We had heard the Lost City Trek was a
must in Colombia as it was like walking through Jurassic Park. To do the trek
we flew to Santa Marta on the out skirts in a hostel called Dreamers Hostel. We
booked our tour directly from there so it was very easy. Friends that had been
before us had decided not to do it as the heat was too intense and opted for
beach time instead. We thought about giving it a miss but our mate Barry had
bragged that it was up there in his best treks and he's trekked in Nepal and the
Himalayas! We had to do it.
Not leaving any time to rest we booked the
trip for the next day and polished our trekking boots ready for battle. In
all honesty we were anxious as we hadn’t trekked for a long time and we were
told it was challenging for those that don’t trek much, which was us. So we
were picked up by a car and huddled in with 2 Germans from our hostel, an American
and a crazy Guy from Israel. He started shouting loudly about how he wanted to
use the guides machete to kill a live chicken. I thought to myself great, this
guy's bloody nuts.
Food was given to us before we started
the hike and we met the rest of our group. Two more Americans, another German,
one guy from Belgium and 2 men from Colombia. You can do the trek in 5 days
which makes it pretty easy going but the majority of our team wanted to do 4
days as they were mostly on vacation and wanted to use the extra to get on with
their holiday. Left with little to no choice we agreed to do the 4 days which
meant 7-8 hours of walking every day.
The first day was only 5 hours to get to
the first camp but it was challenging as it was a shock to the system. We
climbed a vertical mud hill for 1 hour and we arrived on top totally soaked in
sweat. The guides had fresh watermelon and water waiting for us after
every hard climb so it was really nice. Plus it was good to climb with no
altitude to deal with; you could actually get your breath back. We also walked
past a river where we all jumped in, it was refreshingly cool.
The scenery was
already stunning as we walked deeper into the jungle. You could see mangroves
hanging from above your head and the roar of the river somewhere in-between the
dense forest of trees. On the last day we arrived at camp and slept on hammocks
anticipating an early wakeup call ready for our long hike. The food was really
good, good home cooking which reminded us of being on the boat.
The 2nd day was tough! By 11am we had
already covered 5 hours and were told we had another 5 hours to go. I was
already done and the thought of more walking was enough to make me cry. But we
carried on with our sticks in hand one step after another in the intense heat.
Eventually you forget that you’re trekking because the scenery was amazing. It
was like the trip you would dream of as a kid, hacking through the jungle,
crossing rapid rivers using a rope, walking over rickety old bridges and
climbing up cascading waterfalls on your hands and knees.
Our guide killed a poisonous
snake with his machete, it was really cool! When we arrived at camp that night
we were all so relived and happy. It was a long day. We had a bunk bed to sleep
in with a mosquito net in the middle of the jungle. We were told to turn over
our shoes before putting it on as scorpions are known to creep in there during
the night. Even with the might of a thousand critters humming into our ears we
all fell asleep fast from the exhaustion.
The 3rd day we headed to the Lost City
which was a vertical climb up a 1200 steps that you couldn’t really call steps.
It more like concrete slabs laid on top of each other covered in green moss
which made it extremely slippery. We had a Colombian guy with us who was 73 and
it amazed me that he managed the steps at all. He trekked with us at a moderate
speed and was completely fine. The trip had been a present from his
grandchildren along with a camera. He was snap happy walking merrily along the
long arduous trek in his stride. I hope I am as agile as he is at 73, probably
not.
To give a bit of background, Ciudad
Peridad was inhabited by the indigenous tribe called the Tairona. The Lost City
is speculated to have been an area where the Tairona people gathered. The
Taironas who lived on the beach would come to the Lost City and offer fish
whilst the Tairona people from the Mountains would bring grains and fruit etc.
It was also believed to be where the spiritual leaders lived like the Shaumans
(witch doctors that often ruled tribes as they had the spiritual power to
travel the underworld using herbal psychedelic such as Ayuaska).
As well as
trading, masonry and welding were also done here. This cross linked to the
information we learnt at the Gold Museum in Bogota. The Ciudad Peridad was abandoned
by the Taironas during the Spanish Conquest. The Spanish would often kill and
loot their gold so the Taironas decided to move further up the mountains, out
of reach from the Spanish.
So the city lay untouched for decades
until tomb raiders found it in the 1970s. The tours only began 1984 with a
handful of people going and the tours stopped when in 2005 8 tourist where
kidnapped by guerillas who were running the area at the time. Until only
recently, Colombia has found itself back on the tourist trail and the Lost City
trek is gaining more and more interest. Personally, I found the Lost City trek
better than Machu Pichu. With the hundreds of tourists that visit Machu Pichu
everyday it has become somewhat like a theme park.
You have to queue like cattle
through turn stiles and fight your way through a crowd which makes it loose the
magic for me. But when you visit the Lost City and cross rivers and dense
jungle to get there you can almost imagine that you are finding the city
yourself for the first time. The only other people there are people from your
trek and other small groups but that’s it. It’s so quiet and really cut off
from western life. Unfortunately, I do think in 10 years time the Lost City
will probably follow the fate of Machu Pichu but I feel lucky to have visited
whilst it still felt like a hidden treasure.
The rest of the day was spent walking
back to a camp ready for our walk back in the morning. As we walked along rain
started to pour heavily and we were fortunate to have already crossed the river
when it began. Otherwise it would have been impossible to cross as the once
tame river turned into a whirl pool, furiously spitting at the sides. As we trekked
on the rain became more and more heavy and the thunder crashed over our heads
followed by the lightening that felt so close. It became hard to distinguish the
small streams from the paths as the trail became one big river. We waded
through just hoping no snakes would be found washed up near our feet. As we
reached the end of the covered jungle, we had run fast across an open rice
field in fear that lightening would strike us as the storm was now in full
force. We waited it out inside a shack we found but the rain was not stopping
so we carried on wanting to reach camp before dark. Wet to the bone we trudged
on and somehow made it just as the rain subsided. What a journey it was!
The 4th day we powered through
and it was a hard walk consisting of 4 hours just uphill. The mud roads where
also destroyed in the storm so this made it harder. Some of the older group,
including the 73 year old decided to only to walk half the way and complete the
rest on the 5th day. I don’t blame them as it was very hard, even
for us young folks. At the end everyone staggered to the place where we would
have lunch and you could not help but feel a sense of accomplishment. Also over
the 4 days the group had got quite close so we all had a hug and a group photo.
The guides had said they never had a group that stuck together so much which
was nice. At the end we tipped the guides as they had been brilliant and they thanked
us and asked that we spread the word that Colombia is okay to visit now and the
Lost City trek is safe. So please come and enjoy their beautiful country. Once
again you can see an example of a country on the brink of change, ready to
leave the darkness behind them.
