Cartagena to Taganga

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It is pouring down rain in Cartagena this morning. The same big black clouds are hovering over the city now. I sat on the balcony this morning & just watched it pour. The streets were flooding over & it was wet. I walked out to get some coffee once the rain subsided for a minute. Of course it started to pour again so I stood there on the sidewalk & watched it rain while drinking my mini cup of coffee. I got another for the walk back & returned to the hostel.

Once Geoff woke up we packed up & made breakfast. Eggs & leftover fried rice & headed out into the old town, again, to change our remaining US dollars. Once that was done we headed back to our hostel, grabbed our bags & headed to the street to catch our bus. We promptly caught a bus to the terminal & were off. On our way out of town we passed the fort that protected the city. We had no idea it was there. It looked really interesting & we missed it entirely. Sometimes I wonder about us. Our bus ride was typical. Loud music, lots of quick stops & gos, & the bus helper guy was decked out in his finest duds. Yellow shirt, faded/ripped jeans, yellow converse, big reflective sunglasses. Love it. Traffic sucked & we were crawling along but we finally made it to the terminal where we were quickly transferred to another bus to Santa Marta. The bus helper guys always give us advice it seems. Today he told us not to hold our camera out the window to take pictures, he said someone would come by & grab it. Thanks!

Our bus to Santa Marta was uneventful. It just rained & rained & at least the music wasn't blaring & we made it safely. We took a cab from the terminal. Cab drivers can be so slimy or so great. It's getting easier to distinguish the difference. I asked one guy how to get to the local bus & he told me they wouldn't let us on with our backpacks. Oh really, since when? We took a different guys cab to Taganga.

In Taganga we quickly found a little hostel to stay in, The Pelikan, & set out to find a dive shop for tomorrow. We got set up with Aquantis Dive for tomorrow. They seemed the nicest. Nice makes a big difference in what the experience will be like. The first place we talked to the guy was so arrogant. No thanks.

We spent the rest of the evening sitting by the water, watching the moon rise, sharing a delicious shrimp/calamari dinner, & having a few beverages. It was really nice.

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Photos

Morning coffee on the balcony.
In the tiny plastic cup.

Lookin Good!
The owner of this convenience store was so proud of his displays that he wanted us to take a picture.

Dinner next to the Caribbean.
Consisting of shrimp, calamari & patacones.