The Caribbean Costa: Brisas del Campo, Tayrona, Gitana del Mar

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Having not seen much Caribbean Sea in and around Cartagena we were looking forward to experiencing this part of Colombia and where better than Tayrona national park. Tayrona is named after three indigenous tribes that were grouped together and called the Tayrones - they include the Koguis, the Wiwas and the Arawaks. The whole northern coast was pretty much no man’s land up until a decade ago. Owned and managed by the paramilitary and drug lords, you wouldn’t step foot here unless you were a Tayrona or a coca farmer. As part of the peace truce and cleaning up Colombia, the coca plantations were replaced with banana plantations and land was made available to buy. We met a lot of people escaping the madness of Bogotá or Cartagena for the tranquility and isolation of the jungle where they bought a finca and lived in a self-sustaining way through growing their own fruit, veg and permaculture.





We debated about staying inside Tayrona park which no doubt would have been awesome but there were two problems: you could either camp or sleep in a hammock (none of which I particularly wanted to do), and we would have to walk a minimum of two hours along varying degrees of uneven ground with ALL our luggage on our backs. We decided against it. Thankfully my work colleague and friend Katia had already been to Tayrona and recommended staying in a little family run jungle hostel just 9km from Tayrona meaning we could still enjoy and access Tayrona without the worry of a sleepless night for me or carrying all our luggage with us.



I totally fell in love with Hostal Brisas del Campo! So much so that we went back there for a couple of nights again before heading south. It’s probably the most remote place I’ve stayed in at the top of a steep hill with incredible views over the whole jungle and the banana plantations (we later learned these were ALL Chiquita banana plantations purely for exporting and Colombians don’t get to enjoy them). Brisas del Campo is run by Maria and her husband Arturo with their two sons and gorgeous 7-year old daughter Karolina who I took a shining to immediately. They also have a dog, a kitten called Koki and Pepa the exotic guacamaya parrot who likes to eat dried spaghetti, rice and mangos, and was Karolina’s loyal friend. I really felt at home here with the warmth of this family and their genuine approach. Each morning they would ask what we wanted for dinner: chicken, fish or vegetables and a choice of home made soup. So cosy after a long day walking. It was the kind of place where you would sigh a happy “ahhhhh” once you got to the top of the hill and saw the twinkling lights welcoming you home. To add to the rustic village stay we also enjoyed prolonged periods of power cuts 😉



Tayrona park was beautiful though busy. At times it felt like you were in a queue and we spent the first hour trying to overtake the slower groups. There were various trails to choose from and in hindsight we should have done the harder hike that had less people but the 5 hour round loop we opted for was still pretty unique. Part of it was through the jungle and we even saw the Titi monkey (a cute small monkey with a super long tail) and heard scary sounds from the bigger monkeys that we didn’t get to see. We also passed a river with crocodiles and pretty birds before arriving at the first super wild and windy beach that had a big red flag and sign saying “don’t become another statistic: 100 people have already drowned here”. We had read that most of the beaches along this coast were dangerous with strong currents and rip curls but seeing the forces of nature just a few feet away from you makes you realise just how powerful nature is and how powerless you are. And so this was how the rest of our experience of the Colombian Caribbean would be: no swimming and no tranquil, transparent clear waters. This was a very different kind of Caribbean Sea; one that fused with the Atlantic Ocean and so completely different to what you see on postcards from St Lucia or even Mexico. The postcard perfect sea does exist in Colombia but you would need to fly to islands like San Andres or Providencia near Nicaragua and while we debated it we decided that this wild and wonderful sea would be just fine for us and indeed it was. In fact it was probably one of the most spectacular scenes of nature I have seen to date. Deserted beaches where you can walk for hours without seeing another human being, thousands of coconut trees adorning you with their shade, and an outdoor museum of nature’s “stuff” that the sea has spat out onto the shore; namely huge oversized tree trunks of varying colours and textures. Tayrona did have a little protected bay where the water was more calm and human-friendly but it was so busy that we continued on to the next stretch of deserted beach and spent the rest of the afternoon there until turning back to exit the park by 5pm or else being fined. We would recommend Tayrona though the nature surrounding it is just as wild and less trodden by tourists.



Having said our goodbyes with Maria, Arturo and Karolina, we headed 12km east along the coast to an even wilder stretch of beach to find Gitana del Mar (Gypsy of the Sea) where we would be working guests for the next 8 days. Gitana del Mar is an exclusive and secluded jungle beach resort with just 9 palapa rooms (with palm-thatched roofs) and is the creation of Colombian-American Nina and her husband Ryan. The place also has lots of animals including 4 dogs, cats, chickens, iguanas and turtles just wondering around. I had already been following Gitana del Mar on Instagram as a place that runs yoga retreats and before our trip I contacted them to see if they would be interested in me teaching yoga there. Nina explained that they already had a teacher for the season but as they were expanding their Spa they would be keen for me to train the spa girls in offering Thai massage. And so, with my love for serendipities we agreed that in return for 3.5 hours of daily Thai massage training, Marco and I would be invited to stay for the 8 days along with all food included. The latter part was of particular interest to us as we love to eat and we weren’t disappointed! The two chefs Davis and Quentin cooked fresh and inventive meals each day and we gorged on arepas, juicy chicken, robalo fish encrusted with almonds, veal and all the yuminess you can imagine. Each meal; breakfast, lunch and dinner came with a fresh juice usually lulo or maracuya which we particularly liked. Suffice to say that we grew a good barriga (belly)!



Everyone at Gitana was super nice and looked after us. While it’s a luxury boutique kind of place, the family feel is very authentic and Nina invited us to a cacao ceremony on full moon complete with singing and bonfire on the beach, as well as inviting us to the biggest party this side of the year at Costeño beach hostel which is known to throw a good party. This one was for the inauguration of their swimming pool where 400+ people came along to party and enjoy this Peruvian Andean electro band called Dengue Dengue Dengue playing cool beats. We also joined their staff Christmas party where we got to meet everyone’s other halves and kids and try the typical Sancocho soup that Colombians have over festive periods and consists of vegetables like yucca, corn and potatoes along with three types of meat. Marco also joined Nina and her guests for a traditional cleansing ceremony led by the Kogui people. The idea is that you release all your dense and negative energy into a sea shell, following a guided meditation and then throw the shell back into the sea for her to recycle the energy. I was gutted to miss the ceremony but I was prepping for the course. Speaking of working, Marco had a great time being my massage body and basically spending 3.5 hours per day being massaged!



Teaching Thai massage in Spanish was a huge hurdle for me and at the same time an amazing achievement. I knew I could do it but I did need to prep a lot and learn all the body parts in Spanish that weren’t part of my every day vocabulary. I devised the course as best as I could based on what I had learned from my teacher and devoted each day to a different part of the body. The eighth and last day would be a practice run of the full body sequence to see what the girls had learned and memorised and go over anything they were not sure of. I had 6 students and they were a total delight! Olga and Estella were sisters, Mildred, Viviana, Anita and Clementina. Anita was extremely sweet and keen to learn. She really connected with the spiritual side of the massage and the meditations we did each day. Clementina was already a long-term Shiatsu practitioner and was also the operations manager at Gitana del Mar so in many ways was overseeing that the girls did their homework so to say. Clementina is half Colombian and half Italian and we clicked with her right away. Not only was she super helpful and efficient, she was really interesting and warm and made our stay at Gitana that extra bit more special.



By the eight day I was really impressed with what the girls had already learned and seeing them so happy with their newfound skill made me proud of myself and the work we had done together. I gave Nina a massage at the end and she said it was one of the best, if not the best thai massage she’d had and invited me back to Gitana with open arms for next year. I would seriously consider going back as it was such a unique and rewarding experience for me and the beginning of something bigger in this role of “la profa” (the teacher).



During our down time when we weren’t in massage training, we chilled on the pristine premises and swam in the pool overlooked by coconut trees. I took a couple of yoga classes in the beautiful yoga Shala and we got a complementary massage from Anita and Viviana in the couples spa room. We did a few outings including to a nearby cascade with Leo the local guide. He took us to Mendihuaca to climb the rocks surrounding the falls and swim through the whirlpools. It was super fun and something I had never done before. He also knew a lot about the local history and culture so we got really good insights into the area and the people from this part of Colombia.



After saying our goodbyes to our new soul family and a sense of sadness following such a good stay at Gitana, we went to the beach one more time to enjoy the peace as we knew this would be the last opportunity to be by the sea during this trip. As part of our immediate attempt to lose some of the weight we’d put on, we decided to have a liquid coconut water lunch provided we could find and pick the coconut off a tree. Marco being the amazingly practical and creative person that he is, managed to get us not two but five coconuts straight off the tree, and opened them with the knife that shortly after broke following the pressure against the hard rock coconut. The first two ended up being empty, but the last three were so thirst-quenching and delicious that it made me think of the coconut water we drink in London differently. Our liquid lunch was a success and surprisingly filling for at least the next few hours.



After Gitana we went back to Brisas del Campo for a couple of days and I was happy to see Pepa and Karolina again as well as the rest of the family.

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Photos

Then jungle view from Brisas del Campo
We were so happy here!

The MASSIVE Sancocho soup - Colombia’s favourite
Three types of meat, potatoes, corn