Ive hung about here in Cartegena for a cumulative month now with all the visits Ive done.
A few days ago, I rode north to Taganga again and hung out there for a while just for something different... Its not that much cheaper there than here because its a budding backpacker/tourist destination. But it was a bit different, and while I was there I decided to do a couple of scuba dives one day just for something to do (Its cheap at $30 per dive).
So, I dived and while the water clarity on the day was quite bad (just on this particular day), Id have to say that the quality of the coral was surprisingly good...
My limited experience is that pretty much anywhere that is within a couple of hours of the dive centre is not very good diving... Its just that there are divers there every day and it inevitably means that the fish get either caught and eaten or scared off... And the coral gets destroyed by boat anchors and careless divers etc.
But not yet at Taganga... They have a huge number of "brain corals" of many sizes (up to 3m across) and a wide range of colours (orange to bright green).... very pretty.
There are quite a variety of fish including Tarpon and Baracuda but there are no big manta rays or whale sharks or even reef sharks (all been fished out I think).
So, I enjoyed my dives despite the water clarity and Id recommend it to others.
And the climate there was very much as it is here ... Extremely sticky throughout the days and for most of the nights as well :)
But again, I met some nice people in the hostels and was feeling quite sociable.
But after a couple of days and some emails and phone calls, I had sorted out a boat that was leaving in just a couple of days, so today I rode back to Cartegena.
And I decided to do something that I virtually never do, and I gave a ride to another traveller all the way back here... Yes it was a girl, and yes she was very nice, but it was more to do with the fact that she was small and didnt have very much stuff that made it possible rather than any "romantic" aspirations on either of our parts :) ... and it was only a half day ride as well :)
Note: I have given short rides to quite a few people on my travels, but they are almost always local people walking along the side of the road that I pick up, and they almost always just need to get to the next town.
So, when I got back here to Cartegena, I rode out to see the captain and the yacht. And I paid him a $200 deposit to reserve my place... And thats about it... The boat will leave about mid day Thursday and Ill be "off-air" again for about five days while I sail back to Panama via the "idyllic" little sand/palm islands of the San Blass again :))
...moving North again :))
