Tayrona National Park is 34km away from Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast. It's know for it's palm fringed beaches, huge boulders and dense jungle. We took a local bus, or better known as a Chicken bus, from Taganga to Santa Marta which was only 15 minutes and cost about 60 cents. The bus dropped us off at a local market and we got on a bigger bus for an hour to reach the park entrance. This second bus only cost $6. Taking public transit is so much cheaper than any of the other tourist transport options. You just have to be prepared for a hot, bumpy ride and lots of stops. At the park entrance you have to pay a fee to get in and they search your bags. Alcohol is not allowed in the park and there is a high police presence there to keep the park safe and clean. From the entrance we took a small van to the start of the trail. It was about 1pm by that time and so, so hot! We hiked through amazing jungle with huge boulders and a lot of lizards for just over an hour before reaching the first campsite. It was getting late so we decided to stay at the first campsite. Only $6 a night for a tent with a mattress and bottom sheet! This is where my sleeping sheet came in handy. A huge, beautiful beach was only a five minute walk away, but you couldn't swim there. Most of the beaches in Tayrona have very strong riptides and over 100 people have been killed trying to swim there. Twenty minutes past the big beach was La Piscina which is a smaller bay, but is safe to swim at. We spent the rest of the afternoon there then had an early night at the campground because there weren't many people.
The next morning we met a group from London & Ireland and headed to the next campsite with them. They were so fun! I wish I had a British accent, it makes conversation much more interesting. I think we took the wrong path to the next campsite because it took an hour to get there. The second campsite, Cabo San Juan, was on a beautiful bay with a gorgeous beach! There were tons of people there and the campsite was pretty much the same, but double the price. Location, location, location. AND there was no sheet on the grubby mattress. The guy said they ran out.. So thankful for my sleeping sheet. We settled on the beach for the day and enjoyed the beautiful bay. In the evening we played a Spanish monopoly card game which was actually real fun and had our own little party. The campsite only served beer. Laura hates beer and I'm not the biggest fan, so Mattie (my favourite British) made us each a shanty. A shanty is half beer half lemonade, but they didn't have lemonade so we used 7-Up. Makes drinking cheap beer so much easier!
The next morning we were up early to hike all the way back to the park entrance. We took the path along the beach and it only took us an hour and 45 minutes to get all the way back. One van and two buses later we were back in Taganga to grab our bags then back to Santa Marta to hang out with the UK crew till our night bus to Medellin.
into the jungle
tent #2 with NO sheets
Cabo San Juan
Beautiful bay, Cabo San Juan
So beautiful!
