Santa Marta & Tayrona National Park

On 4^th of February 2014, we took a bus to Santa Marta which is a major port city in the north of Colombia. A good Colombian friend of us from Sydney, Felipe, kindly offered his parents’ summer house as long as we wanted to stay. We are grateful to him as accommodation in Colombia can be quite expensive compared to other South American countries.

Night Life in Santa Marta

Santa Marta is one of the oldest cities in South America which has a rich architectural heritage. It is not as lively as Cartagena, but is surrounded by magnificent natural beauties. The first couple of days, we spent some time discovering this historical city and checked out the beaches around it. Due to its central location, it is easy to visit many different spots such as El Rodadero, Taganga and Playa Blanca. 

A great tourist attraction close by is Minca, which is a small town nestled in the foothills of Sierra Nevada Mountains and is only 14 km away from Santa Marta. Sierra Nevada region is the home of many indigenous tribes such as Kogi, Ijka, Wiwa and Kankuamo. 

Minca is an ecological paradise which is famous for its incredible hikes and organic coffee plantations. Upon arrival, we had a delicious cup of coffee in one of the local cafes. Although, Colombia is famous for producing high quality coffee, you don’t really get to taste it that much as most of it is exported to Europe and to the U.S. We consider ourselves lucky to be able to taste some good organic Colombian coffee from Minca.

After our coffee break and a lovely chat with some locals, we did a 3 hour track in the forest which ended at La Victoria coffee farm where you can get an interesting tour of this coffee plantation. Our guide, Jamie, was lovely and provided valuable information to start our own coffee farm in the future. At the end of the tour, we were served different types coffees which were harvested at the plantation. 

Tayrona National Park

After a week of relaxation, we were ready for a new adventure, Tayrona National Park! It is set on a jungle covered coast in Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and is one of Colombia’s most popular national parks. We left with our backpacks on an early Sunday morning and entered this amazing rainforest from the Calzona entrance. We walked for 6 hours until we reached Don Pedro Finca which is a small camping area where you can rent some tents. There are other accommodation options, but I would suggest to camp at this site as some of the camping sites had more than 50 tents next to each other. A nightmare in paradise! Don Pedro Finca is off the beaten track and it is far less crowded than the other sites. After our tiring hike, we enjoyed a nice swim in one of the nearby beaches. Priceless!

Meeting with Kogis

The next day, we walked in the national park and visited some other beautiful beaches. My favourite one was the Piscina Beach where we spent most of our afternoon. It just felt like paradise. In one of hikes in the park, we accidentally walked into a small Kogi village. Most of the habitants were working outside of the village but we met a young mother with her two children who told us about their daily lives, traditions and challenges. It was amazing to meet such cultures who live in harmony with the nature. An invaluable experience.

Unique nature in Tayrona National Park

At night, we prepared our dinner from ingredients we carried with us. It is advisable to bring your own food when you visit Tayrona National Park. Although, there are places to eat, the prices are quite expensive.

We spent the following morning at the Piscina Beach, and then made our way to the main exit. On our way out, we saw amazing flora and wild life. This incredible park is a wonderful place to spend at least a couple of days.    

Tayrona National Park

Colourful Cartegena

Colourful streets of Cartagena

Cartagena provided a great escape and diversity after Bogota and Medellin. This old colonial city has an amazing energy and architecture which made us feel like we were back in Cuba. It is hot, colourful, vibrant and ecstatic. We checked into Hotel Villa Colonial which was organised through Martin from Buddha Hostel. It was a perfect place for a great value.

We were buzzing with energy and were ready to discover this incredible town. Our first stop was San Felipe’s Castle. It is a strong fortress built by the Spaniards with a complex system of tunnels. We visited the castle by ourselves but it might be a better idea to get a guide as there is very limited information about it's history on site.

Our next stop was the “walled city” which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is an astonishing experience to walk around these colourful colonial buildings which brings you back in time. You can easily lose yourself in the narrow streets of the historical town, and wouldn’t want to be found again. Some of the highlights for us were the Plaza Boliva, Templo de Santo Domingo, the Gold Museum, and the Palace of Inquisition. 

We also visited the Mud Volcano “El Totumo” which is famous for its healing mud baths. It is an amazing experience to float in the mud where your feet can’t touch the ground. It was amazing. Here is a link to a Youtube video if you like to find out more.

In Cartagena, we caught up with Marian whom we met while volunteering in a zoo in Ecuador. Also our friend Mirren whom we met in Bolivia happened to be there. It was wonderful to see them again and hear about their travel tales. It is the beauty of travelling that you collect many interesting stories to tell and life never gets dull.

After a couple of fantastic days in this vibrant city, we took a boat to the Playa Blanca located in Baru Island. This is the ultimate Caribbean feel where you get to sleep in hammocks on the beach. The beach is very crowded when the boats from Cartagena arrive for a day trip but the place turns to a paradise when people return around 3 pm. We had great fish for lunch and rented some hammoks for the night. We met Hakan from Turkey and his girl-friend Anna from Russia and spent some time together chatting about travelling. 

After a romantic candle light dinner on the beach, I was ready sleep in a hammock for the first time in my life. Honestly, spending 8 hours in a hammock is not as comfortable as it seems. Although, I woke up with a sore back, I was happy to have the experience. 

During the day, we swam, sun bathed and simply relaxed on the beach. We decided to stay for another night in paradise. During our walk on the beach, we discovered a remote house, run by Fabio who was travelling for 3 years. We decided to stay there that night as it was far away from the other tourists. My second night in the hammock was better but still not great. We woke up with a beautiful sun rise and a light breeze from the sea. The best thing on this island is an early morning swim in the blue ocean. Pure bliss! As we left our camera in the hotel due to security reasons, we weren't able to capture the magnificence of Playa Blanca but here is a link to some pictures online.

We decided to leave Baru Island the next day as both of us were tired of sleeping in hammocks. Returning back to Cartagena on a speed boat was an adventure. Due to strong winds, we had lots of water coming into the boat and we got pretty wet. After an hour of excitement, we were happy to be back in our favourite spot in Colombia. We spent three more nights in Cartagena absorbing the culture, music and the Caribbean feel. It was hard to leave this magical place but we were looking forward to discover the infamous Tayrona National Park.