Ciudad Perdida

---

We arrived into santa marta with avianca who for a flight costing 40 quid and is ten times better than ryanair and this is south america. It was a very small airport we came into and both bags arrived this time which was a bonus and the customs point in the airport was pretty much non existent! We arrived at the dreamer hostel and it has been a really good point since we have been here...being lazy booking all the tours through the hostel.

The next day was the start of the tour to ciudad perdida and in our group consisting of 4 germans, 3 americans, 1 dutch, 3 french and the 2 of us. This turned out to be a tough old hike across the jungle with lots of ups and downs and it was 15 miles to get to the city and 15 miles to get back. We got to the first camp after a good 4 hour trek in the rain to arrive at our hammock cabana. The nice nights sleep was ruined by the rabid dog that took a liking to the one hammock out of 30 in the place that i was sleeping in and decided to rub against me for about half an hour, so was just on edge waiting for the bugger to come back. A few in the grup were struggling so got their packs carryed by the burro, as the walking was pretty tough on the 2nd and 3rd days. The 3rd was a huge walk that finished at a cabana that was about an hrs walk from the lost city itself so we dropped the bags and carryed with just water and ourselves.

The entrance to the ciudad perdida was i think they said something like 1300 steps to get to the top...Once we got to the top the views were pretty spectacular over the jungle canopies and it seemed surreal that the place was guarded by military police with huge ak47s! But when the city was first discovered, looters were fleecing the area and taking away all of the gold and ancient objects at the site, but it was made a national park as a result of this. It was very similar to macchu picchu in peru but i preferred this as the only people up there were us. We got proper bitten to shreds by mozzies at the city and my legs were a mix of red and purple dot by the end of the trip. It was a really good trip and i doubt the photos will do it justice! Will add some when i get a chance.
Day 1: 4WD from Santa Marta to Mamey/Machete Pelao; lunch; hike 5.2 miles/8.4 km to Cabaña de Alfredo.Day 2: Hike 4.6 miles/7.4 km to Cabaña TezhumakeDay 3. Hike 4.1 miles/6.6 km to El Paraiso; then 3.2 miles/5.1 km roundtrip to Ciudad PerdidaDay 4: Hike 8.7 miles/14 km to Cabaña Alfredo (lunch at Cabaña Tezhumake)Day 5: Hike 5.2 miles/7.4 km to Mamey/Machete Pelao; lunch; 4WD back to Guachaca & points beyond (Sta Marta, Taganga, Palomino....)

---