Taganga, Colombia: A misunderstood fishermen town
This is a little fisherman town near Santa Marta, about 20 minutes away by bus. When first arriving you'll think you have made a huge mistake coming here because it tooks barren and run down town with not much going on besides one main street. Most who don't give it a chance will tell you not to come here because there isn't much going on but I actually had a great time here and also goes to show how important meeting the right people will chance your experience. Taganga is also known for diving. It's a cheap place to get scuba diving certified, ~$250 or so, for 3 days and 4 dives. That was my original intention for Taganga but I heard it wasn't that amazing of a place for diving because the water isn't super clear and there aren't a lot of animals in the area. Since I'm going to Asia, I can also do it there and it'll be the same price for better diving.
So originally I decided to just go for a night and 2 days then go to Tayrona. This was another instance when it took me so long to decide on a hostel because I didn't know anyone who have gone there. I was going back and forth between 3 different hostels for about an hour because I was going there on a weekend and wanted a place with good atmosphere. I decided on Divanga Hostel and it was the best choice. I booked a dorm bed and got the whole room to myself so that was pretty sweet. There's a really chill pool area with hammocks and shade area. Upstairs was the bar and they had events every night. Friday was a deep house DJ and Saturday was salsa night. I also met really cool people there who I ended up convincing to go to Estereo Beach Festival with me the following Friday. So just good vibes all over around.
I ended up staying an extra day but didn't do much to be honest. On Friday, I left Santa Marta around mid-day and spent that entire day at the pool. I met a few guys who worked there so we had some drinks and played pool until the evening. Since they were having a DJ that night they were going around the beach area to pass out flyers and advertise about it. I offered to help for free drinks. That's the only way to do it when traveling on a budget. We walked around the town and I advertised to groups of guys or couples in both Spanish and English. Pretty proud of myself with that!
The rest of the night consisted of having drinks at the bar and playing pool. We actually had a good number of people come by. I also become the photographer for the party since I had an iPhone 7 instead of a 5 that one of the guys there was using. Really good vibes! Met a lot cool people and after the bar closed we went to Beat Beach, one of the only club-ish place in the town. I can't remember when I got there or left but I think I got home around 5 in the morning. Thank god for having my own room because I turned all the fans in the room to face me and scored the big full bed instead of the usual twin size one.
I woke up the next day pretty hungover but I didn't want to waste a day just staying at the hostel. I went out to get food at this expensive place but I really needed a fresh salad and smoothie and this place had the perfect combo. I somehow talked myself into walking to the far beach, which meant walking up the hill in the sun. I was hating myself so when I got to the beach, I paid for a lawn chair and passed out for about 3-4 hours. I woke up completely refreshed. There's just something about sleeping with the smell of the water and the breeze that makes it so calming. But the beach itself was really small and filled with people and venders, not my cup of tea. I went back to Divanga around dinner time and ordered a flatbread from the bar. The night began again with drinks at the bar and salsa night. This was my second salsa lesson ever and I am still terrible. I will never be as good as a colombia. I just can't move my hips and be sensual like that, unfortunately.
One of our friends was working at another hostel that night so we went over to hangout with it. The original plan was to be there for a bit to pick her up then head out to Mirador, the only real club in Taganga. But somehow we ended up staying there until like 2/3am because drinks were cheap and everyone was just vibing to the music and chatting away. We then walked to Beat Beach again because we thought Mirador was closed but it turned out Beat Beach was closed right as we got there so we just made our way home.
On Sunday, I didn't really want to do much besides hangout at the pool before heading back to Santa Marta. The most hilarious thing was this 6 year old Dutch boy in the pool. He has been traveling with his parents for 6 years now so he can speaks 4 different languages. But besides that, he was the craziest little boy and has obviously been watching too much adult tv. When I was in the pool with him in a floaty, he came in it and made me his horse. He would say the craziest things: "You're my horse-y and I'm going to ride you. Ha ha I'm riding you now." Or "I'm peeing in the pool. I'm peeing on you." Omg the craziest one was when he got out, he looked down and said "my balls are so big" and starting thrusting and humpingthe air. You could tell his parents have been through a lot, like crazy shit wise. I can just tell in about 15 years he's going to be the biggest troublemaker and play boy.
