Taganga

[Cali vet]

We went up to the north coast to a little fishing village called Taganga. Flew Cali to Bogota, Bogota Santa Marta. Taganga is fifteen minutes from the much larger Santa Marta which with nearby Rodadero is a major Colombian tourist attraction. Taganga's big draw is that there are numerous outfits there that offer full PADI scuba certification courses for $150. Another is cheap lodging on the beach in places like Casa Blanca where our room with balcony overlooking the bay cost less than $11 for the two of us. Quite comfortable. The hotel is more hostel style with a kitchen guests can use to keep costs down. Because of these prices the village draws a lot of backpacker foreign visitors though very few from the US. We were surprised to find our hotel had about twenty from Isreal. Mostly young guys discharged from the army and some girls. They, the staff told us never ever tip and argue every peso as well as leaving the rooms a wreck. Looking through the register I saw that Isrealis are the most common visitors followed by German and Swiss but most European countries were represented. In addition to the Isrealis there were a couple of young German girls who were traveling around Colombia. Unfortunately the ocean fronting the village has a fair amount of trash floating in it and after one swim I lost interest. We went the next day with a scuba party in launch to a more secluded spot and spent the day snorkling in clean, clear water. I still can't get my wife to swim over her head even with swim fins. She can do it perfectly well but panics when it starts to look deep.

Because we didn't want to swim in front of the hotel we cut our stay short and went over to Rodadero for a day and a night. It is the opposite of Taganga being completely commercial and attracting wealthy Colombian tourists. Every twenty paces you're accosted by a street touts insistently offering you a hotel or condominium. They get a commision of course if they can drag you in to the registration counter. I hate the place. The only good thing it has is a serious aquarium in top notch condition containing many of the species of sea life that inhabit that part of the Caribbean.

Yesterday we returned to Cali and I spoke with my American friend who was kidnapped and dopped. He sounded his old self, no longer afraid of his own shadow and having recovered much more of his memeory.

[Red Clay]

... in response to Taganga, posted by Cali vet on Jun 9, 2003

Glad to hear he is doing better.

[cancunhound]

... in response to Taganga, posted by Cali vet on Jun 9, 2003

I was up there last fall - I really liked the area around Santa Marta.  I asked my wife if the choice is between San Andres or Santa Marta which would she prefer to visit again - answer Santa Marta.  There are some nice beaches very accessible via boats that operate out of the main Santa Marta tourist pier (that's what they call it - you can barely walk on it!) and Parque Tayrona is a 45 minute van ride.  Some fantastic beaches there where you can kill a day and have fresh fish prepared for your lunch.  We stayed at the Decameron south of Rodadero - nice A/I hotel with nightly activities - This is one of the cheapest package destinations out of Cali with the Decameron chain - it's a real bargain and makes for a great 3-4 night trip away from Cali.  I was the only gringo there, the rest were Colombians - no Europeans.  For just a little over $300 US for 2 people will get you airfare , 3 nights all food and drink - can't beat that.  My only complaint was there was no 24 hour bar!  Note that the beach there is not outstanding (that goes for all of Santa Marta - you have to go north towards Tayrona as Cali Vet did).  Here is a good link that describes the A/I options out of Cali:

http://www.suntravel.com.co/planes/nacio_plan.htm

Cali vet, did you happen to notice the older white hotel in the main Rodadero drag with the big holes in it?    That bombing occured when I was in Santa Marta last fall!  Supposedly, that was a rarity because Santa Marta and the surrounding area is considered very safe.

[Cali vet]

... in response to Re: Taganga, posted by cancunhound on Jun 9, 2003

Cancunhound, wow no I didn't notice the bombed building but that town sure is an ideal target if you're after moneyed Colombians.

[cancunhound]

... in response to Re: Re: Taganga, posted by Cali vet on Jun 9, 2003

Yeah, ironically this was an older "budget" type hotel.  At around 8:30 one night we were
setting up our spot on the beach for the nightly show
when we heard the "big bang" in the distance - didn't think
anything about it until we heard the news and saw the
damage the next day. The hotel Santamar in Rodadero,
visible from the main drag, is(was) an older budget
hotel, without the typical 24 hour guarded security.
It had a hole ripped through what appeared to be the
entire third floor, probably set off by a bomb placed
in a room. It looked like Beirut. This was quite a
shock in Santa Marta because apparently nothing like
that had happened there before. The security at our
hotel was immediately doubled afterwards. What was
odd to me was there appeared to be no political or financially motivated targets.  I believe the dead were just an old retired couple from Bogota.

[burbuja2]

... in response to Taganga, posted by Cali vet on Jun 9, 2003

Is the friend who was kidnapped the same friend who was thrown in the slammer a few months ago?

[Cali vet]

... in response to About Your Friends..., posted by burbuja2 on Jun 9, 2003

No the friend in the carcel is Dutch the kidnapped is gringo.