Taganga & Tayrona National Park — Taganga, Colombia
From Cartagena we took a mini-bus four hours north-east to the small, sleepy fishing village of Taganga. It was here that our real ´back-packing´ adventure was to begin.
After two months on the road together, we were excited to be hitting the backpacker scene and meeting some fellow travellers. It´s not that we were sick of each other (well...Ben may think otherwise), but we had simply run out of conversation and were ready for some fresh topics and new faces. Thus, it was with much anticipation and excitement that we reached our first back-backers hostel, El Kool Koala, in Taganga.
Arriving in Taganga was a huge shock. Compared to Cartagena, Taganga seemed like a third world country. The streets were crumbled concrete and dirt, the housing was modest and there were so many dogs! I would hazard a guess that there were easily two dogs per person in the town. We nervously left the safety of our taxi and knocked on the front door of our hostel. We were welcomed warmly by a smiley Colombian girl, Julia, who showed us to our room. Once settled, we looked around and were dismayed to learn that we were the only guests in the hostel. Disappointment set in at the thought of another night alone.
Dejected and a little bit scared, we set out to explore the town. To our relief, we discovered that the dogs were friendly, the locals accommodating and, more importantly for us, there were other hostels which meant there must be other travellers! We stumbled across a lovely hostel - Divanga - owned by a very helpful French lady, Lucy. With Lucy´s help we booked a tour to Tayrona National Park for the following day and learned of a few good places to eat and drink.
Taking Lucy´s advise, we set out to Divanga B&B later that evening for dinner. It was like entering an Oasis - courtyard pool, roof-top bar, and...other travellers! By the time we had finished our dinner we had made two new friends - a Canadian guy doing much the same trip as us and a Colombian girl on a weekend break from her job in the north east of the country. After trading stories we went out for a few drinks at the local discothèque (a very cool roof-top bar overlooking the harbour) where Ben cut loose and hit the dance floor. Satisfied from our night of dancing and relieved that we had at long last hit the back-packing trail, we left the discotheque and head home to El Kool Koala Hostel for a good nights sleep.
At 9.30am the next morning we boarded a mini-bus (with the worlds smallest seats) loaded with a bunch of other back-packers bound for Tayrona National Park. Three hours later we disembarked at the park, legs somewhat cramped, but ready to go. Our destination was El Cabo, a lovely beach with camping facilities, reached by an easy two hours trek through rainforest and across sandy beaches.
Shortly into the trek we had the good fortune of meeting a lovely Chilean couple, Rocio and Thomas, and we quickly became friends. It was great having friends who could speak spanish! Without them I daresay we would have got lost, as another Australian couple did, and not reached the campsite until nightfall. As it was, we chatted along the way and reached the campsite within a couple of hours. Once there, Thomas helped us hire a tent and we set up camp next to our new friends.
El Cabo was like something out of the set of The Blue Lagoon - palm fringed beaches, clear warm water and a backdrop of a lush tropical jungle. It was also a backpackers heaven. With cheap food and lodging (in hammocks or tents) there were at least a couple of dozen other backpackers enjoying the park. We spent the afternoon swimming, dozing and reading and played cards all night until the generator switched off at 10pm and all lights went out.
After a restless nights sleep (it was VERY hot in the tents, not to mention the mosquitos..) we woke, swam, ate a hearty breakfast and set off on a three hour round trek to an archaeological site called, El Pueblito, where people of the Tayrona nation used to live. The trek was gruelling to say the least. A one hour scramble up a mountain in searing heat with near 100% humidity and through thick jungle. We were drenched in sweat only moments after having started, and although the ruins were nothing special, the trek was worth it. Along the walk we saw lots of colourful butterfly's, speedy lizards, giant grasshoppers, skinny snakes and we even heard the howler monkeys shrieking high up in the jungle canopy above. The best part of the walk however was jumping into the beach once it was over!
We spent the afternoon relaxing and recuperating on the beach with Thomas and Rocio before catching the 4.30pm boat back to Taganga. The boat ride was fantastic. Wind in our hair and sea spray in our faces, we took in the beautiful Colombian coastline. Mountains covered in virgin rainforest tumbled down to sandy white beaches. It was easy to imagine pirate ships cruising these waters in times past, looking for somewhere to bury their treasure. 45 minutes later we arrived back at Taganga harbour and were on our way back to Divanga Hostel with Rocio and Thomas.