Bend to Colombia 2014: Taganga

Taganga - Palomino

Sunset at the beach in Taganga.

From San Gil we traveled north by bus to Bucaramanga. The road was so windy that an old lady across the aisle was throwing up into a bag. We caught a flight on Easy Fly airlines at the airport were everything was so new they were still painting the walls. Because of deregulation and a growing middle class, combined with crappy roads and crazy drivers, air travel has increase over 300% in Colombia in the last year. We landed on the Caribbean coast at Santa Marta. We caught a cheap cab to of Taganga which is a small town on a bay east of Santa Marta. We stayed at Divanga Hostel. The town was kind of half torn up and much more third world than the highlands we’d been visiting.

Easy Fly at Santa Marta Airport

Cold Aguila Beer at sunset at the beach

Sunset at Taganga Beach

We walked down to the beach. It was Sunday so the place was jammed with Colombians who had been drinking and eating for hours. Different music blasting at each point along the beach. The wind came up hard and started blasting. Paper plates and cups, and Styrofoam food containers were bouncing along and hitting people on the beach. The beach composition is about half pebbles and the other part is sand and stuff. It was a nice sunset.

Sunset on a busy Sunday in Taganga

Fresh fish in a wagon and on a motorcycle.

We took a tourist van to Tayrona Nat’l Park. Everything on the van was broken; gages, windows, lights, wipers, radio, etc. They dropped us in Tayrona Nat’l Park. We walked along the beach. It was hot but with a breeze and we came to some places to swim in nice clear water on granite sand beaches. Eventually we came to Cabo de San Juan which is a campground with about 300 tents on a big field.

Tayrona National Park

Perfect swimming in Tayrona National Park

Tents at Cabo de San Juan in Tayrona National Park

Cabo de San Juan in Tayrona National Park

We caught a boat back to Taganga. It was a 25 foot fiberglass ponga with two 115 horsepower motors loaded with 27 people. Once we were outside the rock reef we hit the swell and launched off a wave and landed with a crash bang and everybody yelling. The boat ripped along, timing the side swell. The occasional wave would break across the side and soak everyone. After a bumpy hour we arrived back at Taganga.

Boat from Tayrona to Taganga

Palomino

From Taganga we caught a cab to Buena Vista Mall in Santa Marta. At the mall we tried to change money but they didn’t have money to change until the afternoon. We hit the ATM and had a coffee at Juan Valdez Café. We caught a local bus for $4 to Palomino. An hour and a half later we were deposited along the road in Palomino. It is a strip along the highway lined with shops and restaurants and is busy with truck and bus traffic. About one kilometer straight north on a dirt road is the beach and the collection of bar - lodge - restaurants along the beach including our accommodation at Dreamer Hostel. Our room was incredible. It was one of four in a thatched roofed zulu lodge. The peak of the roof was 24 feet high. Palomino is a very mellow kickback place.