We're now in Taganga which is about 100+ miles from Cartagena. We took a small bus (Mercedes Sprinter)and our damn bus driver was still drunk from the night before and kept falling asleep at the wheel. We had to yell at him several times as we could see his eyes close and head drop down.
We landed in Santa Marta and stayed only one night because its not that great, so we took a cab to Taganga, got a sweet room at this hostel, meet a Frenchy and then took a boat ride to Tayrona National Park. Tayrona is sick, totally remote but you have a bunch of young backpackers tent camping, but still, it was kick ***.
Last night we had pizza of all things and it was damn good, and I really don't care for it! We're going on our third week here in South America and I hate to admit it, I want McDonalds! There's something about eating fish everyday that gets old and the beef here is pricey for the Argentine stuff.
Taganga's prices are half of Cartagena, so we like our $12. bottles of rum and vodka opposed to $25 in Cartagena.
It's still ************* hard to not get emotional seeing scroungy starving dogs and there's no way to even come close to feeding them. I would estimate there are half as many dogs as people, but for the most part, the dogs appear to be well fed, only about 20% appear to be starving.
The people here are nice and helpful, especially when they see gringo's trying to buy stuff from them. We have the numbers (for money) down as well as the food, it's the conversing part that's tough.
There's a ton of National Police everywhere so crime is almost non-existent unless you go of the beaten path. They all carry Sig's, I know because I asked them, and are really young, my guess is 18-23. At the roadblocks they're all carrying FAL's but still, they're very nice and are looking for dopers.
Everywhere I go I get offered drugs, I guess they see my tat's and ASSume I'm a druggy too. No one here has a full sleeve so a lot of folks want to look at them and their smile say's it all, even if I don't understand what the hell they're saying!
Oh, and I would say almost everyone has a motorcycle, usually a 100-150cc two smoke Chinese or Yamaha. They are like gnats, constantly darting around you, tooting their horn to warn you, but overall they seem like damn good riders. The sad thing is almost every bike I see has a low rear tire and loose chain in need of some PJ1!
We're in a really nice hostel called Casa Kankuamu, it's like the Hilton compared to the one we stayed at in Santa Marta. The owner is super cool, has super clean everything and nice WIFI. The one thing that is tough is putting your poo paper in a trash can and not flushing it. The water here is not safe to drink, but is ok to shower or wash dishes with. We consume about 2 liters of water per day and about a half liter of rum per night! :clap:
We're trying to make the best of it while waiting on our truck, so once we hit the road things will be better, the pictures will be better and maybe my liver can take a break from all the boozing. Yesterday we logged over 5 hours in the hammock playing our favorite music and exploring some new stuff.
Here's some of what we were listening to:
Nancy Sinatra
Kate Bush
Billie Holiday
Skylar Gray
Led Zeppelin
Pink Floyd
John Anderson
David Allen Coe
Jerry Jeff Walker
Weezer
St Vincent with David Byrne
Any Winehouse
Led Baxter
Herb Alpert
Harvey Mandel
Gary Myrick
Joe Cocker
Inspiral Carpets
EMF
The Charlatans
The Wild Swans
ACDC
The Soup Dragons
and PIXIES
We hit the whole gamut of music, and having a link to the USA is nice, thank you WIFI!
I miss my family and friends, but as time goes on it makes the yearning part easier as we all know time heals all wounds. My grandmother fell 3 days ago (she's 92) and refuses to go to the doctor and claims she feels better. I personally think she's ready to go on and when she does, my grandfather will be lost, they've been married 71 years!
More later, hasta luego amigos!
View from our Santa Marta hostel
Santa Marta
Don't pet them, you won't be able to shake them!
TAYRONA NATIONAL PARK
OUR TRANSPORT BOAT
