Tayrona National Park

ABOUT TAYRONA NATIONAL PARK:
Tayrona National Park is a beautiful protected area on the northern coast of Colombia, which contains a vast diversity of animal and plant species including 2000 species of animals and 800 types of plants. This is in part due to the variation in the geology of the area - at sea level the climate is arid, and the rugged coastline has some excellent beaches and coves, but the terrain quickly rises as you travel inland, where we find a subtropical climate and cloud forests on the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The National Park can be thoroughly explored on foot as there are many winding trails through the incredible scenery. Further biodiversity is present offshore in the warm water of the coral reefs, which offer an excellent opportunity for , and I and swimming.

Woke up this morning and after packing the little stuff that I had, I went to have the same nice breakfast as yesterday. Unfortunately, Tom, a passenger from our tour group woke up this morning feeling unwell and also with a sore leg, so he lay down in the back of the truck for today's journey.

On our way out of Cartagena, we thankfully stopped at the airport to pick up my bags, however, despite being told my bags would be ready in the office for me at 8 am, we arrived to find the office closed. After some investigation work, we were eventually able to locate the American Airlines Manager and collected my bags after about 45 mins!

So back on our way, we stopped at El Totumo, which was not on the itinerary as either an included or option activity. El Totumo is an active mud volcano located near sea level in northern Colombia, approximately 1-hour drive from Cartagena and is a local tourist destination, famous for its alleged healing mud bath. We all got changed into our bathers and climbed the short stairs to the top of the volcano/mud pit. I was the first in and it was quite a weird experience. You cannot touch the bottom, but you do not sink at which point I was immediately man-handled by a couple of local men who begin to give you a massage as your float on the surface of the mud. It’s more of a brief rub-down. Then a quick walk down to the lake to be washed by the local ladies. These ladies are quite aggressive in their pouring water over you and cleaning, even insisting that you take off your bathers for her to wash. So here we are, people, who have only know each other for 1 1/2 days all sitting together completely naked in a lake, needless to say, this was a good bonding/getting to know you experience. Afterward, the masseuse and cleaning lady will find you to claim their payments, which they politely call a tip (5,000 COP each).

Back on the truck until our lunch stop, as lunch wasn’t included today, we all split up to find a restaurant of our choosing. Several of us

chose a nice looking local cuisine restaurant, however, this turn out to be a mistake as this was the most shambolic restaurant I have ever been to! Almost every single order came out incorrectly, and we had been told to be back at the truck in 1 hour; however, our meals took 55 mins to come out.

Tom has now taken a turn for the worse, and due to the remote nature of Tayrona NP, the decision was made to drop him off (along with the driver Herald) at a Hospital. We would pass through this town again on the way to Mompós, and pick up Herald and hopefully Tom.

We arrived at the entrance to Tayrona at 4:30 pm, just in time as they do not let anyone enter after 5:00 pm. After some back and forth about whether they would allow our Truck into the National Park, we eventually drove into the carpark, where having only just been reunited with them, I had to leave my main luggage stored on the truck, and take a day pack and sleeping bag and begin the hike to our campsite.

As we started out on a sort of woodland trail that gradually became more tropical-looking and palm tree-filled. The journey through Tayrona to our campsite (Arrecifes) took about 45 mins, it was both straight and flat at times and steep and windy at others, and punctuated with other people walking the

opposite direction (it seems only friendly tourists venture to Tayrona; with nearly every person you come across greeting you with a smile and a 'hola').

In Tayrona National Park we stay in rented hammocks. The hammocks are equipped with mosquito nets, and they were extremely comfortable, that is until you wanted to fall asleep!

The following day was a free day to explore this stunning coastal park. Most of us chose to trek to the ancient ruins of El Pueblito, a pre-Hispanic settlement of the Tayrona people. We mostly started together but quickly split up into different groups based on pace, I was in the quicker group with Jennifer, Graham, Fraiser, and Nathan. The trek itself was challenging, a lot of the time climbing over boulders etc. rather than hiking. It was much harder than anyone had imagined, although it enjoyable, and it made up for the disappointment of the ruins at the end, which our guide Jazz had warned us about.

As we trekked back down, we decided to go to the most iconic stretch of sand, Cabo San Juan beach. This beach is the one that comes up when you Google the park. It’s the one they put on postcards, the one that’s actually two beaches separated by a thin stretch of sand, a destination where you can swim or laze in hammocks or amble around and take photos.

Almost the entire group reassembled back here, where we spent a blissful few hours. We washed off the sweat and mud from the hike in the refreshing water. We lay in the hot sun, happy and talkative.

After several hours I decided to walk back the 45 minutes back to our campsite, where along the way I heard two people talking about ‘Aussies in London’; ‘The Walkabout’; and ‘The Church’ etc. I spun around and spoke with them. They were an Aussie bloke and a British girl, who had just met on the bus out to Tayrona this morning who are backpacking around Columbia.

Now time for a shower and some well-earned cervezas and steak!