Taganga & Ciudad Perdida (E)

As Taganga is full of diving centres we decided to take advantage of the low prices and booked ourselves on a one-day dive tour. As the visibility under water wasn’t that great close to the shore, our guide decided to go into deeper waters where the view was much clearer and the underwater world more colorful. Going down to 25 meters was a nice experience but I kind of suspected it’s a bit too risky for someone like me without any diving experience or PADI certificate. However everything worked out fine, the guide looked after me and I enjoyed the colorful fish and corals.

Our dive boat

The second night in Taganga we were able to move into our very own little bungalow at Casa de Felipe, a much recommended, fantastic hostel with excellent food. The filet mignon is to die for and every visitor to Taganga should give the Dutch chef’s cuisine a try. We spend a full day relaxing at the hostel as the coming five days would certainly be very tiring.

The next morning we set off on a five day trek to the “Ciudad Perdida”, the Lost City in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. It’s an ancient city founded around 800 A.D. and was only discovered 1972. The city housed around 2,500 families and the remaining stone terraces can be reached by climbing up some 1200 steps. But first we needed to reach these stone steps which involved a three day journey through the jungle.

Day 1: We were picked up in Taganga by our lovely guides Luis and Marta who have been running tours to the lost city for twelve years and know everything and everyone on the trek. A 2.5-hour ride in a 4WD car through loads of mud brought us to the starting point where we had lunch and begun the first day’s trek. Today’s walk only took us 3.5 hours to complete but involved a steep climb and some extremely muddy descends. We finally reached our first camp shortly before sunset and went for an early night in our hammocks.

Day 2: We were woken up before sunrise to avoid walking during the hottest hours and the daily rain, which usually sets in around 1pm. Another rather short walk brought us to the next night’s camp by midday and we had time to enjoy a swim in the river before the daily downpours started. The rest of the day was spent playing cards and talking to a local indigenous who looks after the camp.

Day 3: Another very early start as we packed our bags and set off just after 6am for this day’s 6.5 hour trek. It was the day of the many river crossings and the previous days’ heavy rainfalls meant the currents would be more brutal than usual. Anna was almost swept away by the strong current of the river but our guides were able to rescue her. We finally reached the third camp before the 1pm rain and were pleased to hear that we could sleep on proper mattresses for a change. Right next to our shack were remains of a mudslide that came down 15 days before, which continued worrying me during the rainy night…

Day 4: By far the hardest day in terms of distance to cover. We climbed the 1200 stone steps and were impressed by the sight of the Ciudad Perdida. Luis explained how the city was built and discovered and we had enough time to explore the huge area. The fact that not more than 20-40 people arrive at the city at any one day meant that we had the sight almost to ourselves. After retracing the stone steps we had to walk back the whole distance covered the previous day. Heavy rainfall set in and we were glad to arrive at the hammock camp just before nightfall.

Day5: On the last day of the trek we had the chance to visit a small cocaine factory. Set deep in the jungle there was an open air tent with barrels of gasoline, coca leaves, sulfuric acid and all kinds of other toxic chemicals used to produce the white powder. The guy showed us the process of making cocaine paste, one step before the finished product, as the last step involves an even more toxic chemical and is therefore not suited to be shown to tourists. The factory visit was a weird but interesting experience and the use of deadly chemicals to produce cocaine re-confirmed my aversion to this kind of drugs.
We arrived back at the starting point of our trek after another exhausting walk and were taken back to Taganga by the 4WD.

We celebrated our trip and the safe return with another filet mignon and some red wine back at Casa de Felipe – the next day was reserved for doing nothing at all, sleeping, relaxing, reading etc.

Posing with Martina, Anna & Tamara

Muddy track

Nice views during our trek