colombia!

Describing Colombia isn’t easy. You have cities like Cartagena with dilapidated Spanish architecture in bright hues of yellow, blue, orange and red….looks kind of like a bigger version of Havana, Cuba. Then you’ve got places like Playa Blanca or Park Tayrona, with breathtaking clear beaches, swaying palm trees, and easy going people who prefer hammocks to chairs, and say hello to everyone who passes them by.

playa blanca has spectacular sunsets, nightly.



And then there’s the little places in between like Taganga, a small fishing village outside of Santa Marta, where we ended up staying for 3 weeks. I can’t begin to count the number of characters I’ve met here. The scuba diving instructors, other travelers, musicians on the beach, jewelry makers, children, older folks, …everyone. All special in their own way. All playing a small part in why this place is such a paradise. I was even offered a job waiting tables at the best baguette shop in town. I was told I’d pull in about 1700 pesos an hour. Exchange rate is currently 2240 for 1 US dollar. No tips. I seriously considered it, and might take him up on it if he includes lodging. I eat on $5 US dollar a day here, and as a traveler spend about $7 per night for my room. The people are poor, but with their way of life makes it difficult to tell. They find time drink good rum, listen to music, dance, play, joke, make friends. There’s nothing but time in a place like this.















Taganga deserves its own photography book, and novel, but for now I’ll share these images. As far as favorite places, its in my top 3 right now. Beautiful place, beautiful people.







After getting certified to scuba dive in Taganga, we headed off for a 6 day trek to Ciudad Perdidia (Lost City). This is a city that is believed dates back to the 14th century, indigenous people. The hike was intense. All jungle. 3000 meters up in the mountains of Colombia. The trek was such that there was mountain on one side, a cliff, and a river way down below. One bad slip, and its your life. My friend Jess and I actually got lost by the river on our 4rd day. The path split into two, and we chose the wrong one. After crossing the river like 5 times, trying to look for where we thought a path would be, it started to get dark. The rocks we had to scale to advance up the river were getting larger, and soon there were not paths at all. Just jungle. We frantically tried to cross the river again, and somewhere in that last run, we both realized we’d be spending the night out in the jungle, alone, with no food, until someone could find us. We’d seen spiders the size of dinner plates on the rocks all day, and heard sounds of animals out in the wild. Tonight we were going to meet them.



Luckily enough, just after it got dark, our cries for help were received, and our guide came slashing through the trees with his machete, and led us out of there. Turns out, there were 2 main rivers not just one. We went to the wrong one, hence the rocks were huge and there was no path, and crossing the river meant walking through water that came above our waists. Lesson learned.





Finally arriving to the city made it all worthwhile too. Before you can reach the city, you have to climb up 2600 or so steps, which took me about an hour. Once you get to the top, you’re first taken by the view. A king of the jungle type of view, were you’re 4000 meters high, waterfall to your right, and layers and layers of mountains and jungle all around you.





The city itself is a series of pueblitos made of stone, built into the mountainside. Steps were constructed to connect them all together, but unfortunately, most of it is overgrown with jungle., so its unexplorable. If you walk around with a machete, and just start chopping, you can still find shacks, tools, and pottery. I even explored a bit on my own down some dangerously narrow steps, and found more bits of the city, hidden under the jungle.