Taganga and Tayrona National Park, Colombia

We took a 4 hour ride from Cartagena to a small fishing town called Taganga. The drive in is reminiscent of the drive to Stinson, and the town is not much different. Great town with a small beach, we stayed for a few nights at a hostel right on the water. We had the first floor room with a great view, and bars on the deck to keep someone from coming in from the beach. The guy at the front desk told me not to leave anything on the deck, for good reason, as someone managed to steal two tshirts off my clothesline that night, about 5 feet through the bars. I'm okay with it, I had too many anyway and the person must have really liked them to go though the effort of getting a stick and pulling it off the line and through the bars. I'm not even mad, that's amazing. The prize of our Colombian trip awaited us in Tayrona National Park and after a few days in Taganga we were ready to make the venture.

There are a few ways to get to Tayrona, and we elected to take the boat in along the coastsince the seas appeared to be calm. Apparently they are always calm since Taganga is in a protected bay. It was quite an adventure, as the seas were angry that day my friends. We got wet but made it in about an hour, and pulled into the beach stunned at how much it looked like Jurassic Park. Lush and green with huge boulders lining the coast, Tayrona is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. For reals. We swam and climbed the rocks, then spent the night in hammocks under the shelter. We managed to sneak in a bottle of rum, and some ipod speakers and had a great time.

Our time in Colombia is coming to an end. We are flying back to Bogota tomorrow, then off to Cuzco, Peru on Friday to begin Machu Picchu. Its been a month in, the beards are thick and the adventure is getting thicker. The pace is about to pick up as we are going on the move much more. I am debating what to do with the beard, whether to 1) Keep it going 2) Shave it to a 'stache 3) Something crazy. Let's hear the votes. Next stop, PERU!!