ciudad perdida, colombia

I arrived in Santa Marta in the late afternoon and went for a quick wander in the streets when I came across the office of travel agency Turcol. I had read about the company in Lonely Planet and had even contacted them several months ago to ask a question. I walked in and booked a tour to Ciudad Perdida for the next day. You can choose to do the hike in 4, 5, or 6 days and the agency recommended the 5-day option since it's the best balance between feeling rushed and bored.

There were pictures in the office of Juanes and Colombian politicians who had made the trek previously.

To get to the start of the trail we drove a few hours out of Santa Marta.

There were 2 guides as there were 2 groups from separate companies. Some of the time we'd stick together, other times we'd walk at different paces. The company I went with included a French woman, myself, and our awesome guide Omar who in a way reminded me of a character from a Tarantino film.

One woman in the other group has a cast on as she'd recently broken her toe (or foot?). She's still able to come along, but she's traveling by mule. To reach Cidudad Perdida she will have to walk up the steps herself since it's too steep and too difficult for mules to get to.

Along the way we passed farms and aboriginal homes and communities.

There were many creeks and pools along the way which were a great way of cooling down throughout the day. The shuffle between swimsuit and clothing became routine.

On the first day we had an uphill section which took an hour to climb. It felt a lot more tiresome since the sun was sweltering and there was almost nowhere to escape from the blistering sun. The whole trek ensured we were covered in sweat most of the time, but this time of year isn't even the hottest so we lucked out.

We ate lots of juicy fruit along the way.

Passing a camp with hammocks...

Almost all of the guides I've gone hiking with just wore basic sneakers which is funny because most of the foreigners here come with expensive speacialty hiking boots, and most of them aren't even going to be hiking too much.

Omar was not only our guide, but our chef too!

Bunk beds with mosquito nets at our camp.

At night, the visitors come out.

The sounds I heard made me feel like I was deep in the jungle of the movie Predator.

The boy ahead of me is Hubert who is just 13 but looks younger. I was impressed as he's already decided he wants to be a guide for Ciudad Perdida. He's only been a handful of times, but he was desperate to join our groups because he wants to learn how to be a guide.

There were lots of creeks to cross, but the majority of them were low enough that we were able to keep our shoes on and skip across the stones.

Nature's plate, with sliced pineapple.

Each day we hike for about 4 hours, but that's including breaks, so you don't feel too tired. And, even if you did, you have the whole afternoon and evening to rest and recover for the next day of hiking.

Unlike Machu Picchu, the trek to Ciudad Perdida is more about the trail than the ruins themselves. The scenery is definitely beautiful and tranquil here. 

Swim break!

The water was really cold here so nobody stayed in for too long.

We arrived at the last camp on day 3, the closest to Ciudad Perdida, just 1km away. Tomorrow morning we arrive at our destination, though it's easy to forget that you're headed there.

One guy in the other group hasn't been feeling well as he has diarrhea and has been vomiting. He went to the toilet over 30 times in the night. This is not the place you want to be when you're sick. Still, I consider our camps to be quite comfortable since there are showers and toilets at our disposal.

The poor guy, he also encountered bed bugs in his tent. 

89 butterfly

We woke up at 5am in darkness on the fourth day to eat breakfast and gear up for the ruins.

It only took us about an hour or so to reach the ruins. There is a steep section with over 1000 mossy stone steps. It's much nicer to go early since the heat can't get to you.

The ruins were vaster and more beautiful than I'd imagined. So much better it is to have low expectations as you're more likely to be pleasantly surprised.

Omar was very well-prepared with visuals and information about Ciudad Perdida. Not to mention, he always had a snack to offer at the perfect moment. He said that the latter was something he learned from his dad.

The inhabitants of Ciudad Perdida were in the Darien region before, but retreated when water levels rose. It is thought that the city was abandoned during the Spanish conquest, though the Spanish didn't find the city. There are no more Tairona people in the region and there is limited information about the pre-Colombian civilization. There is evidence that they used the site as a commercial and political centre, for housing, and for shaman consultations. The people also worked with gold which they brought from the river.

There are terraces, plazas, and remnants of buildings. Women and children lived in separate houses than men and all houses have 2 doors - one which serves as the entrance, the other for exits (to avoid bad luck).

To make the circle outline of the terraces (as most are circular), the people used a wooden pole and a string-like part from a plant to create a natural compass.

for grinding to make flour

No need to be impatient.

Some say the lines etched into this rock are parts of a map of the area.

Omar told us a lengend about an ugly boy who wasn't accepted by his people for his appearance. In sadness, he went up higher into the mountains to live. One day, he met a shaman and the shaman covered the boy in gold to make him beautiful. The boy went back down to his village and the people loved and accepted him, but deep down the boy knew that it was superficial and that it wasn't genuine.

The walls have rock overhang at the top to help slow the effects of erosion from rain.

Warning! The photos don't do justice to the beauty of the region.

Our nice small group!

Things were getting unhappier by the day in the other group. The other guide was preaching religious things to his group and insisted that the man with the upset stomach wear a rosary. Needless to say, it wasn't the first thought in the mind of an atheist Danish doctor.

The other group was also slower today as they took turns giving a piggyback to the woman with a broken toe.

The military are present at a camp at the top. Thanks for watching over us! And thank you FARC for keeping away!

guava growing in the wild

Ciudad Perdida is known as a point of sickness since there are many ways to be unwell here. It's tough to access the city, it's hot and humid, and the mosquitos will eat you alive.

After touring the ruins, we headed back to our camp from the last night for lunch.

A gigantic plate was set before me.

And then we began the journey back. This meant we'd need to cover more hours hiking per day than it took to get here.

moody plains

We had fantastic time arriving at our camp as it started raining half an hour before our arrival. The rain wasn't too heavy, but it was enough for us to pull out the garbage bags to cover our backpacks. 

Not 5 minutes after getting to camp, but it began to absolutely pour down. The other slower group was still out there with the woman in a cast :/ I don't know how they did it, it would have been enough of a challenge in good weather, but the rain would have made the rock stairs and trail super slipery.

At night the other guide, rosary in hand, was reading a long oration to a very tired and mentally absent Hubert. He'd also scolded some of the group members during the day for going at a different pace than the other members of the group, and then Hubert when he slipped. "A guide never slips," he said.

Chill Omar was chatting with our group and said that God wasn't in a rosary, but it was "here," and he put hand on his chest. "The rosary was made for man..."

The 5th and last day was our longest day of hiking. We got up early again, and hiked for about 2.5-3 hours to get to our lunch spot. There were 2 steep sections to climb, and the rest was primarily downhill. After lunch, we hiked for a few more hours until we reached the point where it all began.

A Kogi girl at our camp. The Koguis are descendants of the Tairona and the camps are managed by them.

Some indigenous of the past and today are known to kill deformed or unhealthy babies shortly after birth.

Meanwhile, the list of injuries continues to grow with the other group

Parts of the trail had bright red-orange dirt, others had fine white sand-like dirt.

Ripe mangoes at our feet

Traffic!

And we made it!

It's cool to eat lunch here and see all the fresh groups just heading out for their trek.

List of combined injuries and dissatisfaction: diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, constipation, broken toe, twisted ankle, guide-unhappiness, and infected nipple.

The drive back to Santa Marta took a few hours, and for the first one, Omar was on the roof of our jeep since there was no room inside. I thought he was joking at first when he said he'd be on the roof. Nope! And the dirt road was winding and unfriendly...

I felt so relaxed on this trek. It was nice to be in nature without any distractions, to hike for several hours each day, and to have regular meals and rests. The problem is, once I got back to Santa Marta with the traffic and the people, I wanted out! Back at my hostel, I found a cockroach and moquito in my dorm :´( At least my memories of Ciudad Perdida live on.