The next three days we spent entirely at the hotel. Nothing was close by and everything we needed was there. This was very unusual for our group as we typically are always doing something. However it was really welcome by all.

We celebrated Nathan’s 20th birthday. Another birthday abroad for him.

We did go on a waterfall hike for a couple of hours. None of us went in. We had been swimming in rivers this previous week and we just weren’t feeling it. It was beautiful though.

We left Minca for a night in Santa Marta before our flight home and stayed in a posh boutique hotel.

The weather the entire trip had been excellent

On our way out we saw that we could ride horses out. So we did. We we walking, trotting, and galloping through the jungle on thin muddy paths. Passing each other, the horses shoving each other as we went. At one point when we were in a fast trot, a local flew past us on a horse like we were standing still. I was holding on tight, afraid I was going to fly off at a couple points. About a third of the way the chaffing of my inner thighs was now more than just annoying; it was raw. For 45 minutes we clung to our steeds going up and down paths. Occasionally we passed some poor hikers that had literally miles to go. Towards the end, the path opened wider and all three of our horses started racing for the finish where they would be fed, watered and rested. 

When we stopped I was so happy to climb off. I now understand why horseback riding is also exercise for the rider. I also know now never to wear shorts. I had rubbed the top layers of my inner thighs so raw that it may be more than a week to heal.

As we walked out of the exit to the park there was a taxi soliciting for rides. We negotiated a fair rate and off we went. On the way to Minca we stopped at Calabazo to grab our bags and in another 2 hours we were in Minca. Our hotel was another 20 minutes past on windy mountain roads. About 10 minutes, we turned off to an unmarked dirt “driveway?” for Masaya Casas Velahos, our hotel/hostel. The driveway was narrow, windy, with gulleys and went up up up. At multiple points I wasn’t sure if our little taxi would make it as it bottomed out, clanked and spun out. 

The hotel was beautiful. On the side of a mountain, an infinity pool, bar, restaurant, TV room, reading room, etc. all overlooking an amazing valley. Time to chill.

We started the morning at, you guessed it, 5:00 a.m.  There were a couple of fruit stops along the way but not for very long. We hiked almost continuously until we got to El Mamey. Nathan and I arrived about 20 minutes before the rest of the group. Xander was only 10 minutes behind us. I estimate that this was around 12 mi to El Mamey. We had lunch and then jumped into our waiting 4x4s for a trip back towards Santa Marta. The driver seemed like he was in a race. We were bouncing and sliding all over the facing bench seats for almost an hour.

 

Thank goodness we were to be dropped off at Calabazo before  getting to Santa Marta for another 3-hour hike to our hotel. When we arrived at Calabazo we decided to swap out clean clothes for the smelly ones in our day packs and leave our full packs behind. To cut our hike down, we also decided to get motorcycle rides from the entrance to the half way point in the park.

Once on the backs of the motorcycles we were moving around 10 mph, probably 5 times faster than if we hiked. On this 30 minute ride we passed a few weary looking hikers and we’re glad we weren’t them as we were equally weary.

And then we started the hike. We hiked for around an hour and a half and emerged onto the beach. We looked around. Saw a few people on either side of us. We started to walk to the west expecting to see the hotel but instead we just saw that all the people on the beach were naked. We were on the nude beach . We asked someone where the hotel might be and she said that we would have to hike back into the jungle for another 3 hours. We had missed a turn. Reactively we turned around and started hiking back in,cup hill, for about 15 minutes until we decided the best course of action might be to go back to the beach and look for a different hotel. I knew that there was lodging along the beach from my research and had originally wanted to stay in an area where there were lots of people staying in tents, but I was couldn’t reserve a tent. We hiked in the jungle along the beach and emerged back onto the beach close to 6:00 p.m. it was starting to get dark. We managed to find the information desk before they closed and rented a large tent with beds for the night. There were showers, toilets and food commissary in this area and many people.

We ate and the crammed into the tent with our sweaty smelly clothes. You cannot imagine how bad we smelled. 

Sleeping was a little difficult as it was hot and humid and there was a loud party further down the beach raging into the night. We would hear a big breeze outside our tent. Our “tent windows” were open but the breeze never reached us.

As I finally drifted to sleep reflecting on the numbers 22 and 43,000. The miles and steps we hiked today. Certainly a record for me.

Bloody, sweaty, painful, exhilarated, exhausted. Today was filled with all of these. We awoke early, still reeling from the previous days hike. It was only 12 miles, but there were a lot of ups and downs, and a lot of rocks that beat up our feet. Many of our group wore sneakers. I can only imagine how beat up their feet are from the pounding.

Breakfast was at 5:30 and we departed immediately after just as the sun arose. The first 20 minutes were ups and downs along with a couple of suspension bridge river crossings. The bridges were in disrepair and only 2 people were allowed at a time. As we would walk across the bridge would bounce and sway. It was a little hard to get a picture snapped, but I managed.

No wet clothes were worn for this hike as I wore my dry swimsuit. By the time we reached the 1200 steps to the Lost City, I had not just broken a sweat. My clothes  were almost soaked. At the top of the steps there were some rings of stone where buildings used to be.  The Lost city of Teyuna is around 85 to 100 acres big and had 2000 to 8000 people. It was the capital for the Tayrona people and the central city for trade. It was only foud by the outside world in 1973 by treasure hunters. In 1976 it was declared an archaeological site. Much of it has not been unearthed.

As we explored the city, we hiked higher and higher. So much for those 1200 steps. We met the chief of the local tribe that oversees the area. The pictures below speak for themselves.

At the end of the tour we went to a waterfall pool that was said to be used to cleanse visitors before they came to see the king. Our guide/translator also said it was called the fountain of youth. Only 4 intrepid adventurous in our group of 13 dared to jump in. I was one of them. Right before I went in the guide also told me the “real” reason it was called the fountain of youth. “You go in with a man sized penis and come out with a baby sized one. Yeah, that was some cold water. The water was bitter cold, but exhilarating. I didn’t spend much time in it.

We hiked down after the dip and grabbed our packs at camp starting the trek our nex camp…another 12 mile day. The hike was uneventful except for Nathan got a bloody nose about 20 minutes from camp. He is an experienced bleeder and had packed tampons for his nose. He went through 2 before the bleeding stopped and he barely missed a step as he was pinching his nose, looking down over it with his head tilted slightly back and hiking. Quite a feet (dad joke).

We reached camp Mumake, the camp we swam at and had lunch on Day 2, around 3:30. Upon arrival we didn’t hesitate to gallop down to the river. The water was reinvigorating for our tired bodies.

After that the routine was the same: shower dinner and bed. Tomorrow is another 5 am day.

Anxiously I repacked my pack, concerned about my dry clothes coming in contact with my wet clothes and my electronics. Realizing it would be futile as my pack was just a small day pack with limited compartments, I decided to wear my wet clothes. After all, the would only get wet again from the drizzling or dry in the heat of the Colombian day. 

Well that’s mostly what happened until I started sweating. We had a full day of hiking with a lot of ascents. Although it had stopped drizzling by the time we started our hiking at 6:15, sunrise, the day heated up and so did we, as we hiked the ups, the downs, and the Colombian flats. In Colombia, the term Colombian flats is a misnomer. As our guide would say, there is no flat land in Colombia, just small ups and downs, where small is relative to the previous or forthcoming ups or downs. 

The day was uneventful. Lots of hiking, lots of fruit, a lunch stop and a swim in the river, lots more hiking and eventual stop at camp Paradiso. This camp like the others we stopped at had a swimming spot too. We all partook. As we had been getting higher and higher the water was getting colder and colder. This didn’t matter after the long hot sweaty day. The day ended as usual: shower, dinner and sleep.

We took off from Santa Marta a bit after 9 and hit the entrance for the trek around 11. It was the turn-off from the main road to these narrow, bumpy uphill roads. Apparently, they’re working on paving the first 4 km of this route. As we cruised up this winding path, we spotted the workers crafting the road by hand, using bags of concrete and this super long hose stretched way up the mountain.

When we arrived at our base camp, El Mamey, around noon, we had lunch and then eased into our trek with a~5 mile hike. At the top of every climb we had some fruit: pineapple, watermelon, oranges. This was so welcome by all as not only was it high 80s/low 90s, it was really humid.

Our group was great. All young energetic and happy people/adventurers.

During our hike we learned about the 3 periods of recent economic history of the area. This first region we had entered was “managed” by farmers. Their first crops were marijuana. They had cleared large areas of jungle to grow it. This gave way to the more profitable coca crop. This resulted in drug wars, lots of violence. But now it seems that only the indigenous can legally grow coca, and the non indigenous are focused on the development of the tourism industry.

After a hot and sweaty day, our final stop was camp Adan. The camp was right next to a river where we jumped in, swam, and washed clothes.

We landed in Bogotá at 5:15 am. The supposed extra roomier seats were not very roomy, so we were pretty groggy. Amazingly we flew though customs and to our domestic connecting gate before 6. The flight to Santa Marta was also uneventful and we were wheels down by. 8:30 in a cab and at our hotel in Santa Marta by 9:30.

Santa Marta is a city on the Caribbean Sea in the northern Colombian department of Magdalena. A busy port, it was also the first Spanish settlement in Colombia.

It is a little sleepy but very pretty. Beautiful old buildings, wisteria valley near and flowers. As we left the airport it reminded us of Guyana because it was right on the coast and there were a lot of locals just hanging out on the beach in front of the airport. However a stark difference was how clean Santa Marta is. In Guyana there was garbage everywhere. In Santa Marta Colombia it was impeccably clean with no visible trash.

The hotel was beautiful with a courtyard pool. We spent most of the day here adjusting to the heat and humidity, relaxing after the long red-eye flight. We also got some cash and exploded a little, but today was really about being ready for a 7:40am pickup tomorrow to start our trek to the Lost City.

This is the 30,000 ft view of our plan…

Day 1 – Pick up one way rental car, drive to NYC, pickup Xander, drop at airport. Red-eye flight to Bogota. We got seats that are supposed to have a little more room. We will see how well we sleep.

Day 2 – Quick flight to Santa Marta. Explore and prepare for tomorrow’s trek

Day 3-6 – Trek to and from the Lost City. Up mountains, over rivers, down muddy paths. Get gold and jewels while there. Get dropped off at Tayrona National Park and hike 3 hours to our hotel. It will be a really long day.

Day 7 – Hike out of park and catch a 4×4 ride to Minca. This is where we will relax.

Day 8-9 – Hang out in Minca: Yoga, Waterfall Hike,  Shinrin Yoku, Bird Watching, Night Hikes, Meditation, Coffee Tour, Cacao Tour. Lots to do, but mostly chill.

Day 10 – Back to Santa Marta to stay at posh hotel. No plans but hang out at pool. By this point we should already have 10lbs ea of coffee in our luggage for Angie.

Day 11 – Fly back to Bogota. Take another red-eye to JFK.

Day 12 – One way rental car from JFK. Drop off Xander in Times Square and on to Sobo.

Adventure awaits! Every journey holds the potential for unexpected twists, delightful detours, and a sprinkle of magic if you know where to look. Here’s to hoping for smooth skies, open roads, and a healthy dose of serendipitous surprises.Stay tuned…