World Colombia Magdalena Tayrona National Park

Sue and Kim Trying Not to Get Kidnapped in South America

Parque Nacional de Tayrona--aka Paradise Oct 12, 2009

After our relaxing night on the beach of Rodadero we headed back to the hostel, took naps, and headed out on a CHIVA (basically a party bus) that the hostel organizes every week. Its a huge open-aired bus with rows of seats, decorated with gaudy tassels and electric colors, a booming sound system, and of course plenty of ron y coca cola. There were several groups of friends parents in town, so they got a front row seat of what a typical saturday night of travellers debauchery looks like. Dancing on a moving bus after three or four cuba libres proved to be slightly more difficult than we imagined, and Kim and I both work up with a few minor cuts and bruises...none of which stopped us from cleaning up and heading out to the national park nearby of Tayrona.

I know I probably sound like a broken record, but once again, this place was SO beautiful its hard to describe. I know the pictures don't do it justice, but it can give you an idea at least. A ten minute walk through the market in Santa Marta brought us to our bus, which forty five minutes later dropped us off at the entrance to the park. Unfortunately at this point Kim realized that she had only brought 20.000 pesos ($10 US with her). With no ATMs or banks anywhere within miles this meant that between the three of us we had just barely enough cash to pay the park entrance fee of 31.000 pesos per person, and rent hammocks at the beach (15.000 pesos). Our food and water supplies consisted of 3 small bottles of water, two loaves of bread, and three cans of tunafish, some almonds and a granola bar. It was 35 degrees celcius with god knows what percentage humidity, but we pressed on anyway.

The 2 and a half hour hike to Cabo San Juan was somewhat grueling, but so lush and full of wildlife that it didnt seem too bad, although we were excited to make it to the beach and relax in our hammocks with a cold beer and our books. OH WAIT, we didnt have any money for cold beer. Damn. OH WAIT, by the time we finally arrived all the hammocks and cabins were rented. Double Damn. I finally convinced the guy to scrounge up a few extra hammocks, but we were told we had to wait until 930 pm, well after sunset. After swimming and card playing and tunafish eating we were so exhausted that we collapsed as soon as our beds were hung. It was actually one of the best nights of sleep I have had so far in Colombia because of the cool ocean breeze coming off the nearby coast and the soothing sound of waves crashing just 20m away.

Animals found on this adventure: LOTS of bugs (our bodies are covered in bites despite the 99.11% deet bugspray I brought from home), so many different types of birds I cant even begin to count, lizards galore, toads, fish of course in the sea, and even a small pack of spider monkeys! Definitely the highlight of the hike.

Hiking back Kim and I ran into a couple of vacationing Colombians who were eager to tell us all about their country and lifestyles (they both spoke impeccable English and were clearly from upper class families). It was very interesting to see a different side to this country than the slums and poverty that we've come across so far. Almost every meal we eat is completed by a kid between ages 4-11 begging for our scraps. We were so tired that we decided to stay one more night in Santa Marta before moving on to Cartagena tomorrow morning, I might go surfing in the morning before we take off if I can find a good deal on renting a board.