Taganga

---

Taganga, well what can I say. A cute little beachside town that just didn't really do it for me. I mean it was cute, pretty foreshore, nice people and on the day we decided to leave we discovered that it had some pretty nice restaurants and bars, perro, it just wasn't for me. Actually it is a great place, I just wasn't in the frame of mind to make the most of it.
I'm just going to 'hold the bus' for a minute while I explain to you just how dry my legs are, its quite disgusting really and they need attention asap. Little flakey bits of skin fall of every time I knock them, scabs are constantly forming from the hundreds on sand fly bites acquired in the San Blas and well their losing their lovely sun kissed colour. Ew. So back to the reason I'm sitting here; writing about my experiences in Taganga, a small beach side village about 15minutes from Santa Marta, a good 4-6 hour bus ride from Cartagena.
Taganga is the place you go to get super cheap diving accreditation, party hard with the Israeli's and sit on the not so white sandy beach directly in front of the town. My biggest regret and I don't really have many, is not going to Tyrona National Park, because apparently its the best thing about the Taganga region that is if you're not into hanging out at the Israeli hostel until 6am.
The hostel we were at was great, a nice outdoor area with umbrellas, comfy enough beds and a lovely owner. However the most memorable thing for me would have to be the home made pizza's I indulged in....amazing! A local little stall just off the main drag providing hand made dough topped with lots of butter, cheese (i'm typically not a big fan but this was delicious) and meat, add to that some herbs, sauce and you're away and for only 2 dollars, you just can't go wrong! Except maybe the extra kilo's you put on afterwards.
The girls and I ventured to Playa Grande, a beach not too far away from the town. It's about a 15-20 minute walk over a mountain, through some pretty impressive landscape; cactus, rock etc. You can snorkel , swim and explore this tiny little paradise that is if you can ignore the hoards of locals trying to sell you everything from snorkels to grey led pencils! Oh and be prepared to pay for seating, only 3 mil but don't say I didn't warn you!
I've tried to figure out why I was so unimpressed with Taganga and I think I've come to realisation that I've seen some pretty impressive beaches over the past 3-4 months, like really impressive. Those beaches along the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, impeccable, the turqoise coloured beaches with white sand backdrops on the Caribbean side and in the San Blas and of course the beaches back home! So for me, Taganga just wasn't all that and I knew that there were many other places in Colombia I was keen to check out, so it was onwards and upwards with the adventure!
However it is a great place to go with nice locals, its quite during the week and its a great place to relax or the perfect location for you to set off on your adventure to the Lost City.

---