Colombia: Cartagena and Lost City Trek

After breakfast, enjoy a walking tour through the old part of town, visiting key sites throughout the historical center of the city that were the inspiration for Colombia’s most famous author, journalist and Nobel Prize winner; Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Enjoy a beautiful afternoon at leisure exploring the old city by yourselves, particularly the inner walled town, perhaps visit San Felipe de Barajas Castle, the largest of the fortresses, or head out of town for a mud bath at Volcan de Lodo El Totumo. The nearby group of tiny coral islands and stunning expanses of Playa Blanca (White Beach) reveal the hidden beauty of Colombia’s Caribbean coast. Maybe choose to end this adventure with people-watching in the heart of Getsemaní, Plaza de la Trinidad, where kids play soccer and singers strum their guitars.

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Travel in the morning to Santa Marta for around 5 hours by the coastal shore of the Caribbean Sea. You’ll pass by important cities like Barranquilla, among the biggest in Colombia, and also see large sea ports located in the delta of Magdalena River, the largest in the country. Take the afternoon at your leisure to explore the colonial old city of Santa Marta.

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Start your Lost City adventure with a 2-hour drive on a 4×4, on a small road climbing up to the Santa Marta Range, to reach a small countryside town called Mamey. Here, we will have our lunch and get ready and start our trek to the magical Lost City. After 4 hours (5 mi/8 km), arrive at camp 1 to spend the night in this impressive tropical forest. The overall climb on the first day is about 520 meters. We will have a hearty, well-earned, and relaxing dinner by candlelight.

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Continue the journey and hike for approximately 5 to 7 hours (9.5 mi/15km) on the second day. Along the way, we will stop for lunch and pass camp 2 on our way towards campsite 3 and make a stop at the Indian Kogui’s settlements in the valley of the Buritaca River to get a feeling for the local Indigenous cultures and their way of living in these pristine villages; later we will arrive at camp 3 located on the foothills of Teyuna Lost City. You can also take a refreshing dip in the Buritaca River.

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Finish the remaining climb to the Lost City. We will start early in the morning, climbing up steps for one hour in the last part of the well-designed Tayrona trail that will take us to the monumental city of the royal Tayrona Culture. On the way, we will have magnificent views overlooking the dense jungle and rugged terrain, feeling the weather changing and the ecosystems morphing as we get higher in altitude and closer to the sacred place. Once we arrive, appreciate the magnificent terrain and the beauty of this place along a guided tour around the Lost City for about 3 hours. The local guide will give you a better understanding of how large and spectacular this place originally was and of the importance of the Tayrona Culture. Afterwards, trek back down hill for about 3 hours to camp 2 where we will spend the night.

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On the last day of our trekking expedition up in the sierra range, we will hike 5 hours back to Mamey town, our starting location. We will enjoy the last lunch provided by our trekking team and then get our transportation to take us back to the hotel in Santa Marta. We’ll have a celebration dinner tonight after the accomplishment of our challenging hike.

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International departures, end of services. Take with you memories and photos and leave a piece of your heart, as you will want to return to Colombia soon to experience more of this enchanted land. We wish you a “buen viaje”!