"The edge of the sea is a strange
and beautiful place"
Rachel Carson
This weekend we went for a weekend get-a-way to the beach. It was great to escape from school and life in the city. Taganga is a fishing village on the edge of Parque Tayrona that attracts many travelers.
After consulting our guidebooks, Elizabeth and I decided to stay at hostel called Divanga. (I love my guidebook, by the way, it has great information and so far all their picks have been wonderful) So, the hostel itself was a really nice place to hang out. It had a pool, hammocks, books (in many languages!), free wifi, and a rooftop restaurant. There are lots of hostels in Taganga. Divanga is one of the smaller ones, but it was very peaceful and we met people from all over. There were people from Argentina, France, Holland, Portugal, Israel and the US. Interestingly, even though we were in a Spanish speaking country, the common language seemed to be English.
After consulting our guidebooks, Elizabeth and I decided to stay at hostel called Divanga. (I love my guidebook, by the way, it has great information and so far all their picks have been wonderful) So, the hostel itself was a really nice place to hang out. It had a pool, hammocks, books (in many languages!), free wifi, and a rooftop restaurant. There are lots of hostels in Taganga. Divanga is one of the smaller ones, but it was very peaceful and we met people from all over. There were people from Argentina, France, Holland, Portugal, Israel and the US. Interestingly, even though we were in a Spanish speaking country, the common language seemed to be English.
Since we arrived Friday night, I was excited to see what Taganga looked like in the daylight and do some exploring. It is definitely more 3rd world looking than Barranquilla. The majority of the roads there are just dirt roads. Most of the houses are small and many are brightly colored. Lots of pretty flowers, but also garbage and stray dogs. The village has about 5,000 people and is centered around a horse-shoe bay filled with small fishing boats. We had a delicious fish dinner with arroz con coco, patacones (fried plantains) and ensalada for about 5 dollars. Yum! A local musician, Rolando Sanchez, sang a few songs about Taganga. I even bought a CD.
Taganga is rapidly transforming from a quiet fishing town to a tourist destination. It has certainly been established as a place for backpackers to go. Besides the many hostels that you can stay in, there are restaurants and internet cafes such as Mojito Net that definitely cater to travelers. While out and about we met other Americans, Canadians and a girl from Ireland. There was a lot of construction. New round-abouts were being put in that look like they will be very nice. It was funny to see all these nice new traffic circles separated by dirt roads though! I have a feeling that the town will look very different soon.
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