Sanyu's World

Out of Taganga

Spent the last week working from morning til night at the dive shop. I commandeered their computers and racked my brain for long lost HTML knowledge. It was boring, pedantic work but still made me homesick for my old computer saturated life. I thought I'd have lots of time to complete the site but every night around 6pm I'd hear a familiar call 'Sanyu, want to go diving tomorrow?'. I couldn't resist the opportunity to go out diving and even better I got paid for it. Not much, mind but pretty cool!

On the Sunday before, I'd had the opportunity to go with the dive shop on a dive to a cavern about an hour and half away by boat. Everyone wanted to go so we headed out early in two boats eager to check out the site. It turned out to be somewhat of a disaster for me. Everyone was so excited that all protocol went out the window. Nena gave a ludicrously short dive briefing and told everyone to hurry up and get in because the water was really choppy. We had 1 captain, 2 instructors, and 3 divemasters on our boat. they all geared up quickly and hopped into the water and immediately submerged leaving me to help 3 of the 4 paying tourists with their gear. Nene surfaced after a few minutes and yelled for me to hurry up. Fuckin Nene. I was rushing around so much I tossed the last tourist in without checking that his air was on!

I jumped in, turned the guy's air on and immediately started to descend to the group where I found them stressing out that one of the divers was missing. I'm practically in a panic at this point and it showed in my air consumption. I was sucking the stuff down like their was no tomorrow. We got to the cave but I didn't know that we were taking turns with lamp (Dive briefing, hello!) and just charged in in the dark. Pretty scary I'll tell you. By the time I found my way out of the cave I was breathing fumes and had to ascend breathing from Lily's air source like a rookie. All back in the boat, we headed to a beautiful beach called Playa Cristal for our break. I had a few words with Lily and Rosa on helping me help the divers get suited up and leaned back to relax. The next dive was much more relaxed and we saw some beautiful corals but about 30 minutes into the dive Nene called me over and asked me to surface with the guy he was accompanying. You can't really argue underwater and I am the most junior member of the team so I said OK and went up only to hear Max ribbing me 'No air again, Sanyu?'. Arrrrrggggh. I sucked it up hard. Fucking Nene!

My last night in Taganga was spent out with the girls that work at my hostel, Casa de Felipe, Laia with whom I went on the Lost City Trek and a few other travelers. I was tired before we left but after a shower and a little rum and coke I was good to go. They played hours and hours of reggaeton and we danced til my feet hurt. Leaving Taganga was hard so I was lucky to be accompanied by a cool German girl I'd met the day before. After a five hour bus trip we hopped in a cab and directed him to our hostel in the old city. We caught a bite to eat and went to bed to catch up on some sleep. My first full day in Cartegena was absolutely horrid. I ran around from Bank to Bank trying to find someone who would let me access money in my account. I can still use my bank card but I need a large sum of money to take with me to Cuba. A friend of mine was able to do it a few weeks ago but it was a pain in the neck. We I had no luck and finally sucked it up around noon and tried to get in contact with my brother, Edward, to try and wire me money. But with Hurricane Ernesto getting ready to bear down on Cuba and the Florida Keys, there's a good chance I won't even leave tomorrow so all this stress will be for naught. The worst part was just that the old city in Cartegena is so phenomenally gorgeous and I had no time to really appreciate it. At least I'll get to see it on my way back (more on that later)!

Ciudad Perdida

Saturday, August 12, 2006. The day my right index toenail fell off. Not a very auspicious omen for my trek to the lost city but I steeled myself and got on with packing up my knapsack. I'd spent the last two days holed up in front of computers trying to update the dive center's website. In some ways I do missing being holed up in a cube programming for hours on end. That's the geek in me, I suppose. My last night in a real bed in a real room with a real fan for six days. I should have savored it more. Woke up early enough to order breakfast at the hostel before getting picked up in a big open air jeep. We stopped at a few more hotels to pick people up before I really noticed all the Hebrew chatter. Ten Israelis and me. I started to panic. We were waiting on the beach road for 2 more trekkers when I rushed over to Fanny who works in the tour office and made her swear that she had not booked me on a trek with only Israelis. When you meet Israeli travelers on their own, you find out that they are some of the nicest people in the world but in groups they simply ignore you and unless you can speak Hebrew you simply can't break in. Six days of being ostracized wasn't sounding that great to me.

We were joined by two Spanish girls and a Belgian/Peruvian couple when we reached Santa Marta. We headed out on our two hour car journey to then small town where we would start our trek. A short break and then it began. The first 30 minutes were quite leisurely until we we came to our first big uphill. It was rough but we took it slow and steady and made it to the top in under an hour and then it was another two hours of walking before we reached our first camp. Our two mules went on ahead so that they were already at the camp when we arrived and we didn't have to wait so long for dinner to be prepared as it was starting to get dark. the food was surprisingly good and there was much more food than we could have possibly tried to eat. I headed off to find a hammock as far away from the common area as possible as the Israelis had started up on the guitar playing and singing Hebrew songs. To be honest, they were quite good. Up with the dawn on day two and rolled out of my hammock to find fresh coffee and hot chocolate brewing. Eggs and lots of bread for breakfast before we were sent off on a tour of a cocaine factory. A bit of a misnomer. It was really just a little open cement pit with lots of plastic drums and bags of chemicals. We each paid out $8 and a guide walked us through the whole process which while time consuming required the most basic of ingredients and catalysts. Salt, calcium, gasoline, sulfuric acid and lots of manual processing takes a kilogram of coca leaves and turns it into a single gram of cocaine.

When we returned, everything had been packed up and we were ready to head out to the next camp. We passed lots of green mountains as we followed the well trodden path. We walked at quite a relaxed pace but for the last portion I sprinted ahead with Juan Carlos and an Israeli guy named Shauli and made it to camp a full 30 minutes before the rest. After a nice refreshingly cold shower, however, I started to feel quite bad. My stomach hadn't been great the day before but it had definitely gotten worse. I asked for my hammock to be strung up early and tried to sleep it off but it just got worse and worse. I wasn't even well enough to eat dinner. Thank heavens I'd brought a few Cipros along in my emergency kit. I popped one and tried to tune out the guitar playing into the night. Day 3. No eggs for me thanks, just bread. I felt better than the night before but still not great but at least my ailments didn't bother me too much while I was trekking. We forged up a long uphill section before heading down to a fast flowing river that we had to cross eight times. It was slow going as we were each helped across the more difficult bits but a hell of a lot of fun. We stopped to have a quick lunch of sandwiches before tackling the 1200 stone stairs up to the lost city. It was tough going but the ethereal feeling you got when you reach the top and saw the lost city terraces in the mist was well worth it. We relaxed up there waiting for everyone to make it up to the top before heading to the near by camp. No hammocks this night, instead we were given thin mattresses on the floor of a three story hut. Rodrigo, our guide, snuck me into a really good location and I hit the hay. I was woken up for dinner and force fed myself a little rice to wash down another Cipro pill before heading back to my little bunk. It had started raining quite hard and even the Israelis were tired of staying up late so I finally had a nice quite restful night.

I woke up feeling better, finally, and we headed out to after breakfast for a walk around the lost city. It's mostly large terraces and stone platforms which have been designed incredibly well. Well enough to last through the ages. Back to camp for lunch and then trekking  and then back down the 1200 steps to retrace our steps cross river eight more times. After a bout 30 more minutes of backtracking we split up into two groups. All Israelis except for Shauli continued on retracing their steps back to where we had started while hit a new trail which was the original route. We were greeted with a steep uphill which had gotten slippery from the light showers sprinkling down on the foliage. We had to fight our way up the hill using our hands, knees, and any root or branch we could use for leverage. Once up it was a beautiful walk along a more well formed trail and then a small uphill before reaching our camp at Altamira. a family mans the outpost there and was very friendly and welcoming and telling us about how few people come though this route these days. As there were so few of us we didn't feel so bad making a few special requests for dinner:) It got dark quickly and we headed off to our beds which were infested with mosquitoes. Our mosquito nets only trapped them in nice and close to us. I tucked into my sleep sheet and hid my head as best as I could while Juan Carlos made a fire in the middle of the room to try and smoke them out. When I woke the next morning  I found that the mosquitoes had made mincemeat out of my knees which must have been poking out just a smidgen.

Day 5. My bed happened to be facing east and I was woken up by a gorgeous multi-pastel colored sky. Slept a bit more and then headed down to a the main cabin for a long relaxing breakfast. We didn't leave until 9am as we only had about 4 hours of walking to Little Cartegena. Definitely the easiest and possibly the most beautiful day scenery wise. The downhills were horribly scary though and I turned my ankle a fair few times.We made it up the last hill by 2pm but the Belgian/Peruvian couple were over 2 hours behind us and got stuck stuck in a terrible rainfall. Our camp that night was the nicest by far of the trek. Real beds in a solid wooden structure. We thought we were having chicken for dinner but it was a some other type of bird (pictured here) which had a very very chewy consistency. We had a long time to wait before dinner was ready so Shauli taught us to play an Israeli card game called Yannif. I impressed everyone with my spectacular Yannif skills and had to fess up that I'd been trained in Brazil by some friends (Thanks Bob and Dee!)

The final day, I couldn't believe it. Time passes so quickly in Taganga but this trek has really taxed me. Up early, of course, and popped my daily pain killer (just a little Tylenol/Paracetamol) to get my joints moving. We headed out super early to make it to our destination by noon. We took the first past slowly walking all together behind Rodrigo but the Belgian/Peruvian couple were taking forever so Rodrigo hung behind while to wait for them while we kept on keeping on.  Shouli and Juan Carlos took off at a fast clip and I headed out behind them with the two Spanish girls not too far behind as we tackled a killer one and and half hour uphill and then another hour of light ups and downs past waterfalls and more amazing Columbian mountainous landscape. I saw a small house peeking out of the top of the hill but I could not believe my feeling of shock when I saw the bright red jeep waiting for us. The same feeling I remember when having in the theatre when I saw the jeep pull up in the M. Night shylaman movie the Village. It had been so long since I'd seen anything remotely modern. We had to wait 3 HOURS for the Belgian/Peruvian couple to finally finish so we sat around and tried to kill the time as best as we could. A group of Guerrilla passed though our area and stopped to chat with us and let us take their picture. They were really nice cool guys, kids really. And quite cute to boot!

As we were leaving an intense rain storm started up and the air turned very cold. The Jeep kept getting stuck in the mud and we stayed very quiet in the back with fingers crossed that they wouldn't ask us to get out of the car so they could maneuver it more easily. We finally made it out and headed down the hill back to civilization. Before heading home I stopped at the dive shop, my home away from home, with one of the Spanish girls so she could check on starting a course the next day. While I was away it seems that Max has found me another job doing a website for one of the swanky hotels here in town where I could get free room and board (and air conditioning!) while I work on it. So he's upped the ante. Will Sanyu ever make it out of Taganga? Stay tuned?

The Taganga Trap

I spent three long days helping out Gerd with his Open Water Course which included a German family of four and a Canadian guy. I've never gone on a group with that many people and it was tough but a great learning experience.We finished on Saturday and I was super excited to finally go out on the town. Finally. Drinking, late nights and early morning diving simply don't mix. Max gave me a ride to the shopping mall in Santa Marta where I was dumbfounded to find the huge grocery store liquor aisle completely barricaded off with a note saying that liquor could not be purchased until Tuesday. What? I found out later that the reason was that the new President was finally getting sworn in and like at election time, booze buying is off limits. They actually have a Spanish word for these temporary alcohol bans. I was fine with the ban until I finally realized that the bars and clubs would be closed as well. No big night out for me. You could still buy beer from the small stores around Taganga but it just wasn't the same.

Pushed out the date to go to Park Tayrona yet another day so that I could go on the wreck dive on Monday. Winnie is at her wits end waiting for me but it's not my fault she doesn't want to go there alone. We headed to the wreck at 6am I had my best dive of the past month. I'd been hanging around with the two other guys and they were very skilled divers. I didn't have to watch or check on them, just relax and and have a good time. The wreck was all covered in seaweed and clams and didn't look that impressive when we swam around it but when we came up a little higher and the mast and cabin rooms became visible I was seriously impressed. It felt like being in an eerie movie, just waiting for the ghost or monster or whatever to pop out. Back in the boat we sped back to the dive shop to pickup the regular morning divers so they could head out. Yoomi, the other divemaster, had problems equalizing her ears the night before and they were stuck with no one to take out a new guy on a Discover Scuba course so it was Sanyu to the rescue. I told Winnie I'd be back by 1pm at the latest when we could head off to Tayrona but as luck would have it, one of the Open Water students came up shaking a slightly convulsing (later found out it was justa jellyfish sting ) so they rushed him back to land in the boat leaving the rest of us stranded on a small island for a few hours til the boat returned for our next dive.  Had a good second dive and then there was a mad rush to get everything out of the boat so the next group could immediately take off. In all the commotion I left my flip flops,my only beach shoes, on the boat and had to call Winnie to cancel, yet again.

I decided to do the 10 minute walk up to the hostel barefoot hopping from shadow to shadow to keep my little toes from scorching. I explained the situation to Winnie but she was pretty pissed. God, I wish she would just go by herself but she's stuck on the idea of us heading up to the park together. This is why I travel ALONE! I headed down to the beach to get some food after such a crazy day and ran into James and Phil, the two guys from the wreck dive. We were soon joined by a couple from Bogota who had gotten engaged underwater the day before.  A thirst for few beers somehow turned into a parade of Agua Diente bottles. A smooth local licorice tasting drink that you take in shots. Max and Nena joined us a few hours and a few more bottle later. Max is too funny when he's been drinking so when he started harping on me about staying a doing my Instructor course and even going so far as making me a partner in the shop, I was shocked. I love Taganga and I especially love everyone at the shop so it's definitely something to think about. But the past month as flown by so fast that I'm scared to death of getting into the life here and then sticking up my head to look around to find  out that 6 months have rushed by. But yes,something to think about...

I was feeling surprisingly good the next day and all set to head to Park Tayrona. Two Canadian guys who've been biking their way around South America were heading out to Tayrona as well so we joined forces. We needed to take a shuttle bus to Santa Marta and then a bus to Tayrona Park Entrance before taking another small shuttle into the park. The guys found out that there was a tour leaving for Tayrona in an hour and negotiated us a ride on their bus for barely more than all three legs of the trip would have cost. Score. We had an hour and a half hike ahead of us to make it to Cabo beach where we could find hammocks and a beautiful swimmable beaches. The hike was lovely and the beach was postcard perfect. We checked into hammocks and began our life of leisure. We all met up for late night drinks and dinner which was a can of tuna each. Deeelicious! The next day the guys went on a long hike while Winnie and I headed out to check out some of the nearby beaches. Each one was even more beautiful and even more secluded. We were the only ones out there for the first few hours until I about six or seven others turned up. I was wondering why one of the girls on the beach had matched a white pink polka dot bikini top with brown bikini bottoms until I finally clued in. Lots more reading, hammocking and tuna followed before I headed back the next day. The guys had left the day before and Winne had decided to stay an extra day and I was thankful for the little bit of solitude. Back in Taganga when I'm planning on heading out on the six day Lost City tour in the next few days. Don't worry, I heard they've found it.

All Hail the Divemaster

My last two divemaster requirements were the worst. I had to actually take real people out on guided dives and check their skills. Yikes. On my first outing out on my own I forgot my weight belt (huge blunder) and got a little bit lost. Thankfully Lily gave me her weight belt while she used a spare and I ended up taking my two divers on a less conventional dive pattern. The following day Nene and I took out a couple to review their skills which was a 'too many cooks in the kitchen' type experience. Really frustrating but it was also one of those times to just suck it up and deal. When we got back to shore, I had to eat, nap and prepare myself mentally for my graduation party that night.

Everyone I'd talked to had said they couldn't make it to the party but when Yoomi (the other divemaster student)  and I arrived fashionably late, everyone I could have imagined was there. All the instructors and boat guys, the receptionist and Marta the cool cleaning woman. Even the guys from Tayrona Dive Center came by. It was quite a party. Nelson started up the bbq and fired it up by aiming a dive tank of pressurized air at it. Yoomi and I were fed first and were led to our places on stage to start the show. I didn't realize that I'd have to wear a mask with the snorkel which meant I'd have no way to breathe. Before the rum even trickled down the long snorkel tube I could smell the sickly sweet aroma and by heart started racing. It was over quite quickly but not quickly enough for me not to breathe for the entire duration. When I lifted up my mask a few centimeters to get a few molecules of air into my nose and lungs I could here Max yelling that I was cheating. Ya, right. Divemasters don't need to breathe. I forgot. Good Lord I'm too old for this shit.

Nene and Lily stepped up to the stage for their turn. Lily cried and Nene asked for more. the entertainment portion of the evening being over Max  finally agreed to switch his blaring AC DC greatest hits CD for some Reggaeton. As usual in Columbia, dancing immediately broke out. One more hour and the party was pretty much wrapped up. Really lovely and memorable. They were nice enough to give me the next day off which I spent walking along the Santa Marta beach front and downtown shopping area with Winnie, a Danish girl from my hostel. At noon we hopped a bus to the mall to enjoy some much needed air conditioning and to find a present for Gerd and his girlfriend who were getting married later that day and for their soon to be born niña. We finished just in time to catch the beautiful sunset behind the lighthouse. I've been so busy, smetimes I forget to stop and enjoyt how beautiful it is here.

All done. All completed. But I just can't seem to leave this place. I was going to head to beaches in Tayrona National park for a few days of relaxation but Gerd asked me to help hi out with a big group for the next 3 days. I must say it was really nice to be asked and needed. No one really needs you when your traveling, floating from town to town. So I leave Sunday for a few days in a hammock in Tayrona before popping back in here before heading out on a six day Lost City trek and then Cardigan and perhaps a little taste of Southern Columbia. I'd hoped to get to Cuba before Fidel died but it looks like it may be touch and go. Hold on Mr. Castro. I'm coming!