Taganga and Palomino

After Bogotá, I flew to Santa Marta on the Tuesday afternoon with the goal of reaching the little village of Palomino on the Caribbean cost where Luis's mum had offered to host me on the Wednesday night. Before that I had to find a place to spend my first night in the Caribbean and Santa Marta didn't seem like the best place as it is really hot and has an extensively built coast line. So just off the plane I found a taxi to take me to the little fishing village of Taganga which is set in a bay at about 10km of Santa Marta. The taxi was driving crazily through the mad traffic of motos, pedestrians and bussetas all to the rythm of reggaeton which was blasting at full power through the streets. The ride was lovely with the sun setting over the mountains of the Sierra Nevada. Arriving around Taganga I started to have an idea of what the Caribbean coast could offer.

Taganga

 At first sight Taganga looked like a really nice place with a lot of life and a beautiful beach. With the help of a local guy, I quickly found a nice hostel with a pool and a sound system. There there was a lot of young folks chilling by the pool. I engaged into a Frisbee game with two of them, but after 15 minutes I still couldn't make out what language they were speaking. Finally we ended up sitting down and they explained to me that they were all Israeli who had just finished military service. All this crowd was just there to take it easy around the pool and consume the local products, mainly weed and cocaine. Walking around the beach at night all I could see was bars night clubs and foreigners. It turned out that the little fishing village had transformed into a sort of Ibiza of the Caribbean. This was not was I was looking for for my trip in Colombia.

Fishing Boats in Taganga

The next day I headed fairly early to Palomino where I had to meet with Luis's mother Zoraida. The journey there was amazing passing through the hurt of Tayrona national park and seeing some of its pristine palm tree planted beaches. The bus dropped me in Palomino which is a kind of "on the road town" where truckers would stop to get food and refill their vehicles. There I met with a German guy called Yannick and we started walking toward the beach. After half an hour on foot we reached the beach. I instantly understood that it would be hard to leave this place. The beach was amazing and not crowded, little shacks were selling cold fruit juices and cocktails. After a limonade and refreshing swim in the sea (that is fairly crazy over there with waves and strong currents) we decided to go for a walk to the mouth of the river Palomino.

Palomino river going into the sea

This place was amazing. Being able to swim in the river with the sound of crashing waves and a view on the jungle was breathtaking. Finally around five Zoraida and Anna, a friend of hers arrived. Zoraida greeted me with a massive smile and started the discussion straight away making me feeling nearly at ease with my bad Spanish. We kept on talking there between the river and the sea till the sun started to set and had a beautiful walk back to the village stopping every ten meters to take a photo.

Waslking back at sunset

Back to the main beach we met with some of Zoraida's family that were playing percussion.
Then we got back to the house and Zoraida presented me to the rest of the family and showed me my "cuarto" which was my room.

Home!

From them on I was sort of part of the family, being able to do my own thing during the day and passing by for a game of card or dominoes.

Mouth of the river San Salvador

During my time in Palomino I really felt at home. Boris one of Luis's cousin advised me on good walks in the jungle and introduced me to the indigenous culture. I witnessed a recording of vallenato, the local music, to the sound of falling mangoes on the metal roof. And enjoyed chilling out in the warm water of the river for hours. I also met a bunch of cool travellers with whom I had nice time on the beach.

The river Palomino

For two days over there I have been a bit ill, due to a combination of bad food and dehydration (the ttap water is not drinkable and I didn´t had the reflex to buy water). So I just took it easy in order to get ready for the next adventures.

I am really greatful to Zoraida and the rest of the family who made my stay at Palomino a real vacation and helped me a lot with my spanish.
After the Saturday night party I headed to wild wild east: the Guajira desert.