When I got to the check-in desk at Panama, they asked me to show an onward ticket from Colombia. Unfortunately I didn't have one and I was informed that I would have to buy a flight to Lima to show the Colombian authorities. I reluctantly took my cards out but as luck would have it, their machine wouldn't accept cards with a chip. The guy at the desk felt sorry for me and gave me some flight details, which he said I should use when asked by Colombian immigration. When I landed in Bogota, I was terrified that they would send me back to Panama but all I got was a very friendly 'welcome to Colombia'. Not a word about onward tickets.

I landed in Cartagena at around 11:30am and was in my hostel by midday. I stayed at El Viajero in the old town. Every part of my body was screaming for me to sleep but I decided against it and opted to wander out into the town. The old town is really picturesque. The narrow streets are lined with colourful colonial buildings and there are numerous little plazas, all of which have a small bit of greenery and benches where you can sit and people watch. I stopped at a plaza near the cathedral which reminded me of Trafalgar Square because of the number of pigeons. Some tourists bought breadcrumbs and held them out - within seconds the pigeons were perched on their arms, shoulders and head as they tried desperately to get to the crumbs. I then headed out of the old city walls and strolled around the docks for half an hour or so, seeing a couple of old galleons and some beautiful statues of unicorns.

As evening set in I hunted around for a cheap place to eat. Having gotten used to meals for $2 in central america I was shocked to find that meals started at $5 here! It sounds silly to talk about $5 being expensive but it was a sign that I was really in the traveler mindset. I opted to head to the local supermarket and cook for myself in the hostel's kitchen. This was only the 2nd time on two and a half months (Caye Caulker being the first) that I had had to do this!

I got an early night as the plan was to head to Taganga early the next day.

I got to Taganga late in the afternoon and at my hostel (Ocean Reef) was greeted by Doris, who was a hilarious and slightly quirky young Colombian lady. She refused to believe that I wasn't Colombian and decided she would refer to me as Colombiano until I left.

I was in Taganga for one reason - to dive. I headed straight for Poseidon dive centre and signed up to start the course the next morning. One of the German owners, Gert, told me to be back for 9am to do the boring part of watching videos.

The next morning was very dry. Myself and an Aussie couple originally from India (Rohan and Dee) watched cheesy american PADI info videos from 9am-12pm. It was only after this that the fun started. Guided by our instructor, Corinne, we learned about how to put the gear together and headed into the pool to do various exercises. The most terrifying one for me was taking off the mask - here, I had to shut my eyes (so I didn't lose my contacts), take off my mask and breathe through my mouth for a minute, before putting my mask back on and clearing it of water. I managed to breathe just through my mouth for about 30 seconds but as soon as my concentration slipped I took a breath in through my nose and inhaled a load of seawater. I immediately panicked and headed for the surface. Corinne explained to me how I should have dealt with the problem (you cant head for the surface when you're 18m under in the sea). Lesson learned. We learned how to float in the water, using only our breathing to control our depth. It was a surreal feeling, I imagine somewhat akin to being in space. The strangest thing for me was how to sit still in the water. I constantly felt like I was going to topple over when we were kneeling on the bottom of the pool, which meant I strained my back and legs really hard to stay upright. I left exhausted but exhilerated. The day didnt end at the pool, I had to head back and do written exercises for homework. It was like being back at school!

Saturday was the first real test for me. We were at the dive centre for 7:30am and headed out into the open sea on the boat. The stunning coastline of Taganga flanked our right and the Caribbean stretched out to the horizon on our left. We spent the journey putting together our gear, ready for our first dive. Once at our entry point, I waddled over awkwardly to the side of the boat, fully kitted out. I looked down at the surface, which was far from calm, grabbed my snorkel mask and weight belt and took a giant stride into the water. I was amazed to find myself floating comfortably at the surface and made my way to the side of the boat so we could do our buddy checks.

Once we were all under the water, Corinne again talked us through descent and the exercises we'd be doing. We deflated our jackets (BCDs) and descended. The change in pressure was noticeable with every metre descended, the feeling being the same as in an aeroplane when you have to pop your ears. We got to the ocean floor (12m) and proceeded with the exercises, including the dreaded mask removal. Luckily everything went smoothly this time. We then had the chance to dive at ease. It was incredible seeing the vast array of colours and the incredible coral. We saw all manner of species of fish and even a scary looking Moray Eel. The coral, particularly the Brain coral was beautiful. I was still learning to control my buoyancy so I couldn't fully relax as I was paranoid about sinking too low and crashing into coral. Nonetheless, it was an unbelievable feeling to be down there after all the years of fear of the water.

We dived three more times through to Sunday afternoon, and each was as awesome as the last. After our final dive, Corinne told us we had to complete one last task. We had to swim with snorkel and fins for 200m. The boat dropped us off and sped off into the distance. I got my head down and kicked. The waves were fairly large and it was hard going. I saw something drifting up in the water not far from me, which I thought was a jellyfish. This made me panick a little and I managed to swallow a load of salt water. On closer inspection, it was actually another diver surfacing. I finally got to the boat absolutely shattered, but I was the first one back, which was a nice feeling :-).

Once back at shore, we headed back to the centre to complete the last bit of admin - the 50-question multiple choice exam. Happily I passed. The feeling was immense. Fully certified to dive to 18m. Just 6 months ago I would have laughed in your face if you had told me that that would be the case.

My last day in Taganga was spent relaxing. I slept in past 6:45am for the first time in four days. In the afternoon I took a picturesque walk along the cliffsides that flank the town, to reach Playa Grande. The beach is nothing to write home about, but it was nice to sit there, read and watch the locals enjoying themselves.

I returned to Cartagena the following day and booked a flight to Medellin (cheaper than a bus!) for two days later. The following day I headed to Volcan Totumo. This is a small volcanic crater around an hour's drive from Cartagena. The intriguing feature of it is that the crater is full of liquified mud. It is believed that bathing in the mud has healing effects. Once off the bus, our guide informed us that for a small fee of $2, a local would look after our cameras and take photos, for $2 a local would massage us in the crater, and for a further fee of $2 a local would scrub us clean in the nearby laguna.

I walked up the steps to the crater in just my swimshorts and passed my camera to one of the locals. There were a lot of people already in the crater and I was ushered down some small steps towards the mud. I was apprehensive to say the least despite being able to see other people in there. Nevertheless, I stepped in - it was surreal. There was no bottom (I was later informed that the depth is 2,300ft!) but I wasn't sinking. I just floated there in the luke-warm mud. A couple of the locals started massaging me but I firmly told them no as I wasn't interested. I was guided into a free spot and encouraged to cover myself, including hair, in the mud. I saw people jump on eachothers' shoulders so that one of them was fully submersed in the mud, but every time that person popped back up. It really was impossible to sink, I couldn't work it out. We floated around for 30mins or so before heading out to the laguna. I was dreading stepping into the lake after the warmth of the mud, but when I stepped in it was incredibly warm which was a nice surprise. I figured I needed a good scrub to remove all the mud and so opted for the scrub-down. I was instructed by a local lady to sit in the water, whih came up to my belly button. She proceeded to bathe and scrub me. One minute we were talking about her family and the next minute she very firmly instructed me to remove my swimshorts. Ahe gave them a good scrubbing as I sat b******-naked in the lake. Very strange.

After the excitement of the volcano, I headed back to the hostel for an early night before my flight to Medellin the next day.