Ciudad Perdida (Lost City)

We are very glad that we decided to go on this trek deep in the jungle. What we saw was simply amazing and breath-taking, so it was well worth the six days of sweat constantly running down the whole body.

The city was built between the 11th and 14th centuries, though its origens are much older, going back to perhaps the 7th century. Spread over an area of about 2 sq km it is the largest Tayrona (indigenous people) city found so far. Some 2000 to 4000 people are believed to have lived there.

During the Conquest, the Spaniards wiped out the Tayronas, and there settlements disappeared without a trace under lush tropical vegetation. So did Ciudad Perdida until its discovery by graverobbers in the early 1970s.

Ciudad Perdida lies on an altitude of between 950m and 1300m. The central part of the city is set on a ridge from which various stonepaths lid down to other sectors on the slopes. Although the wooden houses of the Tayrona are long gone, the stonestructures, including terraces and stairways, remain in remarkably good shape. (by Lonely Planet 2009)

The hike was pretty moderate. We covered 40km with a lot of up- and downhill... The only exhausting part was the heat. But you get used to it very quickly and during the day we regularly got supplied with thirst-quenching oranges, watermelons, pineapples and so on. We were a group of 11 people with a spanish speaking guide and two cooks. We all carried our own backpacks with our personal belongings and water. The first couple of days the food was transported by mules and on the third day the cooks carried the stuff on their back. The third day was also the most spectacular one! We had to cross the Buritaca river 9 times, which at this season is no big deal as the water is low. On the opposite...it was rather a relief for the feet usually stuck in the sturdy hiking boots. Then we had to climb the famous 2000 ...the number varies depending on who you ask...steps leading up to Ciudad Perdida. Fortunately it wasn't as tough as we expected - but the first glimpse on these many terrasses was stunning. And luckily we could take in the beauty of this site in peace, just our group with no other folks. IT WAS A MAGIC MOMENT!

On the way there are many differend camps with hammocks and mosquito nets, a basic kitchen and toilets/showers. So in the evenings we usually ate dinner at around six when it was almost dark and went to bed (to hammock...haha...) a couple of hours later. Its so calming to be able to fall asleep while hearing the sounds of the jungle.

What also makes the trek well worthwhile is the cooling off and swimming in the numerous natural pools along the trail. Whitout the daily stops at these places the trek would be less attractive.

!!!! First impressions !!!!

Finally we're providing you with some first impressions of our travels in Colombia. As most of you know, stufabi and our friend (amigooooo) Dani met in Bogota....delayed by one day, as Fabi had to sleepover in Newark due to a false alarm and a partly evacuation of that US airport.

Spending some days in Bogota, we were wandering around to check out some major sights. Also we took a taxi to the district of Chico Norte, where we visited the swiss Yvonne & Harry. Thanks to their great knowledge about colombians must-sees, we figured out our travel route for this month.

All in all we were a bit unsure about safety matters during the first couple of days in the capital city. It was mostely because the locals kept telling us how dangerous it is especially after dark. However after two nights or so we figured out that it was not as bad as we were beeing told and we started to feel very comfortable and safe. And as soon as we left Bogota behind us, there have been no doubts anymore !

First stop on our journey northwards was Zipaquira, famous for its salt mine and the underground salt cathedral - > check out the foto;-) On the same day we bused to the colonial town of Villa de Leyva where we spent the night. As there were the Festivos de los Reyes (Holidays) in the whole country, many locals were hanging around in the streets, having some beers and having a good time. Of course we totally agree with them !

Before heading to San Gil, we went on a lovely early morning walk up the hills, through some amazing forests / jungles. Normally you could see waterfalls along the way, but as rainfalls have been very sparse lately, there was just a little bit of water flowing in the stream. Back in town, we found the best empanadas so far. For one time not fried, but baked in the oven. We are writing this, because food here is often fried, therefore quite greasy or something is wrong about it (see Danis Facebook status).

San Gil is Colombias outdoor capital...paragliding, river rafting, caving, repelling down the waterfall. However we didn't do any of those activities. We were just very happy to finally have arrived ...or beeing back for stufi and dani...in a warmer region. From now on we can say goodbye to socks and jeans and heavy blankets during the night;-). Taking San Gil as our base for the next 4 days, we visited some villages where we did some hikes and enjoyed the beautiful nature. We also did go to one of the nearby waterfalls where we swam in the natural pool and climbed down the canyon. Stunning moments in the nature !

On the 14th of January we took the bus to Parque National de Chicmocha in the morning, where we wanted to do a real walk for a few hours. Surprisingly, the park turned out as a tourist park for the rather rich Colombians with lots of attractions but not one possiblity for proper hiking or even walking...what a disappointment!
Anyway, after a while we took the next bus to Bucaramanga. During the ride Dani got to talk to Edith, a nice colombian girl, who later joined us for dinner. We had a really nice evening with a lot of laughing and left the town with the night bus heading to the Carribean cost. Wisely we brought our sleeping bag as we knew that night buses are usually cooled down to freezing temperatures.

So our current location is Taganga, a small village where stufi did the spanish clases in December. It's going to be our base until Dani leaves Colombia at the end of Janary. Tomorrow we leave Taganga for the next six days as we will be on famous trek to Ciudad Perdida - the Lost City.

stufabi goes to Colombia

stufabi soon will be reunited !!!
and we can start another adventure !!!
stufi arrived in Colombia at the end of november, and spent the time studying spanish. fabi is leaving switzerland in a couple of days, heading to Bogota where she'll meet up with stufi !
together we'll travel this beautiful, amazing country - we are soooo excited to be back on the road again.

That's it for now ...news and pics will follow !