I’ll start with yesterday! I started the day off with breakfast, and a goal to get to the exito. I was told to walk 10 blocks, then turn right, and walk 2 blocks. After about 15-20 blocks of walking, I flagged down a mototaxi and asked him to take me to the Exito (very large store). After about 10 minutes of riding, he pulls off to the side and tells me I’m there (which I’m clearly not). He’s rambling random spanish, and I just hand him my hotel address and ask to be taken there. About 5 minutes into the ride, he jets onto a side street. I ask him what’s up, and all I understood was “Policia” (assuming he didn’t want to be stopped). I made it back, paid him $2,000 PESOS for my 20 minutes bike ride, and went upstairs.

I explored some, tried some new food, and waited for Dan. Someone knocked on my door around 7:30, it was Dan! He flew into a city 4 hrs away. He had to take a taxi from the airport to the bus station, then catch a bus to Santa Marta, then a taxi to the hostel. I left a note with the front days that said: “Mi Amigo Dan Hovanac. Room 205″. He arrived, clueless, said: “Amigo” and they instantly brought him to my room.

As soon as he walked in, he said: “I have no idea how I got here, but I am here”. I replied with: “That’s how my week has been.. hahaha”. It was fun. We grabbed some food, walked the beach for a bit, hung out in the hammocks on the rooft top and crashed early!

We woke up with plans to find the exito (I got directions from some english speaking people I met). We tried to find it (I was trying to buy a cell phone). After 20 min of walking, we gave up, but found a cell phone store. I grabbed a prepaid phone, we stopped by the bank, and made our way to Taganga (10 minute taxi ride).

Taganga is MUCH nicer than Santa Marta. It’s a small fishing village that exploded once people found out about it. It’s tucked back in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

We found a really nice hostel. The coolest place I’ve been to thus far. Awesome rooms, breaksfast included, and a bar/hammock hang out on the roof (for $26 000 PESOS for a single room – $13 USD). And, there is a 10 year old and his mom (who run the place) who speaks English. She gave us all of the beta for this area. It’s such a nice place!!

Today, we visited all of the dive shops, and found a pretty good deal. 2 dives tomorrow, and 1 night dive tomorrow night for $150 000 PESOS ($75 US). We grabbed some food, had multiple fresh juice drinks, and hiked over to a secluded beach named “Playa Grande”. It was a nice hike, and an even nicer beach!!

I’m getting some work done, then we’re going to go explore!