Blogs from Ciudad Perdida, Santa Marta, Colombia, South America - page 3

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South America » Colombia » Santa Marta » Ciudad Perdida November 28th 2010

We set off on the trek to the Lost City knowing what to expect even less than we had done for the rest of our trip! We met the group at 8.30 and were driven off to a small town about an hour east of Santa Marta and an hour along a terrible road in a Jeep. Our group was only 7 which was less than a lot of the others we saw, and our guide was a very knowledgeable local man called Juan-Carlos with two helpers. The three of us were joined by Yurgi a Slovakian, Marcell a Swiss national and Marley and Ross an Australian and Colombian couple who had recently got married over here. The trek was to take 5 days, our things were still a little wet but we were glad that ... read more
Bed first night
Camp 1
Militia

South America » Colombia » Santa Marta » Ciudad Perdida November 7th 2010

The company to go with is "Magic Tours" No doubt about it, at least we had a fantastic trip! We got picked up at our hostel and three hours later we were dropped off in the Sierra Nevada. Our 5 days hike was about to start. At the pickup Thomas said to me that he didn't like our guide Jesus, because he seemed to be a fat little lazy slacker. All this because his lack of a firm handshake! Yes, it really matters. But, sometimes appearances are deceptive. We had a good group with good "walkers", but the round ball of a guide had a hidden talent. he didn't say much, but he could really lead the way! When we met our first group of people on their way back, they told us not to take ... read more
Bored, waiting
The streets in Santa Marta, after the heavy rain the day before!
But, nothing can stop a man getting to work!

South America » Colombia » Santa Marta » Ciudad Perdida October 31st 2010

Depuis Santa Marta, je pars pour le fabuleux trek de la Ciutad Perdida. On est un groupe de 7: 4 allemands, leur guide Manuel et le guide du trek, William; 2 colombiens. On prend d'abord une chiva, ces camions transformés pour transporter des passagers. L'aventure commence... La route est très abimée et on s'enlise dans un chemin boueux. Tout le monde sort de la chiva et il faudra dégonfler les pneus pour passer ! 3 heures plus tard on arrive à Mamey, un petit village où le trek commence. On s'enfonce dans la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, dans la forêt tropicale, sac sur le dos et avec nos 2 mules qui transportent la nourriture. Après 2h de marche, on est pris sous une averse. On marchera pendant près de 2h sous une pluie diluvienne, avec ... read more
Les mules sur le chemin
Rando sous la pluie
En arrivant au campement, la riviere tres haute qui nous empeche d aller dans notre dortoir

South America » Colombia » Santa Marta » Ciudad Perdida September 11th 2010

Ciudad Perdida I have never heard of Ciudad Perdida before I looked at the travel guide. It is not well known as Macchu Picchu in Peru, is it. It sits at approximately 1200 meters (non-metric users, please look up the conversion) in Sierra Nevada in Colombia, not so far inland from the Caribbean coast. On the way into the Sierra Nevada, you can see the Caribbean ocean behind you. I went there with Magic Tour in a group of 8 including myself, plus Jose the cook and Pedro the guide. We passed the areas belong to native Americans including Arhuacos, Koguis, and Wiwas. Day 1 Start of Trekking: Level of Freshness = 10! I was picked up at a hostel in Santa Marta early - around 8:30am. The jeep looked like it had loads of ... read more
Day 1
Day 1
Day 1

South America » Colombia » Santa Marta » Ciudad Perdida August 23rd 2010

The Ciudad Perdida trek takes you through five days of jungle hiking, up and down valleys in the highest coastal mountains in the world. The final location, the Lost City, was found by treasure hunters in the 1970s and, while not a massive archeological find, serves as a great place to end an amazing hike. I had heard about it a while back and had always wanted to do it so while we had other options on this short trip to Colombia, getting back to nature and checking out some jungle living was right up our alley. So we got picked up in what can only be described as the Colobian Army´s Ice Cream Truck. This massive, multicolored, Frankenstein, all terrain jeep probably ran on more oil than gas. We trudged along the roads for a ... read more
Yet Another View
Lost City
View from the hike

South America » Colombia » Santa Marta » Ciudad Perdida August 7th 2010

This entry comes from the depths of the Colombian jungle, where sadly I left the remains of my feet, much blood taken by mosquitos, any energy or desire for trekking i had left, an unread novel (in English..a rare commodity round these parts) and my travel journal containing tales from three countries. The travel journal, though probably filled with unintelligable rambles, is probably the greatest loss, but I will have to leave it to decay in the depths of the jungle, or to entertain the next weary backpacker who finds it in the hammock where it was left. So I decided to start a blog instead. Before I give you the tales of my travels, I have to apologise if my English is bad..I believe with every new Spanish word I learn on this trip I ... read more
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South America » Colombia » Santa Marta » Ciudad Perdida July 16th 2010

Yes, we're still in Colombia. And yes, we are alive. Our noses are still clean, even though we did not give any signs of life in the last 3-4 weeks. There is a good explanation though... Cartagena de Indias We spent a bit more time in Cartagena than we planned. The initial idea was one week: Chris attending an intensive Spanish course, me playing the beach bunny. Well, at the end, Chris went for 2 weeks Spanish, and I spent the same time with learning Spanish from a study book, made for Swedish people... interesting self-study. Must admit, our Spanish improved significantly, but after 2 weeks - 4 hours a day we had enough. We made some time to visit Cartagena itself, as it´s a really really pretty town with dozens of colonial buildings in perfect ... read more
No clue what it means...
Street views in Cartagena
So, which Demons did attend your wedding????

South America » Colombia » Santa Marta » Ciudad Perdida July 13th 2010

So I am back from my jungle trek to the Lost City. It was a fantastic time despite a great number of mosquito bites (easily 50/leg), sore legs, and a sick stomach. We started from Magic Tours in Taganga with our guide, Miguel. There were 3 Americans, myself, ´Rambo´the snake hunter from Colorado, and Joanna the photographer from California/London. 10 mins in we picked up to Aussies from Adelay, allowing me to get my Aussie slang fix, but when we arrived at the resturaunt before the hike, were informed that the Aussies were with a different company so we couldn´t walk together. Weird politics I still don´t understand. After a lunch of bologna sandwiches (ahh memories of being 5 years old again..) the hike started with an intense half day up straight up a mountain. We ... read more
Jeep ride up the mtn... I think riding on the roof would have been more comfortable than our ride...
Lots o´legs
Chevre...

South America » Colombia » Santa Marta » Ciudad Perdida June 29th 2010

I am writing this blog seperately to the main honeymoon blog as it was the most amazing adventure of my life with a brilliant group of people and something i will not forget as long as I live for many reasons which i will try to put across by writing this entry. Day 1 of Trek We Arrived at The Hotel Miramar at 8:30am feeling slightly nervous about being in the jungle for 5 days, the chap who runs the Mirimar Backpackers is a really nice fella and like our host at the casa familiar made you instantly feel you have nothing to worry about. We paid the 450,000 Pesos each which worked out about $250 US Each. The Hostal acts as an agent to Guias Y Baquianos Tour and although there are others such as ... read more
Roadside re fueling
Me and Kat at the start
View of the sierra nevada mountains

South America » Colombia » Santa Marta » Ciudad Perdida June 20th 2010

Before I recount my daily journal entries from the past 6 days, I just want to establish the this was the hardest yet most beautiful and rewarding hiking trek I have even been on. I never thought I would actually be caught in the rain in the rainforest, see exotic butterflies with the number 89 perfectly painted on their wings by nature, or meet people who used to work in the coca fields making cocaine. Literally a once in a lifetime experience. So let the trek begin.... Day 1: 50 degree inclines....The journey began this morning at 9 am when we piled our group of 7: Dan & Brianne (Canada), Janica (Miami), George (Switzerland), David (Belgium), Sim and I, into an antique jeep with a broken speedometer. The first 45 minutes were a smooth ride past ... read more
Party Jeep
Map of trek
Through our first river




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