The Lost City Trek

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Next we were off to Taganga, on the Caribbean coast where Dana got his dive certification and our starting point for the lost city trek.

The Lost City is a recently discovered Tayrona ruin which lies deep in the jungle and closest road is a 3 day hike away. In 2002 some tourists were kidnapped from the site by the Colombian rebels, FARC, since then there are always 40 military personal stationed at the site. (These poor guys are so bored on their 6mo posts and are always eager to visit with the tourists who show up and let us hold their guns and take pictures!) I was a bit nervous about the trek, but Colombia has come a long way since its drug war days and really cleaned up a lot.

The trek was grueling but so satisfying that it didn’t matter. Our days ranged from hiking 4 hours uphill to 8 hours of climbing over big rocks and fording 9 rivers in one day. We had a break every 2 hours with fresh fruit and a swim in a waterfall or river. When we reached camp exhausted and covered in mud and collapsed into our hammocks our guides immediately were at work bring us juice, hot chocolate, coffee and then whipping up the best food I’ve had since leaving home. Plus they had chocolate for dessert!! We had 2 incredible indigenous guides who explained all about their culture, the ruins and the area (they only spoke Spanish but, I’m getting pretty good). They each carried 30-40kg bags of our supplies and a donkey carried some of the weight the first 2 days, afterwards the path was too difficult for pack animals. We each carried a small backpack with our clothes and personal items (such as chocolate and rum). The views as we walked were stunning. We slept in hammocks and in the mornings our guide would gently rock me awake ask how my dreams were and hand me a cup of coffee which I drank in my hammock enjoying the crisp air and watching the mist lifting off the mountains. Fabulous. We had an amazing group with us and since there was no electricity we played a game called jungle speed (my new favorite game) by candle light, which involves recognizing patterns and fighting over grabbing the central object. We also compared notes on the philosophical books we all happened to be reading and had incredible deep intellectual conversations about them and life in general. It’s nice not having TV or even music for a distraction; it really lets you get to know someone.

I loved being pushed to exhaustion and then fed like a king and afterwards sleeping like a baby. The 3rd day, after 7 hours of walking, we forded the final river and from the banks you can see a stair case going up the side of the mountain. There were 1300 steps to climb which I calculated to be around 50 flights worth. Climbing these was an experience in itself. We constantly slipped sideways on the stairs shinny smooth surface. When we finally reached the top we were confronted with the 700AD Lost City or Ciudad Peridia.

The ruins themselves were very interesting. They mostly consisted of large circles of stones and some tools. Typical… Most of the area was still covered in jungle and yet to be discovered, which made me feel like a real explorer. I enjoyed exploring them, but it was the journey there that was the true reward.

This was such an incredible experience for me. I will never forget it.

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Photos

These people live so far away from civilization. 2 days by donkey!
Very primitive living arrangements.

Indigenous children
You can't make these people smile. Over the whole 6 days, not one!

This is typically what the path was like
Three types:
Wide muddy steep path
Dense rainy jungle path
or
Narrow, slippery, rocky path along the river

Fording rivers with the assistance of my guide
Notice the bag he's carrying?

So many steps!
1300= 50 flights!

The lost city!
Spice grinder in foreground.

Photo 10
This is only a small portion. The site was huge.

The 3 musketeers
We got a little crazy on the last day and ran down the last hill pretending to be ninjas and jumping off cliffs and pulling moves.

On top the city
I miss you guys already!

Comments

[Nicole]

Great report!
My boyfriend and I are planning on doing this trek in December. What tour company did you go with? We're leaning towards Sierra Tours.

[carriemcq]

We went with Magic Tours and our guides were brothers (Jose and Gabriel I think). They did an outstanding job, although I think most of the companies are similar. Enjoy the 'factory'!