Tayrona National Park

Day 1 – Camping!

Up with the larks again as we were being picked up by mini-bus at 6.15.  We just had time to pack some stuff in our small day back-packs, store our main bags with the hostel and grab a quick coffee before going to our meeting point.

We set off promptly and the driver seemed like quite a jolly chap, chatting to a couple of Israelis that were on board, from what we could make out, about their sexual conquests in Columbia.  However I would have been more happy if he had kept his eyes on the road whilst doing so.  The actual journey wasn’t that long at just over an hour and the scenery and little towns along the way were quite nice.

At 7.30 we arrived at the park entrance and as we had paid our entrance fee in advance we quickly passed through the gates and were given wristbands to wear.  At the other side of the gate there was a mini-bus waiting to take us the remaining leg of the journey to the beginning of the walk at Canaveral.  Once the mini-bus had enough passengers in we had a short 10 minute drive before we were dropped off.

 

 

The Tayrona park was established in 1964 to protect 27 species of fauna and flora that are only found in this region, as well as 56 endangered species such as armadilo’s, primates, turtles and tiger cats.  It was declared as a protected area by UNESCO.  Fortunately for us it was due to close for a month at the end of January (for repairs), so we were lucky to be there just before it did.

 

 

We quickly found the Kogi Trail which was going to be an hours hike to Arrecifes where all the accommodation was to be found.  The trail was quite straight forward being a path and boardwalks with thick jungle surrounding it.

 

 

After around 15 minutes of walking, we stopped as we heard rustling in the trees overhead and when we looked there were monkeys looking for food in the canopy.  I did my best to try and get photo’s but they were quite high up and moving quickly.

 

Heading onwards and upwards we still continued along the jungle path until we reached a viewpoint where we could finally see our first glimpse of the Caribbean ocean and beach, it looked absolutely stunning.

 

We then walked down towards the beach and soon were walking across it, although this first beach was stunning the waves and currents were very strong and there were warning boards informing no swimming as over 100 people had drowned here.

 

So a few photo’s later we walked on and re-entered a jungle area and walked for another 15 minutes before we reached the Arrecifes park entrance.  Before you could enter though we were subject to a bag search and frisk down by the security, ensuring no hard liquor or drugs were brought into the camp.

 

 

We spoke to the first camp reception and enquired about renting a cabin or tent for the night and I couldn’t believe it when I was told over 800,000 pesos a night.  I had to get the lady to write it down to check whether I had heard correctly, but yes I had they wanted about £200 a night!!

Luckily there were other options and we found another restaurant/office where they were doing cabins for 150,000 (still expensive) or a tent for two for 60,000 (£20).  We still thought we could get it cheaper so we tried the camp next door, but it looked a very mosquito riddled affair and the shower had a dirty hanging towel to hide your modesty so we decided against it.

Returning to the previous camp after quite a drawn out booking (Colombians seem to ignore you at first and then get distracted and do something else whilst serving you) we finally secured our accommodation for the night, a tent for two.  We thought we would try it for one night and maybe book a cabin the next night if camping was not to our liking.

The next problem we had was that it turned out that the campsite did not have lockers and could only offer to put our valuables (passports & cards) in a room with a whole bunch of other bags which everyone had free access too, we didn’t fancy it!  Unfortunately, this meant we would have to carry them round with us on the beaches all day, not ideal!

 

Anyway after checking into our tent and changing into our swimming togs we headed onto the beach that was just through the campsite.  It was quite stunning but again this beach was unsafe for swimming so after taking a few photo’s we set off in the direction of Cabo San Juan, another camping area with a beach with safe bathing.

 

 

Through a gap at the end of the first beach and we found ourselves in a lovely cove with a little restaurant and a couple of fruit vendors.  We had a paddle along the way but we continued onwards to the next bay.

The next bay was La Picina which was again a lovely jungle fringed bay but here it was safe to swim, in fact they had a snorkelling area in the bay where you  might see turtles.  Although there was no café or bar here we thought we would either do some snorkelling here later in the day or tomorrow.

 

 

From this beach we headed back on the path which took us back into the jungle for a further 20 minute walk where we were passed by provision  laden horses.  Eventually we made to Cabo San Juan which was the other camping area and to be fair it looked better than where we were staying.

It was very busy as everyone was coming here before the park was closed.  We headed to the nearby kiosk and bought a couple of cold beers and took them to the beautiful beach where we found a nice shady spot under a tree.  From here we just relaxed with a couple of beers whilst we admired the view, only spoilt by the whistles from the overzealous life guards keeping people from swimming very far from the beach.

 

 

After an hour or so we decided it was time for lunch so went to the onsite restaurant where we thought we had to queue to be served/or to be seated.  Soon a very large queue formed behind us and after about 45 minutes we realised we just had to go to a nearby desk and order the food and find a seat, a bit embarrassing!!

We ordered our food and were given a numbered ticket, but it was quite hard to hear when the waiters were calling the numbers out.  Having said that we did listen very clearly and once our number had been well passed (about 45 minutes later), Shell went and had a word with one of the waiters to see what was happening.

So after nearly 2 hours of messing around we finally got some food.  On a positive note it was a very large portion of chicken, chips and salad and by then it was very welcome.

After the lunch fiasco we headed to the accommodation office to see if they had any cabins for the following day, but they were fully booked for the next week.  A bit disappointed we headed back to the beach to relax.

 

 

Finding another shady spot we settled down and took it in turns to have a refreshing dip in the sea as one of us had to look after our valuables.

It was now getting later in the day so we decided to do the hike back to our camp before it got dusk/dark and more importantly for Shell, before the mosquito’s came out to play.

 We followed the path back the way we came stopping briefly at another campsite we had spotted for a sun downer and to check on their accommodation for the next night.  As with the previous site there was no room at the inn so we finished our drinks and returned to our campsite.

 

 

Arriving back at our site it was getting very bitey for Shell so we quickly joined que’s for a cold shower, followed by a couple of beers before heading for our tent around 7-8.  We spent the rest of the evening in the tent reading stories to each other from the UK’s most notorious serial killers book, just what we needed before having a night under canvas!!