Pic of the Week 2

Happy holidays everyone! Unfortunately we don't have a traditional Christmas photo for this year, but hopefully you will enjoy our rugged version of the holidays! It's time for our readers to vote for your favorite pic of the week. Just leave a comment on the blog, and we will announce the winner on Sunday(if we have internet). 

#1: Colombia Es Pasion, Santa Marta

#2: Cabo San Juan del Guia, Tayrona National Park

#3: Tubing Down Rio Palomino

  

#4: View of Sierra Nevada from Palomino Beach

Taganga: A Paradise Lost

Road into Taganga

The drive into Taganga looked promising; a horseshoe bay nestled into the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  It seemed that the paradise we were in search of wasn’t too much further. 

However, once we arrived, the promise quickly disappeared.  Taganga, once a sleepy fisherman’s village, has been overrun by unregulated tourism. After checking-in and dropping our bags, we set out for the beach finding that the dusty road town leads to a small, overcrowded dusty beach which is unfortunately littered with trash. 

Catch of the Day

While it still maintains some of it’s charm, with the fishermen pulling out and selling the day’s fresh catch nightly and local artisans selling their crafts, Taganga is simply put, a yawn. If you are not coming to dive, there is little else to do all day.

We were told that Playa Grande, about a 15 minute walk, is better, but we found it to be even worse. It is clear that Playa Grande could be a little piece of paradise, but it is so overcrowded with vendors, chairs for rent and tourists that there isn’t even a place to lay your sarong in the sand. The combination of tourists and lack of trash bins leaves this area even more polluted than Taganga.

Taganga Beach Sunset

Despite it's shortcomings, Taganga did have a few redeeming qualities, which kept us hanging around far too long! We found the locals to be friendly;  sharing a beer over the sunset in the bay with them was a great way to end the day. Additionally, a short hike up to El Mirador provides stunning views.  Taganga is known for it’s cheap(though not as cheap as SE Asia) PADI certification courses(though we didn’t partake).  Most importantly for us, lodging in Taganga is cheap. We originally booked a 4 bed fan room for $20,000CP for the both of us, about $10USD per night, but were upgraded to an air-con room on arrival, as a result of the fan not working, for the same price. During our time at Ocean Reef Guesthouse, we've had the room to ourselves. 

View from El Mirador(viewpoint)

Taganga has been a great place to slow down, chill out and do absolutely nothing. For us the lure of saving money in order to prepare for the expensive trip to Tayrona made Taganga well worth our stay!

If you are coming to Taganga simply to relax before heading to the long, hot hike through Tayrona, then Taganaga is the place for you! If you are expecting idyllic Caribbean beaches, then keep searching because you will find this paradise lost.  

Colectivo

**Note: we were expecting to be able to reach Tayrona via public transport from Taganga, but the only way from here is via boat for $30,000-$40,000CPP. If you are taking colectivos, you must take one back to Santa Marta($1,400CPP) , then from Santa Marta to one of the entrances of Tayrona($5,000CPP).**

Pic of the Week 1 Winner

With an overwhelming two-thirds of this week's vote, your pick for pic of the week 1 was...Pic #1: Balconitos, Cartagena. With it's vibrant colors and beautifully manicured balconitos, we could not have agreed with our voters more! This picture perfectly captured our romantic memories from Cartagena. 

Pic of the Week 1

This is our first installment in our Pic of the Week series. Every Friday we will post several pictures that we have taken over the week, and we want YOU, our readers, to choose your favorite. Leave a comment on the blog with your favorite pic name or number. The winner will be announced on Sunday evening!

#1: Balconitos, Cartagena

#2: Las Palanqueras, Cartagena

#3: Wayuu Mochilas, Cartagena

#4: Sunset from the Wall, Cartagena

#5:  Christmas Lights in Camellon de los Martires, Cartagena

#6: El Torre del Reloj, Cartagena

#7: Beach Sunset, Taganga

Love in the Time of Cartagena

Vibrant colors and balconitos

From the moment you arrive inside the old, walled city (amurallada) of Cartagena de las Indias, you will be enticed by it’s magical beauty.  We found ourselves strolling  from plaza to plaza through it’s narrow streets and alleys, enchanted by the vibrant colored colonial mansions with their beautiful, flower-covered balconitos(small balconies). It’s impossible not to fall in love with Cartagena with it’s history, charming beauty,  music and storytelling; you can’t help but feel romance in the air.

Catillo San Felipe de Barajas

The bay of Cartagena was paramount to Spanish control and influence in the Americas. In the beginning of the 17th century, it was one of only two places granted the right to be an African slave-trading center by the Spanish crown. All African slaves being brought to South America arrived and were sold here.

Walled city

During the colonial period, Cartagena was one of the ports from which the Spanish treasure fleets would move it’s riches from the Americas back to Spain. This quickly made it a target for invaders and pirates; the walls and the Castillo de San Felipe were built to improve the defense of the city. Despite being destroyed several times through war and pirate attacks, the city has been restored to maintain it’s colonial charm  and romance, which inspired Gabriel Garcia Marquez to write. Several of Marquez's works reference Cartagena

Las palanqueras

We found ourselves strolling atop the walls, through fortresses, galleries and, of course, stopping for some fruit from las palenqueras and a shot of coffee from the tinto vendors. At night we watched the sunset from “al Lado”(as the locals call it), a spot next to Café del Mar, then enjoyed a cheap meal and beer in one of the plazas with the sounds of salsa wafting through the air. Cartagena’s humidity can be smothering, but so was it’s charm!

The UN American Dream

H. Armstron Roberts/CORBIS

Despite being from two different Americas, Megan from North America and Gabe from South America, we quickly realized that both cultures value "the American Dream". From birth we are taught that you must get a good, expensive college education so you can get a great job to make a lot of money to buy the brands of the moment, and the newest car, and the biggest house in order to be happy. Of course to make this all possible, you will have to work long hours. Your weekENDS will turn into weekDAYS to pay for that expensive education that got you that great job(which you loathe) that pays for the hottest brands, and your new car(which you spend 1.5 hrs commuting to and from work in), and your great big house(which you use for showering and sleeping). You will have everything you were taught you wanted, except you will want more. Next year, there will be another hot brand, a newer car and your neighbor will buy a bigger house.

H. Armstron Roberts/CORBIS

Up until a few years ago, we both bought into "the American Dream". We received that good, expensive college education, had great jobs, those nice cars, the best brands in clothing, lived in posh apartments, but we were missing the most important thing....HAPPINESS! We both, independently, quit those jobs, sold those cars, left those apartments and moved abroad. It was after living abroad that we both realized that we do not want or need "the American Dream".


We crave the "UNamerican Dream". We don't want a great job or the hottest brands or the newest car or the biggest house; in fact, we would love to never own a car or a house if possible.If we find a great job that enables us to both work and travel, we would gladly take it. However, until then our "UNamerican dream" is to work extremely hard for several months of the year in order to save enough money so that we can travel together to places we haven't been. We will never be rich in terms of material possessions, but we will be rich in cultural experiences, world education and most importantly, in happiness and love.

Nothing beats these views...          
                                            

or these experiences...

or this love.