Parque Nacional Tayrona: Who knew trekking through the jungle could be so rewarding!

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Today the alarm rang at 5:30 a.m., which is really really early for anyone aware of my sleeping habits, which are not those of an early riser. Unfortunately, it was necessary given that our guide was coming to pick us up at 6 a.m. for our trek to Tayrona National Park.

At 6 we were greeted by our guide, Bruno, who would prove to be a great asset, as he was energetic, funny, extremely knowlegable about the prak and a wealth of information about the history of Colombia.

He took us to a breakfast place to begin, where we had arepa (which is a flat, round, patty made of cornmeal) and eggs. This was second time trying this Colombian specialty and it was much better than the first time...I think because it had more butter this time.....

We then started our trek in Calabazo. The path was muddy, wet and involved a lot of climbing up and down rocks and across the occasional tree stump, but it gave us the opportunity to experience nature in its purest form. We heard crickets and birds, saw numerous frogs and even saw a really skinny snake which I would have confused for a twig if the guide hadn't pointed it out to us.

Our first stop along the journey was the city of Chayrama/Pueblito, which is an ancient village that supposedly dates back over 1500 years. There is not much that remains today, but a reconstructed hut and some stone ruins, as it was raided by tomb raiders seeking gold. However, it is said that this civilaztion itself dissapeared after the Spanish came, due to the sickness and disease. What I found really interesting was that Archeologists believe that this civilization had ties to others in Central America (particularly in Costa Rica) due to the similarities in architecture as well as the fact that this civilization in Chayrama used jade which is only found in Central America.

After this, we trekked to the beach, which was stunning since the backdrop of the jungle, and the view of the waves crashing against the rocks was reminicent of a scene from Jurassic Park. The beach we started at was Cabo San Juan, but we walked to various beaches (Piscina, Arrecifes et.c) along the way, drinking freshly squeezed orange juice and sweating like crazy due to the heat.

However, we eventually got to the end, and made our way back to Taganga, where we had some dinner, and then went to the roof to lay down in the hammocks.

Tomorrow we head back to Cartagena....but I think I will miss Taganga and the people there.

Ciao,
Caitlin

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