My photos from Parque Tayrona...an absolute backpackers´ jungle beach paradise

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I spent a blissful 4 days and 3 nights in this national park on the northern coast of Colombia....just near the border with Venezuela and outside of the city of Santa Marta. It is an absolutely beautiful place that I enjoyed greatly for so many reasons. It is on the coast just a few hours from Cartagena. I took a 5 am bus from Cartagena to Santa Marta. I was supposed to get off the bus there and then take a taxi to the local bus station to find a buseta to the entrance of the park. Lucky for me, my bus driver liked me, so instead of leaving me to find my way alone, he told me to just stay on the bus, sit up front in the cabin with him, and he took me an hour further to the entrance of the national park for free! After an hour of me tolerating his overt flirtatiousness, he dropped me off on the side of the highway with just me and my pack, and I walked up to the entrance of the park in the middle of nowhere! Again, lucky for me, at the same time that I arrived to the entrance of the park, another private tour bus drove up too. I motioned to the driver to stop and he motioned back to me to hurry up so that he can take me into the park with the other group. That way I woudn´t have to walk into the park and through the jungle trails on my own. However, at the entrance and ranger station, there was a federal police checkpoint (oh great, not another one of these damn checkpoints) where there was one officer who also liked me (damn Colombian men!)...unfortunately. This police man wanted an excuse to talk to and flirt with me, so instead of just checking my passport like he should have and letting me hurry through to catch that waiting bus, he also searched every single inch of my backpack, and I mean everything in it! What a pain in the butt. Meanwhile, I was trying to motion to that waiting bus driver to continue to wait for me! I didn´t want to walk in the park by myself...especially with this overly friendly cop now asking me where I would be staying, how long, and if he could come and visit me after he gets off his shift. I just acted polite and kept my answers general...played dumb basically. Finally he let me go and I jumped on that bus just in time! Thank god they waited for me.
After a short bus ride to the first camp in the park, we all got off the bus and had to walk for over an hour to the beach through the beautiful green jungle. Lucky for me that I happened to accidently meet up with this tour group. Their guide was the most adorable old nman who everyone called El Abuelo. He happily guided me along the hike...showing me where to go, pointing out the interesting fauna and flora...totally for free! Such a cool guy. I was so lucky to have run into him because I would have surely gotten lost on that hike in the hot jungle by myself. It was wet and hot! But so worth it!
The beach was gorgeous...white sand, turquoise water, and massive boulders strewn around the beach in piles. We kept walking along the beach, past several other smaller beaches and coves, until we ended up at a bahia called Cabo San Juan....or something like that. Here there was a large camp of an open grassy field with a small forest of palm trees right on the beach with jungle behind it. The camp was full of small colorful tents, a makeshift soccer field, a small building of bathrooms and showers, a thatched-roof, open-air restaurant with hammocks and a small general store.
The first night I arrived I stayed in a hammock next to the restaurant. It was noisy and hot! My next two nights I got to stay in the hammocks that were in a gazebo on top of a huge pile of boulders overlooking the 2 closest beaches...it was gorgeous to be high up with a panoramic view and delicious breezes all day and night long. I never wanted to leave.
The other campers at this bay were almost all 20 something international backpackers...lots of Italians, Australians, English, French, Israelis...quite a mix of people all with the same desire to just chill out for a while in paradise. And that is exactly what we did. On my first night I befriended a couple hilarious and friendly groups of British, Canadian, French, Dutch, South African, and Australian travelers who had met up with each other the week before on a trek to an arqueological site in the nearby jungle called Ciudad Perdida. They welcomed me into their groups and we were instant friends. Played cards and covered our table in empty beers cans. Moved the party to the beach where we joined a very merry group of Italians who had started a bon fire on the beach. So much fun! We laughed, sang, played music on someone´s portable Ipod, laid in the sand so we could explore the stars, watched the lightning get closer from out at sea, went for a delicious midnight swim in the ocean so we could see the glowing plankton in the dark water glitter all around us, and just sat and philosophized for a while as a new group of friends. Very good times.
The days were spent entirely in my bikini and barefoot...no need for anything other than sunscreen and a hat. However, I was very busy with lots of sunbathing, swimming in the crystal clear bay, napping in the hammocks with the breeze all around, walking to other more remote jungle beaches, climbing the huge boulders that jutted out of the ocean, eating yummy fruits and fresh fish...you know, your basic paradise. I seriously did not want to leave. 😞 I highly recommend this experience to anyone who comes anywhere near this part of the world...you would not regret it.
The one and only blemish of the whole experience was the damn mosquitoes and sand flies! Damn! They were relentless! So there we all were...tan, healthy, happy...and itching our bites all over our bodies like crazy! I can laugh about it now...but it just about drove me crazy then. 😊
My new group of friends all split up on their own seperate ways...some to Venezuela, others to other parts of Colombia, and some were headed back home. Lucky for me, the 2 Australian girls, Laura and Erin, who I really got along with, were also leaving Tayrona to Cartagena the same day as I was. So we left together to Cartagena. We traveled together for almost 2 weeks total...one VERY fun Saturday night of dancing in Cartagena till dawn, then a night bus to Medellin, 4 nights of partying and days of exploring Medellin, and then a night in Bogota...of course partying. They are 2 of the sweetest, intelligent, hilarious, kind, and beautiful young people I have met yet on this trip. I have so enjoyed their company...we have had some great girl time...which is very important, especially since most of the backpackers in ALL of the hostels I have stayed in so far in Colombia have been virtual frat houses...boys everywhere! Where are all the girl backpackers? If you know of any, send them to Colombia...they will enjoy it. Being surrounded by all young men has been quite a change for me...and eye opening. I have no brothers, and have not spent a great deal of time in this type of setting...I miss my girls! But I am dealing with it. I am now used to sleeping in a dorm of 10 where I am either the only girl or one of two. Using shared bathrooms and showers...kinda gross. And using shared kitchen where we all cook our own meals in the same space or go in on a meal together. Then going out for a night on the town as a big group. Its fun to make new friends from other parts of the world while living in the same space...nothing like staying in a hostal...hotels are so boring compared to it! Some of my new friends have been to LA and tell me there are some good hostels in West Hollywood...maybe I will check one out once I get home! 😊
So I left the frat househostel called The Cranky Crock in Bogota at 5 am this morning and 8 hours later arrived in the small town of San Gil north of Bogota. It is a well known and popular place for adventure tours. I plan to be here 2 days...paraglide tomorrow and either white water raft or rappel down a waterfall the next day. Woo woo! Wish me luck! HOpe i get some good photos to share!

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Comments

[hernan]

que bacano!!
im glad ur having so much fun! coulnt see the paragliding pics. did other people have the same problem? much love, hernan