Costa Azul Beach Hotel Santa Marta

Day 2: Santa Marta<br><br>Day numero dos was filled with ups and downs...literally. The worst day so far. Ok, well seeing as how it was only the second day it really doesn't say a lot, but the seas were SO bad and rocky and the wind was blowing at about 25 knots. (5 knots is a typical day when you walk out your front door) We were the last boat to leave Punta and it was perfect conditions so Jamie asked me if I wanted to steer the boat. I was a ...

... skills needed before hitting the sea. On the Monday afternoon the lads head out for the first two dives in the sea. The max depth on the first day was 12 metres, Steve seemed to be having a little trouble in the first day, he was like a yo-yo in the water, couldn't say up or down. On day two we went to 18 metres, day two was a bit more enjoyable for all. <br><br>We completed our written examination on Wednesday after two fun dives. Meanwhile back at the ranch while the two ...

The National Natural Park Tayrona is one of those tropical paradises idealized in books and films. Its white beaches right next to the exuberant jungle make of it one of the most<br>visited Natural Parks in Colombia.By leaving the beaches, the visitor enters a complex system of stone paved paths which connect a whole network of indigenous settlements from ...

... under my hammock, feasting on the food. In the morning we have yet more insect bites, and the weather has turned bad, so we beat a hasty retreat back through the jungle to the bus.<br>The police are very keen on searching busses here - in the 1 hour bus trip, we are stopped twice and everyone herded off the bus for the cops to search under the seats. They also pat down a few dodgy looking passengers. Luckily Bevans beard doesnt seem to put him in the dodgy-looking category.<br>

... br>So the five of us that survived the previous evening set off in the afternoon for Playa Brava in the park. This involved wandering around for half an hour to find the bus stop, riding on the bus for an hour to get to a little town just outside of the national park (meaning we could get in without paying the entry fees) and then walking for three hours to get to our intended destination. <br>It was hot, it was humid, we were hungover, it was ...

... the hotel for us and they told us that we would get an email from the company that books this hotel (Aviatur). Days later, still no email. I had a friend of mine call Aviatur directly and he was able to book 3 nights for us. Next time we called to confirm they said they only had 2 nights reserved. We added another night after several more emails (I now had someone's personal email address). Our transportation from the airport to EcoHabs was reserved ...

... seemed to be on the breakfast menu. We discussed our options for the day. The draw of going to the Tyronna national park was foremost on our minds. Christie had discussed a price with Jose, the tour operator who comes here. The decision was whether or we should stay overnight, or just try and do a day trip. We decided that we would only do a day trip and head south tomorrow. I was eager to move onto Ecuador, earlier than planned but I was not in a hurry to ...

... picked up some passengers from hotels in the tourist beach area of Cartagena which gave Jody and me another last chance to scan the roadside for where our beloved football had gone missing. Of course there was no chance we would see it but as Jody had repeated my words of a previous time, &#8220;never give up&#8221;.<br><br>It took the Collectivo a good 30minutes to eventually leave Cartagena. It was not clear why, we had a full load but had gone around the same loop in the ...

... with coke until bed time. <br><br>Borko and I happened to get the more expensive sleeping arrangement in a cabaña on top of several boulders. We slept in hammocks up there without any protection from the wind and water. And as hot as it was earlier, it got really cold at night. Borko was sleeping in the hammock next to mine and when I looked over in the middle of the night to see if he was suffering from the cold too, he was fully ...