Day 34: The trek to Ciudad Perdida

Wednesday, May 1st, 2019.

Day 5 of Colombian Caribbean Highlights by Bamba adventures

Todays itinerary:

“Day 1: Santa Marta – El Mamey – Adan’s Camp (L/D)

Depart from the door of your accommodation by 4×4 vehicle for a 3-hour trip to reach El Mamey. Here we will have a light lunch before beginning your exciting trek into one of the largest pre-Columbian towns in Latin America, once inhabited by the Tayrona civilization around the 11th to 14th century.

Get ready for a 7-kilometer trek through the jungle passing by several natural pools where you can take a refreshing swim before reaching the first camp where you will set up your hammocks for the night, have dinner and get a good night’s sleep.”

I get breakfast at La Perla Hostel and give them my large luggage to keep until I am back. I write Bamba, that I am not happy with hostel and would like to change. Then I wait with my daypack to be picked up. Maybe they find the hostel?

At 08:00 am a used Toyota Landcruiser from Expotours arrives, I hop in and we go to the office of Expotours in the city center. By and by more people arrive until we are 16.

We sign for liability, meet our guide Cisar, have a short briefing, get in two Landcruiser and off we go …

First we drive an hour on seal road, then we do a short break at toilets and change to an offroad track.

After 2.5 hours we arrive at El Mamey (Machete), take our backpacks off the landcruiser and enter a restaurant. There we have first wildlife interaction.

We get food, surprisingly good grilled whole fish, order lunch for our last day, when we will be back to this restaurant (fish, pork, beef, veggie), clarify necessary details (vegetarians, glutenfree), prepare and go.

Cisar explains the trek

Hot and humid gets a new definition. We hike under the sun, on white sand straight up. I liquify.

Economically talented indigenous wait aside the trek with cold beer, Gatorade, fresh orange juice, watermelons, pineapples for a bargain.

Further up … even Cisar has to fight. At every stop he vanishes behind a tree, takes of his shirt, wrings out a liter of sweat, rotates it in the air to cool it, and puts it on again.

We enter the Jungle and reach our first camp. It is not hammocks, but bunk beds with mosquito nets, pillows and blankets. There are cold showers, cold beer, a small shop, food as a sensation.