Learning To Dive In Taganga - Terrifying But Amazing

In our last post we were watching the world go by in sleepy Mompox. The past few days have been quite different. We went from Mompox back up to the Caribbean coast, finally ending in the village of Taganga. As you may or may not be aware, Mompox is a little off the beaten track and quite challenging to get to or away from. Our journey up to Taganga took 7 or 8 hours, involving a (stiflingly hot) minivan, ferry (which had recently capsized and tipped several lorries into the river), and local bus. We made it though!

Beautiful sunset in Taganga, taken from our hostel roof terrace

Taganga is the kind of place we might normally avoid: its draws include drugs, prostitutes, partying and hippies. It reminded us a lot of a backpacker beach destination in south-east Asia (Koh Tao, Sihanoukville). However, it also happens to be one of the cheapest places in the world to do diving courses, along with Koh Tao in Thailand. Kev is already qualified, having done his Open Water certification in Thailand and his Advanced in Indonesia, but I had never done any diving before. This seemed a great opportunity to give it a go and see why Kev loves it so much.

Okay? Okay - diving in Taganga

We had done some research prior to arriving in Taganga and already booked the diving with an instructor called Reto Müller, who is originally from Switzerland. Reto is a freelance instructor in Taganga and we liked all the reviews we read about him, particularly those mentioning him being good with nervous people (i.e. me!).  We met Reto at the roundabout in Taganga at sunset when we first arrived, along with a group of fellow divers and hangers-on. This was to become a theme - every day we'd go there to watch the (very pretty) sunset, meet people and discuss the day's adventures over a beer or two. The other theme was Café Bonsai, the best café in Taganga, in which Reto was a regular and reserved a table every lunchtime for all his friends and dive students. It was great to have these social activities each day and the chance to compare experiences with others. One day Reto even put on a BBQ for at least 10 people!

Argh, a shark!

My first experience of diving, the pool session, didn't go too well. I was in a group of 3 doing the Open Water course, along with Kev who was having a skills refresher in the pool too. I found the explanation of all the equipment too fast and a little overwhelming, and was slow to grasp the skills that the others seemed to be taking to like fish to water. It was stressful! The worst thing was the mask clearing, i.e. letting your mask fill with water and learning how to expel it. I found that when I had my nostrils in water, I kept trying to breathe through them... not the best idea, and it usually resulted in me panicking and coming to the surface coughing and spluttering. Reto in the end left me to sit on the bottom practising breathing and getting used to being underwater. This in fact helped quite a lot; by the end of the session I still couldn't clear my mask but at least felt much more comfortable and less panicky underwater.

A tiny fish hiding inside the coral

After this first experience I was quite disheartened and spent a long time dithering over whether to give up or give it another go. I was lucky in that Reto had offered to do the pool session again with me the next day, but this time it would be just me. While feeling that maybe diving was not for me, I was eventually convinced by Kev to make the most of this opportunity to have a go one to one with the instructor. And this time things went much better! I didn't panic, I completed all the skills, and even got quite good at clearing the mask. Reto seemed as pleased as me and said I was ready to start the open water (sea) stuff the next day. I was very grateful to him for giving me the extra time.

On the boat - diving properly! - with Reto (right)

Diving in the sea properly was a whole different experience to the swimming pool. In particular, I had to get used to trying to control my buoyancy. This isn't that difficult in the pool, but when you're down at depth and the pressure is changing, it's more challenging. Just inhaling or exhaling can have quite an effect! The first two dives, down to 12m, I spent mainly bobbing up and down like a yo-yo. On the second day in the sea, we went down to 18m. I had felt nervous about this, as 18m sounds pretty deep, but in fact it felt much the same as 12m. I couldn't believe we were that deep really! I was a little disturbed by the odd booming noise in my ears that would seem to get louder and louder and then vanish; eventually I realised this was just a boat going by overhead...

Lobsters

By the second day in open water, I was quite enjoying myself, while still screaming a little inside (being able to breathe 18m underwater still doesn't seem quite natural)! It was pretty amazing to be swimming along just above the sea floor, passing beautiful coral, fish and other marine life. Among the highlights were several lobsters and several seahorses, plus an eel and (I think) a nudibranch. While I'd seen seahorses before, snorkelling in the Galápagos, now I had time to stop and see them properly, rather than having to come to the surface for air after a few seconds. I was starting to appreciate the advantages of diving.

Coral and a fish (fish identification isn't my strong point yet!)

Kev spent the time in which I was learning to dive to do his Rescue Diver course, the next major PADI course after the Advanced. This seemed to consist mainly of him and his fellow students towing their (big) instructor around on the surface, as well as dragging / carrying him to shore and providing emergency oxygen. It looked exhausting! Kev also had to learn how to deal with panicked divers underwater, e.g. people attempting to swim rapidly to the surface, or flapping arms and legs wildly, or trying to grab his mask or regulator. While it was very physically demanding, Kev said he enjoyed the course overall and gained confidence in his ability to help others (and himself) underwater. And now I have a certified Rescue Diver to dive with!

Not sure what this is - possibly a nudibranch?

Having completed our diving courses, we wanted to spend a couple of days around Tayrona National Park, a coastal park where the beaches back onto tropical jungle. It's a large area reaching nearly as far as Taganga, and we had in fact already been diving at the edge of Tayrona (one of the options to get into the park properly from Taganga is by sea in a speedboat - 1.5 hours of bumping, Reto told us!). Diving in Tayrona is quite different to hiking though, and we wanted to experience more of the park on land.

Arrecifes Beach in Tayrona National Park, with jungle behind

There are several basic lodging options in the Tayrona Park itself, but instead we opted to stay just outside, at the Posada Seineken, a set of wooden cabins run by a friendly Colombian family. It was a good place to relax, with a lovely garden, hammocks everywhere and pets including a cat and two rabbits (I was happy)! While we were only 50m or so higher than Taganga, the climate here was quite different. Cloudier, with a few outbursts of torrential rain, and most importantly, noticeably cooler. This was a welcome change from the relentless heat and humidity of the past couple of weeks.

View of the sea through the jungle

We had a long day trip to Tayrona, the entrance to which was just 500m down the road from where we were staying, and had a great time. We hiked along well maintained paths through the jungle, with occasional glimpses of the stunningly blue Caribbean sea and gorgeous beaches. The park is very popular with Colombians and gets very crowded in high season; now is low season but it was still quite busy, especially at the beaches. We stopped at Cabo San Juan, probably the most famous beach, to have a dip in the sea and cool down from the hike.

Climbing the original steps built by the Tayrona people, in Pueblito

Another of Tayrona's highlights, other than the beaches and rainforest, is archaeological. A steep climb up a hill from Cabo San Juan takes you to Pueblito, the remains of a settlement occupied by the Tayrona culture between about 400-1500 C.E. It is mostly overgrown but you can still see terraces, platforms that were probably open air temples, and flights of stairs. The hike up here was crazy - the 'path' takes you up through a load of huge boulders, which you have to sort of scramble up, at times aided by a rope. An hour of this was quite tough! We were rewarded on the way when we saw a whole troupe of monkeys though, and Pueblito was well worth the effort too. Instead of returning to Cabo San Juan, we followed a different path and eventually came out on the main road, where we could catch a bus back to our starting point.

A large train of leafcutter ants

We are now in the colonial city of Santa Marta, adjacent to Taganga, spending a couple of days in a nicer hotel with air conditioning and a (very small) pool. Our plans include more diving and possibly a trek to Colombia's famous Lost City. But we will have to see, as Kev has injured his foot and I am ill once again due to some dodgy food...! Onwards and upwards.

Birthday on the Caribbean Coast

We left Pasto to fly up to Cartagena, a UNESCO listed colonial city on the Colombian Caribbean coast. We were going as our friends, Cindy and Julien, with whom we'd travelled in Chile and Bolivia, were going to be there having just arrived from Cuba. It was great to see them again and exchanging tales of our travels in the intervening six months. It was also my birthday and we celebrated with Indian food and craft beer, which I enjoyed a lot!

In the craft beer pub for my birthday

Cartagena was a big change on many levels - altitude, heat, people, music, etc. It was almost the first time on our trip that the climate was actually hot. We'd mostly been in the Andes along the length of the continent, and although the days could be quite warm, the evenings and nights were refreshingly cool. Now, the heat was relentless and we were glad for the air conditioning in the room.

Old and new - skyscrapers and city walls in Cartagena

The other marked differences were the ethnicity and the music being played everywhere. There's a much more racially diverse mix than we've seen in the rest of South America, and the music follows on from that. Although you still hear the same stuff as in the rest of the continent, there's more variety here with a lot of Caribbean influence. It makes a nice change!

The main fort in Cartagena

The city itself was the principal Spanish port and access point to South America in colonial times, founded in 1533. As well as exporting gold and precious metals, many slaves were brought there to work in the colony. This made a significant contribution to the diversity seen today. Now it is a beautiful city, with each narrow street making a picture postcard of flowered balconies and cobbled streets, frequently roamed by horse and carts. It is surrounded by large city walls and looked over by an impregnable castle (the British tried to invade several times and were repulsed on each occasion).

Horse and cart on a typical Cartagena street

Cartagena was linked to the interior of the continent by river to the city of Mompox. This river was neglected in the 19th century, and became silted up, which led to the decline of the latter. However, this has left a sleepy town full of streets similar to those in Cartagena, but without the crowds of people and tourists. We spent a couple of days here, adjusting to the slow pace of life and taking a boat trip through matted reed beds with heron's heads poking out of the top.

The Magdalena River in sleepy Mompox

Since Mompox we've returned to the coast to Taganga - in stark contrast to Mompox, it is a hive of backpackers and cheap diving courses.

New Year in Ecuador and on into Colombia

We were sad to leave our lovely hostel in Quito but we had decided to spend New Year in Mindo, a backpackery little town in the cloud forest. The bus from Quito took about 2 hours, winding down through beautiful scenery with tree covered slopes.

Hummingbirds around Mindo

Mindo is down at 1200m and the climate is completely different to what we've got used to recently - very humid and pretty hot during the day. The town is mostly unpaved roads and has quite an outpost, jungly feel, with cloud forest all around. This feeling was enhanced by the amazing diversity of birds (and insects!) everywhere. Most cafes and hostels have hummingbird feeders outside and we saw so many beautiful examples of this tiny bird. We'd expected Mindo to be full of backpackers, but actually it was quite a mix of people, including a lot of older tourists here for birdwatching.

Peering in at one of the very large owl butterflies (they can have a wingspan of up to 16cm!)

We arrived in Mindo mid-afternoon but still managed to fit in two activities that day - a butterfly farm, and a chocolate tour. We started with the former. You might ask, why on earth would someone with a butterfly phobia possibly want to visit a butterfly farm?
 Well, I guess I thought it might be good for me - after all, I would actually like one day not to be in mortal fear when a butterfly or moth is in my vicinity. I braved entering the big netted off section with the butterflies once, and did okay until some of the gigantic owl butterflies started flying around. After that I made do with sticking my head through the entrance and withdrawing it whenever one came near. I think it did help, a little. Exposure therapy! But my bravery diminished rapidly that evening when we were confronted with the biggest moth I have ever seen, just casually sitting on the hostel wall. That was truly something out of my worst nightmares and it took a while for me even to pluck up the courage to run past it back to our room.

Cocoa beans drying, part of the chocolate making process

Immediately after the butterfly farm we did the aforementioned chocolate tour, which felt like a reward for surviving the house of horrors. Mindo has its own chocolate company, and over the hour or so of the tour we saw all stages of the chocolate making process, from the cocoa pods on the tree, to the finished bar. We also got to sample several of their chocolate products, including the (amazing) chocolate brownies, sea salt chocolate, and liquid 100% chocolate (added sugar required!).



We spent the first of our two full days here hiking in the jungle around Casa Amarilla. This, as you might expect from the Spanish, is a yellow house, owned by a friendly local lady. She also seems to own the surrounding jungle for miles around; at least, if you pay her a small entrance fee you can spend several hours exploring the paths she's made. We think it's great that she's chosen to open the area for hikers and birdwatchers, rather than getting rid of the trees to make room for cows, or digging for oil. The circuit we did took about 3 or 4 hours and included an enchanting viewpoint, looking down on tiny Mindo surrounded by cloud forest for miles in all directions. We met a Dutch guy and chatted with him for most of the hike; maybe we were making too much noise as we failed to see many birds!

View of Mindo (in the distance) from viewpoint during our jungle hike

Our second day in Mindo was New Year's Eve. In the morning we had a go at ziplining - zooming high above the trees along cables. For $20 we got to do an hour or two's circuit of 10 different ziplines ranging from 75 - 400m in length. It was great fun! Especially trying the 'Butterfly' position - literally upside down, with your legs in the air! Absolutely terrifying, but awesome. We spent the evening hanging out with some fellow travellers, enjoying free cocktails courtesy of our hostel, and then plenty of beers outside watching the festivities in the square. It is traditional in Ecuador to make sort of large dolls, a bit like the 'guys' on Guy Fawkes' Night, and burn them in the street at midnight. Often the dolls have masks representing unpopular politicians or celebrities. There were also kids running around everywhere in masks, and the odd guy or two wearing drag (another tradition apparently)! It felt more like Halloween than New Year! Really fun though, and interesting to see another culture's completely different style of celebration.

Ziplining and the 'Butterfly'

New Year's celebrations in Mindo

We returned from Mindo to Quito on the 1st, feeling a little the worse for wear after the night before (the twisty bus ride didn't help) and spent that afternoon in our hostel recovering. We had intended to proceed to Colombia the next day, but we'd not bargained on the city we were heading to in Colombia, Pasto, being so booked up and expensive! It turns out that Pasto has its annual carnival on the days we were planning to be there. It's so popular that Colombians book up all the places to stay months in advance. The only place we could find to stay was an (expensive) AirBnB, so we ended up prolonging our stay in Quito by a day so as to just spend the one night in Pasto. We were pretty happy to have an extra day in Quito at our favourite hostel, anyway! That day we visited the Basilica del Voto Nacional, a huge neo-Gothic church, and climbed up to the top of one of the towers. The ascent began like normal stairs but ended with some quite scary vertical metal ladders! The view from the top over the historic centre was worth it though.

On our way up the Basilica in Quito

On the Sunday we finally left Kinde House for good and proceeded 5 hours north to the Colombian border by bus. The Ecuador side of the border had a horribly long queue, due to mainly to Ecuadorian citizens returning from a weekend in Colombia. Anything in Ecuador that is imported carries a huge tax. Thus a lot of locals hop across to Colombia at the weekend to buy things like electronics and toiletries there - it's so much cheaper it's worth the journey! Luckily the queue moved quickly and within an hour we were through both Ecuadorian and Colombian immigration.

The Las Lajas church in the daylight...

Our first stop in Colombia was the small village of Las Lajas, only a few km from the border. The main reason for visiting here was to see the famous church, El Santuario de Las Lajas, which is literally built across a gorge. We expected this place to be very quiet but actually it was heaving with crowds of local tourists - it's something of a pilgrimage site for Colombians, it seems. The only place to stay was a sort of convent converted into a very basic hotel and run by nuns. The room was like a cell and the bed might as well have been a rock. I'm not sure being a nun is for me... The one consolation was that it cost £5.60 for the night.

...and by night

In the evening the church was lit up with neon lighting, constantly changing colour, which we found somewhat tacky but quite amusing. We got up early the next day and had a better look in the daylight with fewer tourists. It's certainly a spectacular setting - hopefully the photos demonstrate this better than I can describe. We have now arrived in Pasto for our night in an AirBnB around 10 times the price of last night - about 10 times nicer too. Tomorrow we are flying to Cartagena, on the Caribbean coast, and excited to be meeting up with our old travelling buddies Cindy and Julien again there.