Tayrona National Park

After leaving the big smoke of Bogota, we needed some down time. We caught a flight from Bogota to Santa Marta, a rather large shipping port in North Columbia on the Caribbean Coast. We met a couple from Brisbane, Tara & Al, who were on the same flight. We had all heard there`s not much to see in Santa Marta so we shared a taxi to Taganga, a small fishing village where we spent the night. We stayed in a local hostel and went out to the locals nightclub, El Garaje, (basically in someones backyard). There was lots of Salsa dancing and drinks flowing, so it ended up being quite a large night.

A little hungover, the 4 of us jumped in a mini-bus to Tayrona National Park. The bus dropped us off at the entrance of the Park and we had to hike 1 hour to the first beach. All very primative, we slept in tents, although we did have mattresses so we weren´t doing it too tough. We spent the afternoon on the beach and the evening with a few beers, playing cards, not such a bad way to relax.

The following day we walked a further hour to a beach called Cabo San Juan, with its picture postcard beaches - white sand, coconut trees and crystal clear water - although still doesn´t live up to Australian beaches!! We again slept in tents and there was one restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, quite a monopoly and the prices confirmed it.

We spent 3 nights in the National Park and then caught a hour boat back to Taganga, was pretty intense, the swell was quite large so the boat was moving around quite a lot. We made it back to Taganga in search of Spanish lessons and our next adventure.