Taganga and Parque Nacional Tayrona

Taganga, y Parque Nacional Tayrona, Colombia

I spent the next four days after Cartagena in a small fishing village called Taganga, and one night in the national park Tayrona.  Taganga was a four-hour bus ride from Cartagena.  I took a private bus that picked me up from where I was staying in Cartagena and dropped me off right in front of the hostel I stayed at in Taganga. 

I arrived in Taganga on a Sunday at around 4pm, and apparently Sunday is party day, because literally the entire town was out on the beachfront (which only stretches about a quarter of a mile) drinking.  There are only four paved roads in Taganga and the rest are really uneven dirt roads littered with trash.  My guidebook had described Taganga as a cute touristy fishing village that was a great alternative to Santa Marta.  Upon first impression, I didn’t agree with the book.  At first, it seemed a little dangerous, and because the entire town had been drinking when I first got there, I felt like I had to really watch my back around town.  However, as I settled in, met people at my hostel, and got a little more used to the environment, I came to realize that its actually a relaxing, beachy place, that is in fact really touristy.  In small towns like Taganga, you always feel safer in numbers.  The main beach in Taganga isn’t very nice….its kinda dirty and usually overrun with people.  But, only a 15 minute walk around the peninsula, you arrive at playa grande, a much nicer, beautiful beach with chairs that you can rent.  My second day in Taganga I spent the entire day there with some friends I met at my hostel, and managed to down another fried fish lunch.  This one was special though because I got to pick the fish I wanted to eat (freshly caught that morning).  It was awesomely delicious.

   So the main reason I went to Taganga in the first place was to go to Tayrona.  Tayrona is a national park that is known to have the most beautiful untouched beaches on the carribean coast of Colombia.  After two nights in Tanganga, I took an hour bus ride from my hostel to the park entrance.  I managed to only pay the student fee by just showing my Javeriana ID card, and saved 20 000 pesos (always nice).  I bought a couple snacks to last me for a day and a huge bottle of water.  Equipped with my backpack, a bathing suit, toiletpaper and a change of clothes, I began the two hour hike through the jungle/forrest to get to Cabo San Juan, where I would camp that night.  The hike was awesome.  I met a dutch guy who was going to the same campsite, so we walked together.  We passed through jungle terrain, walked along deserted beaches, and along muddy trails for two hours…while sweating though our clothes.  It was a great hike, and I even enjoyed the sweat.  Didn’t manage to see any wildlife, but saw armies of ants, and one neon green lizard. 

Cabo San Juan is a campsite steps away from the beach, where you can rent hammocks to sleep in for about 30 000 pesos, $15. (A little pricey for just a hammock, outdoor showers, and shared bathrooms, but, totally worth it for the beach, and the atmosphere, you’re in paradise).  Almost everyone at this campsite was a traveling backpacker: all were tourists.  Ill let the pictures speak for themselves on this one, check them out below.  There are really no words to describe how pretty it was.

I only spent one night in the Tayrona park as I was essentially there alone.  I probably could have easily slept in a hammock for a week, and enjoyed paradise a little longer though, but only if the bathroom/shower situation had been better equipped.  Instead, I headed back to Taganga mid afternoon on the 20^th of July, just in time for the Independence day festivities.  Taganga has a couple really nice open air bars/clubs that over look the ocean.  My favorite was called “El Mirador,” which is up on cliff from which you can see the entire cove in which the town is situated.

Boardwalk in Taganga on Sunday party day

Everyone partying at the beach

The hostel I stayed at also owned a B&B that had a pool and restaurant.  People staying at the hostel could use their facilities

Sunset at the restaurant

The view from the "El Mirador" bar

On our way to playa grande...this is a view of Taganga

the trail to playa grande

Playa Grande.  Hermosa.

Fish selection for lunch

Street that our hostel was on in Taganga

Begining of the two hour trail to Cabo San Juan in Tayrona national park

Can you seen the mighty ants carrying the bits of leaves?

Still on the trail

This was a tease...our campsite was another hour away.  But this was so pretty!

La piscina, an all natural swimming pool along the trail to Cabo San Juan

Cabo San Juan view.  It started to get dark and stormy once we got there.

If you're lucky enough, you can rent the hammocks in the hut up top.

Hammock I slept in, with mosquito net.

Beach at Cabo San Juan.  Water was amazing. 

Sunset overlooking the Taganga bay

Cartagena de Indias. Don't we all want to be pirates? I know I do.

From Medellin, I took a 630am plane back to Bogotá, and then took another flight to Cartagena.  As soon as I stepped off the plane, the humidity and heat hit me like a brick.  I was greeted at the airport by the youngest of the Polanco family, Gabi, who fortunately was able to hang out with me the entire four days I spent in Cartagena. 

Cartagena is a huge city with many different districts.  It was and still is the most important sea port and gateway into Colombia.  Thick walls that were used to protect the city from invaders enclose the old colonial part of the city.  The colonial part of Cartagena is really beautiful: coble stone streets, colonial architecture, tropical bright colors, and the ocean at a stone’s throw.  It’s especially pretty at night when different colored lights illuminate the buildings and reflect off the water: the government really knew how to play it up for the tourists.  The carribean/colonial atmosphere is so overtaking that all I wanted to do when I was there was dress up as a pirate and walk around looking for a ship to steal….

I was staying about a 15 minutes walk from the old town in a neighborhood called Manga-a mostly residential, with some huge apartment buildings overlooking the bay.  Manga has a cute little boardwalk that lines the bay, which Gabi and I went out of our way to walk on several times a day because it offers just a small breeze that makes the heat almost bareable.  It’s actually really pleasant at night, when the sun isn’t out, making you sweat through your clothes.

Despite the intense heat, I had a ton of fun in Cartagena.  Fortunately, the first two days I was there it was overcast.  It made for great walking around weather to explore the colonial old town.  I also went to the beach in Bocagrande, the second day I was there, and managed to get a tan even though it was overcast (a testament to just how strong the sun is when you’re that close to the equator!)  Bocagrande is a peninsula that jets right out into the Caribbean.  It lined with beaches and touristy hotels and restaurants.  The beaches aren’t super nice (bathwater temperature water, hagglers, and gray sand), but its fun, and there’s a bar every 100 meters, with waiters more than willing to serve you underneath your rented canopy.  (MJ-It’s totally like Kuta beach in Bali).

The next day, we headed to Isla de la Pirata in the archipelago of Islas del Rosario, just off the coast from Cartagena.  Basically we paid for a round trip boat ticket to and from the island in order to hang out for the day, with lunch included.  Now this was the Caribbean I was expecting: beautiful clear blue waters, intense sun, snorkeling, and white sand.  It was awesome, and the lunch was unbelievable: an entire fried fish served with the most amazing rice I have ever had, “arroz titote.”  Overall, it was an amazing day, despite arriving home, and realizing that I had gotten sunburned all over my body (I had really greasy sunscreen, that never absorbed and slid right off when I got in the water….so much for being SPF 80 and waterproof!)

My last day in Cartagena, Gabi and I met up with my friend, Devorah, who had just flown in from Bogota, and we went back to beach in Bocagrande.  That night, we all partook in the classic Cartagena tourist activity: we took a Chiva.  A chiva is an open-air party bus that comes equipped with a live band, a humorous guide, and bottles of rum for every group of four people.  We rode around in the Chiva to different historical sites, and then ended up at a discothèque for some Rumba.  I was kind of expecting the Chiva to last longer, but nevertheless, it was a great time.

Colonial old town

View of colonial old town with Bocagrande in the background

Protective walls that surround the city

Don't you wanna be a pirate now?

She made me an awesome fruit salad (and used sanitary gloves to handle the fruit!)

View of Bacogrande from Manga

Boardwalk in Manga

El Castilo de San Felipe-well worth the visit, great views of the city plus awesome dark, humid tunnels that you can walk through...kinda creepy, but totally cool

Beach in Bocagrande

View of the Carribean from the Fishing club in Manga

Cartagena at night...beautiful

Isla de la Pirata.  You buy a lobster or a Crab, they'll cook it for you for lunch.  Looked so delicious, but our lunch was already included.

Pearls anyone?

Marcel (!) The man who took us snorkeling

Lunch!

Sunset at Cafe del Mar in Cartagena

Chiva!  The picture doesn't do it justice...Can you see the band sitting in the 4th row back?

Medellin

Medellin was great.  After being in Bogota for two months, being in hot, dry weather was a dream come true.  I stayed with Esmaralda’s friend’s daughter, Juliana.  Juliana, her husband, and her one year-old son Geronimo (love his name!) live in a really nice neighborhood of Medellin called El Poblado.  Across the street from the apartment was one of the largest, most modern shopping malls I have ever seen in my life (check out the pic.).  My first day there, I spent the afternoon walking around the El Poblado neighborhood, and went to lunch with Juliana and her family in the Parque Lleras neighborhood.  Parque lleras is really nice.  Its full of open air restaurants and bars, and its apparently where all the nightlife happens (I didn’t get to partake as I was there at the beginning of the week).

The next two days I spent exploring the city by foot and by metro.  The metro in medellin is great, its super efficient, clean, and almost every touristy detination has a metro stop nearby.  I went to the Plaza de Botero, the Museo de Antioquia, Plaza Bolivar, an open air market, and to the Jardin Botanico, all in one day.  The Museo de Antioquia was really cool.  It showcases almost all of Fernando Botero’s work, as well as other modern artists.  The next day I went to the Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellin, Pueblito Paisa, El Parque de Los Pies Descalzos, and I took the metro cable all the way to Parque Arvi.  I actually didn’t know exactly where the metro cable would take me.  I thought it would just go to the top of the mountains that surround Medellin and then turn around and come back.  Instead it just kept going and going, and going, till eventually it was carrying us over a thick forrest.  After about 45 minutes in the metro cable I ended up at Parque Arvi, a natural park outside of the city.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get to go in or hike in it, as I took the metro cable around 4:45 pm and the sun was going down soon. I ended up making it back down to the metro with about 30 minutes left of sunlight….just enough to make it back to the apartment and call it a day.  Had to get ready to go to Cartegena the next morning.

Aerial view of Bogota on the plane to Medellin

The glamourous Santa Fe mall

The metro

Plaza Bolivar with Botero statues

I wonder whats on his mind?

Street salsa dancing, called "Salsa Libre" in plaza bolivar

Orchids at the botanical gardens

The modern art museum

Pueblito Paisa-a minuature version of a colonial town from this region of Colombia - purely for tourists. 

View of Medellin from Pueblito Paisa

Parque de los pies descalzos - literally means barefoot park: there are parts of the park in which you are not allowed to wear shoes.  I found that out the hard way, when I got chastised to walking on the sand in my shoes.

View of the metro-cable I was about to get on

The metro-cable takes you over some of the poorest parts of the city.  And yes, people repair their roofs by adding another piece of sheet metal and securing it with a brick.

Journey into the woods as the metrocable got further and further away from Medellin

On the way back - aerial view of Medellin