After carnival we needed a few days to recoup and found this in 3 places all next to each other, where we'd planned to spend the next 5 days or so. Tayrona national park, which was surrounded by Santa Marta and Taganga were the spots along the Colombian coast.

Santa Marta was mainly a stepping stone. A small coastal town but not that exciting or picturesque, so we just pottered around town and the beach by day and went out for some decent food by night.

Further along the coast is Tayrona national park. This is a beautiful and really protected forest and coastline. To see the main coastal areas we needed about 6 hours or so to make it all the way around and back again. The forest is very unspoilt and the beaches beautiful. Much of the sea is to rough for swimmers but great to see and the forest is really cool.

The walk knackered us after the last busy few days, so we napped on one of the beaches and chilled where we could! A long but worthwhile day and our first look at some of the Colombian, Caribbean coastline.

Our final few days in the area were spent at Taganga bay. Mainly a diving bay but we all think that over time its popularity will increase and tourists will flock to build up the town.

We planned a few dives as the area is meant to be known for its coral and marine life but the coastguard called off all dive boats on the afternoon planned so we couldn't dive in the end.

It was good to again say goodbye to the Sheffield lads and nice to completely relax on the beach during the day. After carnival and with Cartagena coming up it was another calm before the storm!