taganga is an unpretty little fishing village on colombias northern caribbean coast with a medioca beach which is trying really, really hard to be a decent tourist destination. 5 kilometres north of santa marta, popular with colombians, and backpackers. i think its got a fair way to go, part of the town will always be a dodgy fishing village. after a while heres ive noticed this place does have a small amount of appeal, but its not immediately evident. and really its only from dusk onwards, when the cool breeze comes down from the mountains.

I've spent just over a week here now, and from monday to friday I've been doing "remote" work for bulletproof as part of an agreement i made before i left. the remote work is very doable - but its still hard to be stuck at the laptop whilst alll the other travelers head off every morning to go diving, or to the beaches, or trekking, or the national park.

the diving here has been fantastic. ive completed my PADI Advanced certification last weekend, and i booked two additional fun dives for today (sunday).

the first one was in very rough water, but underneath it all, sublime. went through a tunnel formation. got mixed up in some pretty ~interesting~ currents. saw my first octopus. a goreous pair of angelfish who came and investigated each diver before swimming off. and saw the biggest black spotted moray ive ever seen. oh and my dive buddy vomited underwater. too many drinks the night before. very amusing. the exit from the water back up onto the boat was very rough - the roughest i've ever done, we were only 10 metres or so offshore, with some big waves coming in rocking the small boat in all directions. had to take off all the gear in the water, have that lifted in seperatley, and then haul your body onto the boat without getting done over by the next wave.

second dive was great as well. not as many fish but a couple of interesting encounters. we saw another big octopus, would have been perfectly camouflaged except for all the discarded shells around the rock - it's quite the giveaway. I also got a tiny bit entagled in a fishmans net which was a lot bigger than what i first realised, my DM helped me out of that one. also had a strange & wonderful encounter with a small fish, no bigger than a couple of thumbs. my DM got him riled up a little bit, then he proceeded to follow us around and charge or headbut our forehead and masks - really quite incredible, this tiny tiny little fish ready to take on the human intruder, he'd dart towards you kamikhazi-style, sometimes turning away at the last minute, and sometimes landing its punches using its gums & mouth which were actually quite hard. well not enough to hurt but noticeable & and very cute.

i've uploaded some new pictures into the colombia folder

also just uplaoded - my first set of shots underwater. mostly just experimenting with light and contrast, and some of the cool things you can do when you're neutrally boyant.

the water here was 28 degrees - quite cold enough for the caribbean. and thats my last caribbean dive as well. the next one will be somewhere in the pacific ocean.