing walk out of the jungle with a cool breeze whistling through the trees. Beautiful, didn't want it to end.

Got to the end of the trail and decided to start walking on the 5 km road out of the park. Met a Russian man and his Japanese wife who were starting the trail and needed information. Having a good time talking to Mariam when a taxi showed up. Took that the remaining 4 km or so out of the park.

Had a cool drink and snack at a store/restaurant on the river and main road. A local bus to Santa Marta showed up a minute after we'd finished. 1,400 cop each. Nice ride back. At Santa Marta we caught a minibus to Taganga with Mariam. She is picking up her pack in Taganga and will catch a bus to Cartagena for the Film Festival.

Got off at Casa Technos Azules before town. The owner, Freddy, buffed us out with a great room, sink and cable tv for 40,000 again. Got settled in and went into town for a swim. Amazingly, local people remembered us. Mau came over to talk for quite a while. Great guy and "very cool". Walked out to a local store where we'd been buying groceries and watched the end of the Canadian/American hockey game for the gold with them. The Canadians won in overtime 3-2.

Bought dinner from a street vendor. Really tasty, a grilled potato, onion, cheese patty with all types of sauces, not sure what it is called. Sunday so lots of Colombian tourists on the beach. Mau came by and we talked to him again. Watched a beautiful sunset over the ocean. Back to Casa Technos Azules for the last time.

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Comments

[Arron Baxter]

Language
Hi there, I'm seriously considering a trip to Colombia for a month in June. I can't speak Spanish, is this problematic? I will try and learn as much as I can over the next few months but it will be very little. Any information would be appreciated. Enjoy the trip! Thanks Arron

[Kim and Peter]

Language
You can definitely travel around Colombia with little knowledge of spanish. It is good to know some basic Spanish to get around the country, however, as in general very few people speak english. English is becoming a bit more common as tourism gains in popularity and the hostels we have stayed at are often owned by english speakering foreigners. They are also good places to garner travel information from other travellers. You do lose the ability to converse with the locals, of course, but you should be fine.