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I know that several of you told me, for various reasons, not to bother doing the Ciudad Perdida trek. In addition, my guidebook emphasized how slippery, steep, and muddy the trail was, and how bad the mosquitoes were.
But naturally I decided to ignore your good advice, and attempt it anyway. And I am glad I did! It turned out to be not slippery or muddy, and there were no mosquitoes (but it was pretty steep, I’ll admit). And it was an amazing place.
But first a little history:
Ciudad Perdida was founded about 80O AD by the Tairona, about 650 years earlier than Machu Picchu (ha ha to Peru!). They abandoned it in the 16th century, after the arrival of the bad old Spanish. It was undiscovered for several hundred years until local treasure hunters rediscovered it in 1972. When gold figurines and ceramic urns from this city began to later appear in the local black market (some of these are in the Museo del Oro in Santa Marta), archaeologists came to investigate, completing their work in 1982.
Tairona was the first advanced indigenous culture encountered by the Spaniards in the New World, in 1499. It was here in the Sierra Nevada that the conquerors were for the first time astonished by the local gold, and the myth of El Dorado was born.
And that's enough history for now!
I began my Ciudad Perdida adventure in the back of a minibus for maybe 2 hours, from Santa Marta to the start of the hike. This was followed by a meal with my fellow hikers (there were about eighteen in our group),
Then a talk, with a map, of what we should expect over the next three days: 3 hills, each higher than the next, and a final very steep staircase up to the site:
(Unfortunately, we saw no toucans; and fortunately, no jaguars). So off we went,
The trail was shared by burros bringing supplies to the camps.
Ciudad Perdido Day 1, burros.MOVWe stopped for a swim along the way...
... walked passed some beautiful countryside...
...through thick forests and several rivers...
...with flowers...
...butterflies...
Day 1, Ciudad Perdida, butterfly.MOV...and a very strange yellow plant (does anybody know what this is?)
The trail was not very difficult - the steep part comes later. We reached our first camp after only about four hours. At the camp, there were individual beds for everyone.
There were other hiking groups at the camp as well, bringing the total hikers at each campsite each day to more than a hundred.
One piece of good news: all of the income goes directly into the hands of the indigenous people from this area. They serve as guides and cooks, and handle all the supply logistics.
After a meal and a shower, it was time for bed. I will continue the story tomorrow.
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