Taganga for the Lost City (Ciudad Perdida) trek. There were four of us from my hostel going, 3 Aussies doing the 4 day trek and me doing 5 days. You can do it in 4,5 or 6 days. Its the same trek but the speed varies. For 4 days you walk at least 6 hours a day, where we were going to walk about 4 a day. They didn't attempt too many afternoon hikes normally since it usually rains then. Plus with the 5 day version we stopped to swim in the rivers more and did some other things too.
We went down to the office and waited for the car... after
awhile they put us in a cab to meet the rest of the tour over in Santa Marta. We loaded up with the others and started driving. There were 7 of us on the 5 day trip, 3 on the 4 day trip and another company doing a 5 day trip with about 8 or so. The drive took about an hour and then we pulled off the main road to a dirt road.
So we started ascending the mountain and a bumpy, wet dirt road for another hour. It was not a comfortable trip and the dirt road was ridiculously muddy at times. It felt like we were going to get stuck more than once and at times were precariously close to the edge...
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Finally we made it up the mountain to the village were the trek starts. We had a typical style lunch of rice, chicken, bit of salad and beans. The next five days were an amazing trek through beautiful countryside but filled with muddy passes, river crossings and way too many body wrecking uphill climbs.
The guide and cook on our trip had used horses/donkeys to pack the food up to the camps so we thankfully only had to carry whatever we needed. A towel, change of clothes and little things. The lighter the better. And we all paced our things in plastics bags because you and your bag inevitability got soaked, rain, river or sweat.
After a just a little while, we were all virtually soaked from head to toe in sweat that was only temporarily abated by wisps of shade or a dunk in the several creeks and rivers we would cross. Nothing like a 5 day hike in the same wet clothes and shoes (they never dried at night in the humidity). We got the first camp and they fixed us dinner, we passed time getting to know each other and eventually crept into our hammocks (with mosquito nets).
The first morning out on the trail, we had the option to see a cocaine "factory". You had to pay a little extra and a different guy took you up a semi hidden trail a little ways to the factory. It wasn't full size but was built as a model. He explained and demonstrated how the leaves are processed using water, salt, lime, gasoline, sulphuric acid, caustic soda and acetone. He didn't do the final step using acetone but he took it to that point. He went on the explain how the economics of it works, what it cost how
much he used to sell the product to narcos for and how much they could sell it. It really was the narcos getting rich. The government effectively shutdown all major production years ago and it is highly illegal to even purchase the chemicals in large quantities without getting arrested or at least questioned.
After that stop we continued on our way. The next coupe days were the same, up hill, down hill, mud, more mud awesome scenery and the occasional river crossing. Each day we stopped near midday at the next camp and had lunch. We had a few hours to rest, swim in the rivers or just chill out. Most days it rained in the afternoon or evening. The higher up we got the chiller it got at night.
We passed a few local villages and kept the hike going. More rivers to cross, more hills to climb and beautiful scenery. The third day we reached the last camp, it was only 1 kilometer from the city. However due to afternoon rains and conditions, tours do not climb to the city in the afternoons. Instead you want until the
next morning and head up early.
The fourth morning we got the final part of the trek under way.
Because of recent heavy rains, we had to take an alternate trail. The primary trail crosses the river several times and the water was too high to do it safely. Our trail was higher and narrower now. Some sections only a foot wide or so and dropped off done to the river. The trail was soaked from the rain during the night and every time we had to climb or scramble over rocks, it definitely gave you a second thought.
We finally crossed the river the last time and got to the base of
the steps to the city... all 1,200 stone steps, step, small and half of them wet and covered in moss. After climbing to the top we arrived at the first level of the terraces that make up the Lost City. Only a small percentage of the city has been excavated, the rest is still lost to the jungle and the indigenous owners want it to stay that way.
The Lost City was found in the early 70s by grave robbers and "artifact" dealers. Eventually this ran its course, murder, intrigue and mistrust ran rampant through the dealers and their cohorts. Eventually some of them started offering to take people to the top. This led to another series of bad dealings, scandals and scams aimed at tourists. Eventually the government stepped in and caused the tour providers to consolidate and provide legitimate services. Now there are several companies who run the tours, risks from FARC and guerrillas is not a concern, but has been in the past.
As I was saying, we got to the bottom level of the city and looked around. We soon discovered that the City is probably the worst place in the world that I have ever been to, for mosquitoes. Each of us was quickly swallowed by our own personal horde of the little blood suckers. Most of our number were already covered in bites that made them appear that they were suffering through a bad case of measles or chicken pocks. I was lucky to hardly have any bites. In other bad news, my camera decided that it was done. It stopped working but I was able to copy many photos from friends on the trip.
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The City is a series of semi circle terraces built on each other. I have no idea how many but them seemed endless. The City would have been occupied by only the highest caste of the indigenous, including their leaders, spiritual and political. also the more important you were, the higher up in the city you lived. Which brings us to the higher levels... were you had to climb another 600 stairs to get there. There are small stone staircases all over the place. In addition to being stairs, they also aided in the dispersal of rain water so that no area was flooded.
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We spent several hours at the City, roaming around and looking at the amazing views. We even had a chat with eth few soldiers who were stationed there. One of the best things about the City was that we were the only ones there. Machu
Picchu can have 2,000 visitors a day. On the day I was at the Lost City, there were 15. We finally retired to the camp, after negotiating the stone steps, which of course are harder to go down than to go up. A brief walk back to camp (stopping to swim in the river along the way of course), crossing the river on a hand operated cable car and we got lunch. We gathered our things and started the long walk to the next camp. But of course since it was the afternoon, it rained on us.
To be honest walking in the rain wasn't bad. It was a lot cooler and refreshing.
There were some moments crossing suddenly swollen streams that were interesting and climbing the rocks was even harder. I was stupidly startled when I crested a hill and heard a rather angry grunt as the lightning crashed around. After I regained my senses, I found a large pig hiding in the hollow of a tree next to the path. Nothing really sinister in the end. Eventually we dragged our weary, drenched bones back to the second camp. It was an early night as we had a 12 kilometer walk out the next day and needed to be back in Santa Marta by the afternoon. That meant our start time was close to 6am...
After a long walk we made it down to the beginning, had lunch and got in the car to get back to town. Once there I actually had to return to Taganga for my
bag. So I gave the others my soaking wet shoes and small bag to take to the hostel in Santa Marta for me. As I rode in the taxi to Taganga, I was stopped by the police entering Taganga. They "interviewed" me. But as I was wearing wet clothes, had no shoes and no documents (and no money for bribes), I was quickly sent on my way. I got my big bag, cleaned up and headed back to join everyone in Santa Marta.
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