Tayrona National Park - Ciudad Perdida Trek

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Our final trek in South America was a sweat inducing, blood pumping, mosquito infested trek through rain forest to get to the Lost City or Ciudad Perdida as the locals refer to it. It is an archaeological site of the ancient Sierra Nevada city in Colombia and is believed to have been founded in 800AD. It was discovered by a group of grave robbers in 1972. To get there you have to do a trek for 6 days that leaves from Tayrona National Park on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. The area is a yellow fever and maybe malaria zone and up until recently was controlled by guerrillas. In 2005 eight people doing the trek were kidnapped by guerrillas but they were subsequently released 3 months later. Anyway we took all the necessary precautions. We had the yellow fever vaccinations prior to departure, we still had 7 weeks worth of untouched malaria tablets each, and Colm had a pen knife, a torch and a Spanish phrase book should we run into guerrillas.

The morning of the trek we met the rest of our group, Kim from Holland, Brett from Australia and Natalia from Colombia and set off. After 30 minutes walking, spirits were high and they remained so until we encountered the mother of all hills and began our upward slog. With humidity levels about 90% our clothes were quickly soaked with sweat and that was just the beginning of the hill. With regular breaks and stops for fruit we eventually made it to our accommodation for the first night, a hammock on the veranda of an old farmhouse overlooking a valley. Both myself and Colm were hammock virgins so were a bit concerned about our ability to sleep but quickly adapted and had a great nights sleep.

Over the next few days we made 11 river crossings (without bridges), slept in hammocks, sweated and climbed 1200 steps until we finally reached the Lost City. It was worth the effort, the city sits at about 1000 metres above sea level, spans about 16 square kilometers, although you can only see a small portion of this and overlooks a valley of thick jungle. There is a massive military presence with about 40 soldiers up at the site itself and numerous more along the trek. The soldiers are very friendly even though they carry machine guns and are dressed in army fatigue. One of them tried to sell Colm his hat and they are more than eager to chat to tourists.

Anyway after 6 days of trekking we were glad to get back to Taganga and once again civilisation. A couple of days later we headed on our next trip into Tayrona National Park again, the true Caribbean coast with stunning beaches and amazing ocean views. It was here where we were going to take it easy prior to making our homeward bound journey. Accommodation in the park is basic unless you are willing to spend a crazy amount of money on a cabin so we opted for the cheap option and stayed in a hammock without mosquito nets. This proved to be a mistake as the next morning Colm woke up with over 100 bites. I myself was ok as we had one mosquito net with us. The next night even though we both had mosquito nets now, Colm got bitten over 50 times on one knee as his knee was pressed up against the net. Also in the grounds where we stayed the owner liked to watch adult movies all day long. It was a real family orientated environment. After 4 nights in our family orientated environment we got the boat to another mosquito free beach called Playa del Muerte or Playa Cristal (the new tourist friendly name as Playa del Muerte translates as Murder Beach) where hammocks were hung in a restaurant right on the beach. We were the only tourists to spend the night their and there was amazing snorkeling right off the shore. After one night free of mosquitos in Playa Cristal we headed back to Taganga for our last few days of sunshine before our journey home.

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Photos

Early Morning Ciudad Perdida
The city consists of platforms on which wood and straw houses were built.

Kids Fishing
A couple of kids fishing on Playa Del Muerte. Pretty sure the one in the red robbed Niamhs flip flops, as he was the only one around when we went in for our snorkel. I asked him later but he pretended he didn´t understand.

The Stairs to Ciudad Perdida
Over 1200 steps from the river to the top.

Don´t come too close, there´s a smell of B.O.
Nice doo on me all the same. Stylish.

Day 1 break.
Brett, Kim and Niamh

Indio Kid
Passed through her village on day 2. All the females wear the necklaces.

The Indio Village
These people shun most contact with outsiders in an attempt to keep there traditional way of life.

River Crossing
Crossed this river 9 times on day 3, and again on day 5.

The Hat Don´t Fit.
This is at Ciudad Perdida. His head must be smaller than mine.

Niamh and Kim
Arriving at our destination on day 5, soaked after getting caught in a down pour. I managed to miss the rain by about 30 secs.