Tres Mas, Por Favor


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South America » Colombia » Santa Marta » Taganga
August 17th 2010
Published: September 10th 2010
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Between my post-bac program and returning to Madison to work at Epic while I apply to medical schools, I decided to take a quick trip to Colombia with my friends Ben (who I traveled with in India and Africa) and Max. I wanted to see what the country I've heard so much about had to offer and I have to say, it lived up to all the hype. Thinking of the violence of the 80s and 90s, many Americans still hold the perception that it is a dangerous country... However, most of the cartel violence has since moved to Mexico and most Colombians, knowing their country's reputation, are fantastically welcoming. Offering mountains, rolling hills, colonial cities, and Caribbean beaches, as well as ridiculously cheap flights from the U.S., I can't imagine the tourist industry blowing up soon.

We landed in Cartagena, a historical city on the Caribbean coast and the city in Love in the Time of Cholera. There is a gorgeous old city area with small cobble stone streets and pastel buildings with huge doors. It is all surrounded by a massive colonial era walls built to protect from the pirates that would constantly lay siege to the city. It was a fantastic intro to Colombia, but we wanted to get to some beaches so we checked out the city and moved on the next day.

We headed to Taganga, a smaller fishing town with a bustling tourist industry due to its proximity to the Lost City trek (see the next blog) and Tayrona National Park. While the beaches in town aren't glamorous, if one takes a quick hike around the beach head, Playa Grande around the corner has all the white sand one could want with beautiful mountains coming straight into the sea on all sides. We hung out for a couple of days, relaxing in the warm waters, and practicing the phrase "Tres mas, por favor."

We moved on to the Lost City Trek pretty quickly, as our time in the country was limited, but we did have a few fun(ny) experiences. First, for some stupid reason, not a single toilet seat in the entire city would stay erect. I have never seen anything like it, but the local plumber must have been one upset house wife cause there is no other possible answer. Also, the night life was a hilarious dichotomy of hippies in techno clubs drinking Colombian Schnapps. Since we aren't exactly picky, we waded out into those weird waters a couple of nights, but for the majority of time was spent making the long, 5 day, 4 night hike to the Lost City...


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Gatos and Aguilas

My deck of playing cards had kittens on them... not exactly the most masculine.


11th September 2010

wow..another beautiful journey!
Kyle, Once again the photos are amazing! Glad you are back teaching us about the beauty of the world's people! Enjoy, and stay SAFE!!! Love ya! Kirsten and Kids...

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