Remeber The Time...

Today is my last day in Taganga after 3 great weeks. Everyone else left a couple of days ago… with the exception for Gabby, who tried to leave but keeps finding reasons to stay. I’m off for Cartagena, up near Panama, for the start of the World Cup and a mud bath in a volcano before heading down to Bogota via Medellin.

I’ve been doing lots of diving here, and finished the PADI Advanced Open Water course yesterday, which included diving at night, diving to a sunken cocaine traffiking ship (I am in Columbia after all) and getting down to 30 metres where we saw incredible “fish highways” and a baracuda. I think I’ve got the fever and as well as diving in the Galapagos Islands, am thinking about diving in the Barrier Reef over Christmas and Antarctica in November… though Antarctica might be a little too crazy.

The last few weeks have been full of fun mad-capped adventures, so I thought I’d share a couple here, like…

Remember the time… we all got really drunk on rum and fruit cocktails at Parque Nacional Tayrona, went skinny dipping and Gabby lost his glasses to the sea? Sure we searched drunk and ineffective for them for a half hour, but… well, I think there is a fish wearing my thongs and his glasses somewhere having a great old time.

Or remember the time… Verena was sleeping, felt something crawling in her hair, flicked it out, got bitten by it… and then found out it was a scorpion? Ah yeah, those were good times. Gabby and I lept into action of course, catching it and getting ready to take her to the hospital. Somehow we lost Gabby on the way down to get a taxi but we made it ok. Waiting for the taxi, sitting alone on the beach in Taganga, bathed in moonlight with the stars shinning, Verena and I started laughing, realising this was the most romantic setting either of us had been in for a while… despite the fact her arm was going numb and I was sitting with a boxed scorpion. By the way, Verena ended up being fine.

Yeah, remember the time that Gabby and I went to get his new glasses (see above) adjusted at the optometrist? We were, as usual, running a little late, so the optometrist was closed but they opened up for us since the optometrist and receptionist, Cristal del Mar, are completely in love with Gabby. We ended up drinking a few beers with them and having a great time getting the plans in place for Gabby and a blushing Cristal del Mar’s wedding the following day. Odd that he’s still here isn’t it.

There have been loads of great times in the last few weeks, before that in Maracaibo and before that too, so today I look forward to many more as I finally break the spell of Taganga and hit the road.

Hasta Luego!