July 26 to 30 - Taganga,Colombia

We pulled into Taganga, Colombia and quickly found our hostel…it was perfect! There was an inner courtyard, restaurant/ bar, which played MY kind of music. We even had our own room, which offered everyone a bit of space and separation.  The place didn’t have secure parking, so I decided to leave the truck parked beside the hostel but that ended being a bad call.

Taganga is your typical small beach/fishing town full of backpackers, restaurants and beach bars.  There are no big chains or developers, just a bunch of diving shops, some tourists and the local crowd.  We immediately felt comfortable and happy with the decision to drive the 4 hours north.  The local beach is full of small fishing and diving boats and although the beach wasn’t great, the water is super warm. 

Marnie and I choose to take the theory portion of the PADI certification on-line. It seemed like a good idea at the time but we ended up staying up until 0100 am completing quizzes and eventually a final exam.  The fact that we decided to have some Caipirinhas didn’t help either.  Junior, our bartender “thought” he knew how to make a Brazilian Caipirinha, until I jumper behind the bar and shared with him some pointers I picked up in Brazil.

The diving course was great and the boys had a blast snorkeling off the boat (with their own guide) while we spent our time underwater.  Marnie and I had done several day dives over the years, so diving wasn’t knew to us except, when they made us swim 200 meters to shore…in choppy ocean water with no wet suits.  Or, when I had to take off my mask in 20 feet of water and snorted some salt water…almost lost my cool but managed to cough my way out of it.  Or, when we had to remove our weights underwater and Marnie learned how much her legs really float.  Putting your weight belt on, while underwater and upside down is not an easy task but she did it very gracefully.  Then there was the time when we surfaced during our lesson and Gabriel was yelling from the boat that I had snot all over my face….thanks Gabriel.  

The one crappy thing was that from Friday to Saturday night, someone stole my spare tire cover off the Defender.  They had to either cut the lock or the canvass to remove the cover off the spare wheel.  They could have decided to take a few more things or actually break a window but it was enough for me to find secure parking and make another mental note. 

On a lighter note....