Arriving in Santa Marta on News Years Eve after an overnight bus from San Gil, I foolishly booked the trek to The Lost City for the next day, resulting in me beginning the trek with a major New Years Day hangover! After the initial pain of walking up very steep inclines in tropical heat, sweating more than I ever thought possible, I grew to appreciate my decision. Once the fog began to clear from my brain, I noticed there were not many other tourists! The route was practically empty! Even at the campsites we only met a handfull of other tourists. Once up at the actual site, our small group was the only one there! It was fantastic. After trekking for 3 days, the final day being through very dense jungle, When the thick jungle suddenly opens up to an expanse of circular grassy patches atop rock walls, you can’t help feeling the mystique of the place.
Seeing the wild virgin jungle surrounding the site, you can understand how the guerrillas managed to hide so well. It was pretty eery as I had fresh in my mind the documentary I watched about the kidnapping of 8 tourists in 2003 on this same trail. Now the place is crawling with well camouflaged Colombian soldiers.
It is necessary to go with a company and have an official guide. I chose Turcol as they were so helpful in answering my email enquiries. We were a small group of 5: a Russian couple, an Ozzie nurse who just finished his studies in Brisbane, and our guide George, who was also the cook. Having read plenty of other blog posts, I was prepared for it to be tough, and yes – it is. But the scenery is wonderful and the highlight for me was seeing the indians living in traditional homes, wearing their signature white robes and continuing a traditional life style with some added benefits such as selling drinks and chocolates to tourists at opportune places on the trail. The men dont like you taking photos but the kids are keen to oblige in exchange for money or sweets – they are quite entrepreneurial.
The Kogi people (“jaguar” people) that live here in the Sierra Nevada: (the mountain range, separate from the Andes that runs through Colombia) are one of the very few tribes to have continued since pre-Colombian times. They are descendants of the Tairona culture. The Tairona founded Ciudad Perdida, which the local indians call Tayuna, is believed to have been founded around 800AD (650 years the Incas built Machu Piccu).
Below is the full series of my photos: click the bottom right hand corner to view….
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