Santa Marta and Colombia’s Lost City I

VIRTUAL EXPERIENCES

Have the traveling blues? While most of the world is staying in, we are offering an authentic Colombian experience all from the comfort of your home. This is a perfect way to get to know Colombia ahead of your future travels here, or perhaps it will entice you to come and enjoy this magical place!

SALSA DANCING WITH THE WORLD CHAMPION

LOST CITY TOUR

Day 1: Arrival Santa Marta

Bienvenidos a Colombia - Welcome to Colombia! Your trekking tour is about to begin. 

A transfer is included from Simón Bolívar International Airport, your local English speaking guide will greet you before accompaning you to your first hotel. 

Overnight: Santa Marta
Accommodation:  Hotel Bonita Bay, double rooms
Transfer: 1/2 hour from airport

Day 2: Santa Marta - Mamey - Camp 1 "Adam"

You will be picked up from your hotel and transferred by car to Mamey (3 hours approx) after a short introduction at our office. Any large luggage or items you don't need on the hike can be left at the office. In Mamey, you will enjoy a light lunch before starting the 8 km walk. Half-way, you will stop at the Mirador (look-out) of the three crossings to enjoy some delicious tropical fruits before continuing to the first lodging "Adam" or "Alfredo", where you will spend the first night. A special treat awaits you here, as you will be able enjoy the natural pools that the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta offers. A refreshing end to a perfect day.

Overnight: Camp 1
Accommodation: Adam or Alfredo, traditional trekking camps. Bunk beds or hammocks available, features electricity, bathrooms, and showers. 
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Hike: 8 km, approx. 4 hours
Elevation: start 135 m / end 450 m
Car Transfer: 3 hours

Day 3: Camp 1 "Adam" - Camp 2 "Cabaña Wiwa" - Mutanyi - Camp 3 "Paraíso Teyuna"

Another day, another adventure! After breakfast, you will start your hiking tour from the first camp to the second "Cabaña Wiwa" where you can enjoy a refreshing dip in the Buritaca River before lunch. After a brief rest, the adventure continues into the Sierra Nevada, bordering an indigenous village of the Kogui community called Mutanyi. The Kogui are a group of indigenous people that have been living in this area since before Colombia's existence, their unique way of life is visible from the traditional clothes they wear to the native lanuage they speak. You will continue on until reaching the third camp "Paraíso Teyuna", where you will spend the second night. 

Overnight: Camp 3
Accommodation: Paraíso Teyuna, a traditional trekking camp. Bunk beds or hammocks available, facilities include bathrooms and showers and electricity powered by generator (from 6 pm to 9pm).
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Hike: 16 km, approx. 7-8 hours
Elevation: start 450 m / end 860 m

Day 4: Camp 3 "Paraíso Teyuna" - Ciudad Perdida - Camp 2 "Cabaña Wiwa"

The day starts very early with a hearty breakfast and the 2 km ascent to the Lost City or "Ciudad Perdida". Whet your appetite with a 360° tour of this area now! You will climb 1,200 steps that lead to this majestic stone city, made up of intercommunicating roads, retaining walls, and terraces with rings where the houses of the ancient Tayrona rested. All of it is surrounded by a magical jungle of fauna and flora that gives you different views of landscapes in any weather. Here you can also meet the leader and protector of Mother Nature and the old Tayrona empire. After the tour of the Ciudad Perdida, you will descend again to the third camp "Paraíso Teyuna" for lunch and then return to the second camp "Cabaña Wiwa" where you will spend the night.

Overnight: Camp 2
Accommodation: Cabaña Wiwa, a traditional trekking camp. Bunk beds or hammocks available, facilities include bathrooms and showers (limited).
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Hike: 9 km, approx. 8 hours
Elevation: start 860 m / end 450 m

Day 5: Camp 2 "Cabaña Wiwa" - Mamey - Minca

Your time in the Lost City about to end. After breakfast, you will leave on a walk of approximately 2 hours to Camp Adam/Alfredo where you slept the first night. Once at the first camp, you will take a quick break and enjoy some fruit and water before continuing for another 4-5 hours hike all the way back to Mamey, where you will have lunch (not included) and board a 4x4 that will bring you back to Santa Marta.

From Santa Marta you will take another Jeep that will bring you to Minca, where you will spend the night.

Overnight: Minca
Accommodation: Hotel Sweet Harmony
Meals: Breakfast and lunch
Hike: 13 km, approx. 7 hours
Elevation: start 450 m / end 135 m

Day 6: Santa Marta - Minca - La Victoria - La Maria - Santa Elena

There will be a short tour around the village and a stop at a restaurant on the edge of the Minca River to have a coffee or a fresh fruit juice. Afterwards, you continue on to the coffee farm La Victoria (30 Min.). This is one of the oldest and largest coffee farms in Colombia. Micky Weber, the owner of the farm, managed to make use of machines dating back to the year 1892, turning the place into a real living museum. His ideas led the farm to self-sufficiency - from electricity to crop fertilizer, everything is produced on the farm. On a guided tour of approx. 2 hours, you learn all about the ingenious process of La Victoria 1892 coffee, from the production to the finished product. After, you will continue uphill on a trail to the farm La Maria (1.5 hours), at a height of approx. 1600m. From here, you begin a trek of about 90 minutes through the cloud forest, to the farm Santa Elena. On arrival, you will have lunch and with renewed strength, start roaming around the area to enjoy the views of the Guachaca River Valley and the snowy peaks, as well as the spectacular sunset over the Great Marsh of Santa Marta and the Caribbean Sea. 

Overnight: Santa Elena
Accommodation: Finca, a traditional farm dwelling
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Hike: 3 km, approx. 5 hours
Elevation: start 600 m / end 
Car Transfer: 1 1/2 hours

Day 7: Santa Elena - waterfall of Panku - Santa Elena

An early wake up is required today, as you'll walk to one of the viewing points and appreciate the stunning sunrise in the Sierra Nevada. You can observe how, little by little, the rays of the sun illuminate the numerous valleys and the eternal snow of the high peaks. After breakfast, you will start a walk through untouched nature until reaching the fabulous waterfall of Panku. Here you can take a refreshing swim before returning to the farm. After lunch, you descend to reach the transfer vehicle once more.

Overnight: Santa Elena
Accommodation: Finca, a traditional farm dwelling
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Hike: 9 km, approx. 5 hours
Elevation: start  m / end 
Car Transfer: 2 hours

Day 8: Santa Elena - Cerro Kennedy - La Esperanza - Finca La Jorara

An early breakfast is prepared before to starting the trek to the top of Cerro Kennedy (3,000 meters). This trek provides the most spectacular views of the valleys, the sea, and the snowy peaks of the Sierra. After lunch with a friendly family at their farm La Esperanza, you return to Santa Elena and descend to the vehicle for your return to Santa Marta.
You will continue for just an hour or so more, in direction of Tayrona National Park, where you will overnight at the Finca La Jorara. Around 6 or 7pm, you will arrive to this magnificent place surrounded by nature and just a short walk from the beach. 

Overnight: Just outside Tayrona National Park
Accommodation: Finca La Jorara. Double rooms available
Meals: Breakfast and lunch
Hike: 13 km, 7 hours
Elevation: start  / end 
Car Transfer: 1 hour

Day 9: Finca La Jorara - Tayrona National Park - Finca La Jorara

From the Cañaveral sector, you begin a walk through the tropical dry forest before arriving at the Arrecifes sector. Here, you will take a short break and refresh a bit before continuing to Arenilla Beach, the Piscina Beach and Cabo San Juan, where you will have time to swim and enjoy the beaches. At about 4 p.m. you will start the walk back to Cañaveral where the transfer car awaits you once more, and you return to the lovely La Jorara for another night.

Note: the roundtrip hikes up to Cabo lasts approx. 5 hours, but can be shortened to 2 or 3 hours by only visiting previous beaches. For guests who do not want or cannot manage this walk, we suggest spending the day at Playa Cañaveral. In this case, we can offer a short walk through the tropical forest (30-60 min) on the Trail Sendero 9 Piedras which also offers spectacular views of Playa Cañaveral.

About Tayrona National Park: The foothills of the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta, the highest coastal mountain range in the world, dip their toes right into the sea, in which bays and coves of singular beauty are to be found. The sandy white beaches in this park are bordered on one side by tropical dry forests and on the other side by the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean Sea, making Tayrona Park one of the most beautiful in the country, if not the world. Here you can find a variety of trails that pass the rainforest and the dry forest, and have some amazing archaeological sites along the way.

The park normally closes in February and parts of June, October & November.

Overnight: Just outside Tayrona National Park
Accommodation: Finca La Jorara. Double rooms available
Meals: Breakfast
Hike:  km, 4 hours
Elevation: start  / end 
Car Transfer: 1 hour

Day 10: Departure from Santa Marta

Today you say goodbye to this beautiful area. Your local guide will pick you up at your hotel after breakfast (included) and will take you to the airport in Santa Marta (transfer time 1.5 hours).

We hope that you will have made many great memories and perhaps even want to come back to explore more of this magnificent country!

Looking for more? Be sure to check out our other birdwatching tours, hiking and walking tours, and bike tours!

This guided hiking tour in Colombia will have you staying in very simple and rustic mountain dwellings, traditional fincas (farms), and beautiful and unique coastal hotels. On several nights, you will have the option between bunk beds or hammocks. Pictures can be provided of each place so please ask us! These accommodations will allow you to meet and interact with locals and give you a taste of Colombian culture like never before.