So after a three days of early mornings, two dives per day and a little study we completed the diving course.Pete and I now have our PADI Open Water certification. After a few nervous starts and several tanks of air later I was diving like a pro.

Generally we did forty five minute dives (or there abouts) reaching depths of twenty meters.The dive sites are located in Tayrona National Park so there are coral reefs throughout which makes for some great marine life. I saw puffer fish, baracudas, lion fish and hundreds of others. We also did a night dive so you get to see all types of crustations sitting out on the rocks just chilling out. These tiny red dots for eyes just lamping ya as you swim past. You also see some of the fish having a nap on the seabed which I found quite amusing.

With diving done and dusted it was time to head out in Taganga for a session. It also happened to be a Saturday night which was sweet. As it's a small town there are only a handful of places to head to which is cool as you get to bump into some other backpackers you have met along the way. There is always an after party somewhere,so it was back there till the sun comes up...or maybe considerably after.

We planned to spend a few days hanging out at the beaches in Tayrona National Park. The beaches are a bit tricky to get to so three bus trips later and a quick forty minute walk through the jungle and we hit the first beach - Arrecifes. Despite the long trek it's actually quite a popular place with locals so it was quite busy. We booked our beds for the night- two hammocks next to the beach and off I went to get myself a tan. I had lost my farmers tan since I invested in some vests - classy I know!

The place on a whole is pretty tame and once its dark there is not much to do. Guards search bags for booze etc. You can get some at the resorts but they dont want people falling about he place drunk. It's just a nice chilled out athmosphere.

The second day we moved onto another beach called Cabo de San Juan la Guia for some more lazing about and swimming.

The scenery is amazing. Little turquoise beaches/coves flanked by huge boulders and coconut trees with dense jungle rising up from the shore to the mountains. It is definitely worth the effort of getting there.

Unfortunately my time in Colombia was running out and we still had one last place to fit it - Cartagena. One of Colombias big cities, it's known for it's colonial past, old town architecture (which was really nice), giant fortified walls and to a lesser extent as a good place to have some fun. As with he entire Carribean it's hot humid and you want to move about as little as possible. As it was my last two days in Colombia that's exactly what I did - it was great!

To be honest I was gutted to be leaving Colombia. Even though I managed to get in all the main places there is so much more that I couldn't get to see due to time constraints. Anyone that has spent time in Colombia knows that it is nothing like the reputation that preceeds it. I had such a great experience enteracting with people, their culture and all the sights and sounds that Colombia has to offer. A return trip is definitely penciled in for some date in the future.

So I just got into Lima, Peru last night and the plan is to head south and then arive in Cuzco towards the end of the month. We have the Inca Trail booked for then too. First off though sandboarding down some dunes.

Until the next time