LOCOMBIA!!
Ha, just kidding, but I had read that Colombia is sometimes called that, so I felt the need to share
Anyway, we are here, we made it, and I love it so far! We flew into Cartagena, a colonial coastal city that is beautiful. The entire city is walled in by these old fortress walls, and the buildings are all sorts of different colors with balconies and beautiful flowery plants trailing all over the place. Unfortunately, we were only there on Sunday when the entire city shuts down, so it had a bit of a creepy feel to it (only the weird people and few tourists were wandering around) We stayed in a slightly ghetto but sufficient hotel called Hotel Holyday (yes, spelled that way), and at first I was dismayed to realize that the shower was literally cold water pouring out of a garden hose. However, after our first five minutes in the scorching heat of the Caribbean Coast, I realized that the ice water felt wonderful and the garden hose just made the cooling effect more immediate…not too shabby!
We left Cartagena yesterday and traveled four hours to a tiny little fishing village called Targanga. At first, we were slightly disappointed because we had been shown pictures that depicted the town as this cute little beach town surrounded by jungle-covered hills, and that isn`t the case. The beach and cute little town are there, but apparently (according to a man we bought stuff from) Targanga hasn`t had rain in a year, so the hills are fried and dry….kinda reminds us all of what Colorado would look like if it were on the beach. We are staying at a really nice hostel called La Casa de Felipe, and the place is beautiful. It is enclosed with courtyards and hammocks scattered everywhere, and tropical plants and flowering bushes are around every corner. The town is safe and a lot of fun, and we spent an hour on the beach today doing “tan camp” as we like to call it. Unfortunately, the boys felt that sunscreen wasn`t imperative so they got a little burned,(I think Aaron is the worst, but I can`t say that!) and I even managed to pull in some pinkness through my SPF 30….good thing we only stayed for an hour!!
Turns out Targanga is one of the cheapest places in the world to get Scuba certified, so of course, we decided to take them up on the offer. Aaron is going to get his Open Water Certification, and Steve and I are going to do our Advanced, the certification after Open Water (we got ours in Ecuador). At $190, it is a good deal, and now Steve and I will be able to dive to 30 meters AND go shipwreck diving, which is something that I have always wanted to do. I am a little nervous about the deep dive, which should be around 100 feet, just cause they say that is when your chances of nitrogen narcosis are increased, but I think we only have to do it once to get the certification. I have no desire to use my scuba skills for deep diving, unless it means getting to some wreck, but I have heard about some people that go super deep just cause that is how they get their diving kicks…..not me!! I want to stay in warm, blue water, see some pretty fish, maybe kick around a few ships or car wrecks, and maybe do some underwater photography. How sweet does that sound?
Speaking of pictures, I will try to put some up when I can. We didn`t take too many in Cartagena because we are trying to be extra vigilant and cautious about carrying around valuables, and the internet in Targanga (yes, the entire town) is down, so I wasn`t able to upload any at the hostel. When I have them, you can see them!
0 评论: