Ciudad Perdida at the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta

Alongside Tayrona Park, "Ciudad Perdida" or "The Lost City" is the other mayor tourist attraction of the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta.

The 6 day journey begins in Santa Marta, from there you take a thirty minute drive to a small town. There we meet our mountain guide along with some mules to carry the luggage, and off we go into the jungle for a five hour walk to the nearest camp site. A house in the mountains where we sleep on hamacs with their respective ponchos to keep the mosquitos at bay.

The next day we got up early for another walkaton. Along the way we stumble thru rivers, several mountain slopes and an endless follige where we got a first hand look at the local wildlife.

We set up camp in a house near a waterfall, we took our luggage from the mules and we got ourselves set up for the next days walk. While we were there, a rather curious visitor arrived at the campsite, a Kogui Indian, who taught us some of the medicinal properties of several local plants.

The third day we picked our gear and began our walk, the mules couldn't continue the journey as the entry way to Ciudad Perdida consists of a solid limestone staircase etched in the rock by the local Indians almost 700 hundred years ago. Once we reach the top, we foud ourselves amids a rather imposing site: a complex city with wide open terraces made out of stone, that seems to blend into the surrounding environment.

We stayed for two days in Ciudad Perdida and it took us another two days to walk down back to Santa Marta for a total of six days.

Things that one must bring along: 3 sets of clean clothes, tennis shoes, sleeping bag, sweater, bug repellent, food and accommodations for camping are provided for.

If a long walk up the Sierra Nevada is not your thing and you want some leisure time at the beach along with the added bonus of visiting an actual Kogui Indian reserve camp, then Playa Brava Beach is the place to be. Hidden between densly forrested mountains, the two hour walk thru beautiful tropical forests and waterways, takes you to a solitary and dreamy place. Accommodations consist of three well equipped beachfront kiosks. From there, you can take the journey to the Pueblito campsite (roughly a one hour walk) where you will find yourself before a small Indian settlement similar in layout to Ciudad Perdida.