So after deciding we couldn't endure anymore sandfly bites we left Costeño and headed for Taganga, a small fishing village near Santa Marta best known on the Gringo trail for its cheap Padi diving courses.
Still feeling under the weather we arrived and booked in for a scuba course to start after a day or two of chilling out in the hostel.
Unfortunately during this time Halifax managed to suspend our credit card account so that we couldn't get any cash out, Barclays blocked our debit cards even though we had told them we were going abroad and the one-and-only cash machine in the village was out of money. This was one thing to deal with when we were at the hostel with mobile phone and wifi reception but not so fun when we found out about it in the middle of Exito (supermarket) in Santa Marta.
Some quick thinking saw us go to a nearby hostel which we had stayed at before and somehow we managed to negotiate with them to organise a taxi back to Taganga for us which our hostel agreed to pay for! Anyway after quite a lot of stress, some angry phone calls and tweets to Halifax and Barclays and two days of eating oreos for breakfast, lunch and dinner we managed to get things sorted - many thanks go to Mike's dad for all his help.
Onto the diving - the reason we were in Taganga in the first place. After a morning of watching four hours worth of videos - after which we wanted to poke our eyes out, we got into the pool to start our skills training.
Unfortunately Mike didn't like the sensation of the Scuba so I carried on alone.
I managed two open water dives at 12 metres. The water was quite murky so I couldn't see that much but it was cool nonetheless. I started to freak out when I realised I couldn't see what was beside me, behind me or above me which put me off the 18m dives the next day. That, and the homework we had to do to prepare for the deeper dives and the exam which involved maths - needless to say I needed more than one night to prepare for it. The guys at Poseidon dive centre were really good though, giving me my scuba diver certification and refunding me the extra I had already paid. I can go on and finish the course within the next 12 months too if I want to get the full Padi qualification.
After the diving we got ready to leave. As we hadn't eaten properly for two days we treated ourselves to a three course meal at Babaganoush, a restaurant/bar set on the hill in Taganga with beautiful views of the sea.
We enjoyed a cocktail or two (happy hour) and watched the sunset as well as a group of dolphins playing in the sea. It was the perfect end to a not-so-perfect week. Or so we thought. Due to get the night bus to San Gil that night the heaven's opened and all transport in and out of Taganga was at a standstill.
Luckily we were able to find a last minute hostel to check into before getting up early to get the bus the next morning.
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