North coast of Colombia
From there I moved over to Columbia, with a slight apprehension due to it’s reputation – definitely undeserved from what I saw though. First stop was Santa Marta, or rather nearby Taganga, a small fishing village famous for it’s numerous diving schools. I thought I’d do a 4-day introductory course, which was fun – I hadn’t ever dived before, and did enjoy it, although it’s not something I’d feel a need to do again urgently. Great fun though was the visit to the Parque Nacional Tayrona, which in Colombia is known for it’s beaches – I stayed three days in total, and amongst other important things learnt how to make “Cafe a la guerrillera” – the ingredients are a few bits of dry firewood, a pan, some water, a packet of coffee powder and some sugar – light the fire, boil the water, add first the coffee then the sugar and presto, a strong coffee with a distinct burnt wood flavour which I thoroughly enjoyed, especially as a relief from a solid rice diet.