So. Thursday Charlotte, Josh and I left Medellin and got a 16 hour nigh bus to Santa Marta! Cost 100,000 pesos, approx eqivilant to $50. Bus travel and general costs in Columbia are not cheap. I'm beginning to think, there may be a possibility of coming back in a small amount of debt! :(

Anyway, arrived in Santa Marta mid morning and found our hostal Miramar, which had been recommended to us. It was literally a s***hole! 10,000 ppesos a night, so about 3GBP! Cant really complain. Santa Marta, was v v hot and v v windy. There was not much to do so the next day Josh and I, with this woman we met, Domicella from Latvia set off for Taganga. A small fishing villiage competley enclosed in a bay. ONly about 5 minute drive away. It had no ATM or anyting, just restaurants and hostals, and a few dive centres.

We got a 3 person room, and had the most beautiful view out onto the beach and out onto the sea. It was literally the definition of paradise. If I can figure out how to upload photos I def will!

Sunday mornign Domicella, Josh and I all decided to get our Padi, open water dive licences. It was soo cheap in comparison to other places but still burnt a little hole in my quickly shrinking money pocket.

The course involved watching a 3 hours video....which was v boring! And spending 5 hours that same day in the pool with an instructor testing out the scuba gear and completing certain exercises.

With the regulator in the mouth, breathing underwater for the first time is very strange. Im glad i did it in the pool though because the depest part was 3 metres so not too far if panicked! Not that I did panic,

The next day we went out on the boat and had to set up our own gear....I was amazed at how they didnt really chec the gear....so you had to remember how to set it all up correctly from the day before. Im not going to lie, I was pretty apprehensive by this time, as ppl all know im not the greatest fan of the sea. But I still did it. We did 2 duves that day both 12 metres. First we had to do exercises 6 metres under, like taking the mask off, then putting it back on and getting water out of it. And losing your air supply etc.....Not fun but I did them all!

I loved the diving, and swaw so many tropical fish, although the water was very cold! Apparently it is the coldest time atm, with water temperature at 25 degrees!!

After the first dive I felt alot ore confident. I really actually enjoyed it.

The next day we went out again, did more exercises and did 2 dives at 18 metres! The worst part for me is equalising my ears....You have to go down slowly to allow you ears and sinuses to get used to the pressure. Then when coming up you have to stop aat about 5 metres to allow for the pressure difference.

The diving was great though. Im so glad I have done it, although I still can't believe I actually have!

The next day we had an exam to pass, before we got our certificate and licence. It was a 50 question multiple choice which we had to revise for out of a text book you get given as part of the course. I kind of skimmed through the book and managed to pass the exam which was great. Now the book is lying in the bottom of my bag....im contemplating sending a package home.

That night we met up with quite a few ppl we had met in Medellin and Susan as well and got v v drunk on the beach to celebrate.

Next day, Thursday, Josh and I set off for Cartagena, nice 4 hour bus ride. Easy!

Today we have been round the old town of Cartagena. It is absolutely beautiful and had loads of history, lots of photos. I think the plan is to go to the volcano mud baths tomorrow and we are thinking of making our return to Ecuador on Sunday.

Hope everyone is well back home.

Will update soon.

xxx