Day 504 – Santa Marta to Lost City Trek
First day of the Lost City Trek
Leaving Santa Marta
Today we woke up nice and early to pack our backpacks. As 7am approached, we went down to have breakfast. The breakfast at Color Hostel was nice with a small variety of options. The only downside was that it took a long time. While the food was prepared, we took turns to pack.
We both managed to finish packing before the food arrived. After putting our large backpacks in storage, we waited for the pick up to arrive. We would only be taking our day packs.
Color Hostel is the name online, but the building says Color House. This is something we found quite often in the Americas with names not always matching exactly 
Chilling by the pool as we wait for our pick up
Our pick up vehicle was 20 minutes late, arriving at 8.50am. The 4×4 transport dropped us off at a busy office. There was a long wait here as most of the tourists were only paying now. We also had this option but we finished off the payment yesterday. There was a relatively even mix of foreign and Spanish speaking tourists. Most of the Spanish speaking tourists were ushered into vans first. It turned out that they were going on different tours.
Our group was just too large to fit into one van. My wife and I were moved into a different company’s van along with our bilingual tour guide. This van had a small tour group with only 5 tourists. Our group had at least 12 people. The people from the other group were very friendly with all of them understanding at least basic English and us understanding basic Spanish.
Lost City Trek
After an hour or so of driving, we arrived at the entrance of the National Park. Wristbands we given to everyone here. Then we drove for another hour on a very bumpy road to arrive at a small village around midday.
We said goodbye to the other group and went to a restaurant with our guide to have lunch. We ate with our group at a large table. Everyone received a comprehensive briefing about the trek. Turns out, that we would have 2 local guides and a translator.
After the briefing, we began the hike. It wasn’t too tough but it was all uphill. The harsh sun didn’t help. There were multiple stops as we regrouped. Our guides did a very good job of keeping the group together. One of the stops was at an OJ stand, which was an additional cost. We were given free juicy watermelons at a different stop.
Along the way, we saw glimpses of beautiful mountain views. There was nothing else in sight. It was very natural and remote. We also bumped into the small group who were in the van with us, close to the end of the hike. It turned out that we would all be staying at the same accommodation.
We arrived at our first night’s accommodation, Cabana de Adan at 4pm. The cabanas were very simple and open. The sleeping area was essentially bunk beds surrounded by insect nets. The showers and bathrooms were shared and we had 2 power outlets to share between everyone. I didn’t know that there would be power, so I only had a power bank to recharge our phones.
One of the best things at the accommodation was the swimming area. The water was freezing, but we could jump from the rocks into the water. It was just what was needed after a long hike.
Refreshing swimming area right near the cabana
Dinner was a large meal consisting of tasty fried fish with rice and salad. We had coca tea before everyone had an early night. We were in bed and asleep before 8.30pm.
Travelled January 2020
Expenses
- Tour – Lost City Trek (5 days) – 1,000,000 COP (~$406 AUD) per person
- Beverage – OJ – 5,000 COP (~$2 AUD) per cup