A Wild Ride

Taganga, Colombia is this cute, little beach town just six kilometers from the city of Santa Marta, on the Caribbean coast. There is one main road and a tiny beach surrounded by scuba schools, hotels and restaurants. It's the kind of town where you don't need to make a plan to meet someone later, you'll see them before it's time to meet. Just hang out in front of the local liquor store on the main corner and you'll see the entire population pass by in a matter of fifteen minutes. If I could choose a place to live in this world right now, Taganga would be my new home. Just give me a little hut up in the hillsides and I think I could be happy forever.

I arrived last Thursday after skipping my flight for the second time and immediately fell into the groove of things again. I was on the bus with an American guy, so he and I set out to find a hostel together. The place we found wasn't the best I've ever seen, but the price was right (prices have doubled since the last time I was there due to high season) and we had the room to ourselves for the majority of our stay. In this town, you really don't need to worry about the atmosphere of the hostel, you're never there anyway.

I spent the entire first day on the beach relaxing...and I got my first real sunburn in South America, which went away after a day. I've been being good and wearing sunblock for the most part, but I think my skin is just immune now. Months and months of constantly being outside have given me some sort of power against sunburn, which I'm not complaining about at all. Anyway, in between swimming and sunbathing, I checked out a couple of the local dive schools to see what this scuba business was all about. The price was right everywhere, but I was hanging with a Dutch girl all day that had just finished her course and she talked me into Poseidon Dive School....the only one in Taganga with a pool for practice. I walked over to it that afternoon and was in the pool within an hour.

Scuba is something I NEVER thought I would do. As a matter of fact, when Anne went diving the last time I was in Taganga, I basically laughed at her and told her I'd be on the beach, above the surface. The nice thing about the schools is that they allow you to take a mini course, just two dives to 12 meters, with the option of continuing to get your certificate. My first day of diving, I went out with my instructor, Girt, and absolutely loved it. I signed up for the full thing immediately after returning to land.

Most of the diving is done in and around Parque Tayrona, which is just around the corner from Taganga. The water was fairly clear, but visibilty got a little worse each day that I dived. There are coral reefs everywhere in the area with the most beautiful colors and incredible wildlife, without sharks, my biggest fear while out in the depths. I saw eels and rays, huge, colorful fish, some dangerous rockfish, lobsters, and on my last day I got to see a seahorse. Because my course was kind of backwards, I had three different instructors, but all were cool and on the boat each day. I passed all of the underwater safety tests and the sometimes difficult equipment manuvers. I was amazed at how relaxed I was under the water. As long as I was near the bottom, I felt safe and calm. It's like going to the moon, but better. It's a completely different world and I'm so happy I took the plunge and got to see it. After five dives ranging from 12 to 18 meters, I took the final exam and am a certified open water diver. It's a pretty good feeling...do I get to add this to my resume?

I just finished the course yesterday, so it took up the majority of my time in Taganga. I couldn't go out at night, at least not for long, because hungover and/or tired is not conducive to breathing through a regulator deep under the sea. I met plenty of people during the afternoons though and kind of felt like I owned the town. Pretty much everywhere I went, I ran into someone I knew from somewhere. Yesterday evening while having dinner on the strip, I got the best surprise of all when the crew from Medellin strolled past me down the street. They'd just gotten up to the area and were staying at one of my favorite hostels, La Brisa Loca, over in Santa Marta. Running into them on my very last day in Colombia made the ending perfect.

Last night I went out with a bang. I went over to Santa Marta to hang with the guys. We drank some Ron (rum...there's just no other option when you're in Colombia) and chatted about what had been happening in the past couple of weeks. We reminisced about our days in Medellin and just generally had a good time. I was able to get a couple of them to go out with me in Taganga afterwards. We went to the only club in town and of course ran into more people from earlier. We salsa danced the night away and took a necessary late night swim. Exhausted, I saw the sun come up on my last morning in Colombia and then hit the bus to the airport.

Tonight I'm finding myself in familiar territory in Panama City, but it's not the same. Just one night in a place is only a bed, so in my opinion, this wild ride in South America has pretty much ended. Like Europe, I am so sad for it to be done, but a new chapter will begin shortly. If I could go back and start the last two months over again, I wouldn't change a single thing. It has been a learning experience that has changed me forever. The person I was when I got off that plane in Lima doesn't seem to exist anymore, there's a better version now. It's a great feeling and I have South America to thank for it.

Since I'll be seeing everyone soon, I'm not going to blog until I get to New Zealand in a couple of weeks. If you don't already know, here is my crazy holiday travel schedule....

December 24-28 Houston, Texas
December 28- January 3 Somewhere in Michigan
January 4 Houston, Texas
January 4-7 San Francisco

Then it's time for a new adventure to begin!

Happy holidays everyone! I hope to see you very, very soon!!!