Santa Marta Photos


I went on a six day trek to Ciudad Perdida (Lost City) in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains. The trek is only allowed with a guide, so I signed up with what turned out to be an excellent group of people. Frequent afternoon rain and an abundance of beautiful swimming holes meant that we were wet basically the entire trip. Each day consisted of hiking interspersed with swimming, often at the base of a waterfall. Some nights we spent in hammocks, while others we were lucky enough to have primitive beds.

What remains of the lost city, which was founded around 800 A.D., are only the circular stone terraces that once contained buildings. The buildings themselves were made of mud and therefore are long gone. The setting is quite beautiful, surrounded by tree-covered mountains and valleys as well as a large waterfall in the distance. Similar to Machu Picchu, after days of hiking, the final climb consists of 1200 stone steps, but unlike Machu Picchu, there is the only way to reach it. There are no roads and no train tracks. Approximately 2000 people visit Ciudad Perdida each year, the same number of people that Machu Picchu receives each day!

After returning to civilization, I decided to relax with a couple of friends I'd met on the trek at the nearby Tayrona National Park, just an hour bus ride away. Tayrona is full of beautiful beaches, but is a very tranquil place because there are no roads through it. The beaches must be reached by foot or horseback. We slept in hammocks under tall palm trees and had to make a fire to cook dinner, which turned out to be a hilarious two hour endeavor due to the lack of dry wood in such a humid place.