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We began our tour of the Carribean coast with the first stop, a town called Santa Marta. There wasn't much information on this town in the guide book however we found a nice hostel with a swimming pool and decided to relax for a couple of days. Taking a day trip into Santa Marta we were done exploring the town within 45 minutes. A town of very little interest other than shopping, and because Jonathan has told me I cannot load him with one more rucksack filled with souvenirs, shopping is out of the question! Anyway a quick walk through the town and along the port and then back to the hostel for an afternoon round the pool. The hostel was also situated nicely next to a large shopping mall and supermarket, so after filling up on supplies of beer and food we were all set for our last night at Dreamers hostel. Waking up fairly rough the next day we began our journey to Taganga. A local fishing village, only just turning to tourism. We had read many reviews on this place which were not brilliant. Reviewed as being dirty with not much to do, we were abit apprehensive. Taganga however we found to be completely charming and no dirtier than any other place we have been to! Also the people writing these reviews must not have been into fishing or diving as these where the tours on offer. A pretty little town nestled in a small bay and is how I imagined Colombia to look. Palm trees, local fishing boats and turquoise water gave the town a great character and as it is basically a local community it seemed all the more appealing for us. We came to this town especially for the fishing tours. We found two great tours to pick from: One tour was just a five hour tour which involved a mix of hand line fishing, and if you wanted spear-fishing, fishing close to an island just off Taganga which we could then snorkel in. The second was a ten hour tour which was sport fishing and we would go further along the coast into deeper waters; also we could get to eat whatever we caught... Of course we would choose the ten hour tour! 4:30am wake up to meet the two local Colombians, Toty and his son Andry for 5am and then be on the boat for 5:30am. By 6:15am we were fishing for baby mackerels for bait. A bucket full later we set off for the big fish. Two local fisherman should know what they were doing and Jonathan and I had high hopes. They definitely lived up to our expectations! Dorado, Tuna and Snapper all greeted us that day. Even though we had proper rods it seemed hand lines were the fishes preferred method. Holding a hand line while a large strong Dorado fights wildly on the end is not easy! They are very beautiful fish with a mix of silver, green and turquoise in colour and seeing them jump out of the water trying to scramble off the hook makes it all the more fun. We must have brought in a dozen as well as a bucket full of snapper and a couple of small tuna. Toty was very excited and was hopping up and down giggling as we all pulled them in! After a great morning of fishing we then headed for lunch where they served us some Dorado which we had just caught for dinner. We had never eaten this before and it was very tasty! A meaty White fish. Back on the boat we began trawling. This was when the Tuna struck. First we hit a shoal and both Jonathan and I pulled in two small but strong tuna. Then back in the water and my rod bent madly. 15 minutes and very tired arms later, after it had given us the run around, we pulled in a lovely big tuna and Toty was so very happy with it that he took our photo. A great end to the day! Of course Jonathan wasn't too happy that I'd caught the biggest Tuna and Dorado that day. Back to shore the locals gathered to buy our fish. Not before we had been given a Dorado by Toty for supper! A great day of fishing and probably the most cheapest fishing tour we have ever paid for.
The following day we headed to national park Tayrona. We had heard great things about this park and people described it as a beachy jungle. We was assured upon arriving at the park that there would be a kiosk at the entrance to leave our big rucksacks for the night. I think this may have only been said to sell the tickets to us faster as there was no kiosk. Trekking for an hour and a half through the Colombian jungle with 18+kilos on your back and another 6k on your front in 35 degree heat we finally reached the campsite looking like we had been ducked under a waterfall! Knackered we pitched the tent and set off for the beaches, however the sky had become slightly overcast. There are a number of beaches along the coast, Arricifes, La Piscina and San Juan where the most popular. We was camped on Arricifes but unfortunately due to strong currents which had killed lots of people it was advised to stay away. Walking further along the coast we came across a beautiful little bay and then another minutes walk, La Piscina; A beach around 100 metres long that was great to relax and swim in. Stopping there for a couple of hours we headed back to the campsite before the darkness set and the snakes came out. A restless hot sleep that night we awoke to the noise of a psychotic rooster crowing right next to the tent from around 3am. Also my skin on my legs began to itch like crazy. Waking at 6:30am I had developed a rash running down my left thigh. Within two hours it had spread all the way upto my lower back and down the remaining part of my leg towards my ankles, aswell as spreading and covering my other leg also. Red and blistery looking there wasn't much I could do, so as the itching had ceased slightly we began the walk to the last beach San Juan. An hour later we arrived at it and it was the prettiest beach there. Two horse shoe shaped bays with giant boulder rocks dotted about, golden sand and warm turquoise water made it seem like a scene from the film Castaway. As we had arrived so early due to our wake up call from the rooster we were practically the only ones on there. Also the coconut trees and jungle overlapping onto the beach also gave it a Gorillas in the midst feel. It was very beautiful. Stopping for an hour and then setting off back to camp before the sun got too strong we took down our tent and packed our things. On the way back however Jonathan had found a fallen coconut which he spent the whole journey walking back to camp smashing it against any sharp rock he could find; Determination etched in his face. Finally an hour later and with the help from a Colombian man and his machete we finally had a breakfast of coconut milk/flesh and homemade Empanadas. This time instead of trekking back with our rucksacks we decided to get the horses. As we haven't done any horse riding in South America we thought this would probably be the best and last opportunity to do so. Next stop along the coast was a small town called Palomino, known only for it's beautiful long beach. We spent the rest of the day sunbathing (with my legs in the shade as they had started to turn a redy/purple) and then after a few drinks and a nice tea, an early night was in order in a nice cool room. At our hostel we met two trainee doctors and one dermatologist. Thinking I'd be in the best hands I asked them what they thought of my legs. None of them have seen anything like it and couldn't tell me what had caused it. Either I've had an allergic reaction to a bite or plant, or it's some sort of heat rash; however due to the distribution and the speed it spread with it's blister looking spots I'd left them puzzled. Luckily as you can buy any drug in these pharmacies I'll be off to buy some recommended cream and some clown pants (which i vowed never to buy as ill look positively daft in big floppy pants) because after three days of antihistamines there's been no improvement and I'm tired of being stared at. Anyway ending with a beautiful sunset later and tasty meal by the sea, Palomino is an untouched little gem and I think we was lucky to see this place before tourism has really begun. Again it's another town on how you would imagine Colombia to be and stopping here gave us more of an idea of their way of life. Now we are in our very final week of South America and we are slowly on our way back to Cartagena for our last remaining days. It has flown by and we are sure this final week will go twice as fast also. Till the next time Hayls and Jonathan x
- comments
mumL Really enjoyed reading about your fishing adventure better than Whitby. Hope your skin is getting better Hayley. Hope you're not becoming allergic to Jonathan. You sound sad to be leaving S America but dont worry another adventure awaits and you will be seeing us all soon xx
jacki Hi! About how much did you pay for your 10 hours fishing trip? That's the one thing I've not found much info online. Even if it was a bit ago it will give me an idea. Also where did you book it? Sounds amazing!
David askengren Sounds like you had an awesome experience in Taganga! I am in Taganga right now, I am going to stan here for a week, and I would really appriciate if you could tell me were to find Toty and Andry! Best regards David