Colombia

Paco Rodriguez

Hey guys,

Thinking of going to Colombia next year. I want to do the Ciudad Perdida trail. It takes 6 days. I can only take two weeks holidays max from work, if it were you, how many cities or towns would you squeeze in?
When is the best time of year to visit?

Thanks!

cailinoBAC

Cartagena definitely! The most beautiful city in South America. Can't really comment much about other cities in Colombia because I only had 10 days there. I did ciudad perdida in the usual 6 days, but I wish I'd known in advance that you can do it in less. If I were you I'd contact Turcol and ask them if it would be possible to do in 5 days, as this is quite common. If you are quite fit, you could ask about 4 days, but that would have been too quick for me, also a bit hurried I think. You generally do your walking in the mornings and relaxing/swimming in the rivers etc. in the evenings. There was an article in the sunday times today about it and it really brought back to me how much I enjoyed it. The only thing is, I wish I'd been able to do it in 5 days as I'd have had time to visit the Parque Nacional Tayrona, which is supposed to have amaing beaches. We went to Taganga instead, which is good for chilling out.

Paco Rodriguez

cailinoBAC wrote: »

Cartagena definitely! The most beautiful city in South America. Can't really comment much about other cities in Colombia because I only had 10 days there. I did ciudad perdida in the usual 6 days, but I wish I'd known in advance that you can do it in less. If I were you I'd contact Turcol and ask them if it would be possible to do in 5 days, as this is quite common. If you are quite fit, you could ask about 4 days, but that would have been too quick for me, also a bit hurried I think. You generally do your walking in the mornings and relaxing/swimming in the rivers etc. in the evenings. There was an article in the sunday times today about it and it really brought back to me how much I enjoyed it. The only thing is, I wish I'd been able to do it in 5 days as I'd have had time to visit the Parque Nacional Tayrona, which is supposed to have amaing beaches. We went to Taganga instead, which is good for chilling out.

Thanks for that, yes i also read that article thus spinning a thought in my head.
So how does the treks set up. Is it a designated departure time, or do they agree with a group when they start the trek?

cailinoBAC

Back when I was planning my trip I was only aware of Turcol but there is another agency (can’t remember the name, actually maybe sierra Nevada?) though I’d heard mixed reports about them. At that stage there were trips going almost every day, my lonely planet had told me only once a week. That article in the Sunday Times mentioned a group of 30 and there were only 7 in my group, so I don’t know if it’s getting more popular very quickly or that was just a freakily large number. I’m really glad I did it now, because I’d say it will get more popular. It’s a lot more relaxed, than, say, the inca trail. We had emailed a few months in advance to inquire about dates, but we’d never confirmed and they had told us we should pay the money the night before, so we were a bit worried when we arrived the evening before and the office was closed. It was impossible to find out when it would open again. Some people said 7, others said 9. We were there for 7 and of course nobody arrived until 9. One German girl arrived off a bus and was planning on paying to leave the next day but then just decided to come along with us too. We were a bit delayed because they had to go and buy more food. So we ended up leaving about 10 or so. They wouldn’t leave later though because it gets dark at 6, so we had to drive up to the start, have lunch and be at the first base before it got dark.
One thing I will say is that if you ask for the 5 day trip, make sure they understand you absolutely. One guy in our group had asked for the 5 day, this only came up about the 3rd day, then we had a big discussion over which we wanted to do and decided we’d ask for the 5 day, but in the end we had to stick with the 6 day because they didn’t have the transport for us. But the day we were leaving, 2 people from the next day’s group joined us (they had to get up a few hours earlier to basically walk what we did in the 5th day before we even set out for the 6th day) so it’s definitely possible, I just don’t think the English guy in our group had made himself clear enough.
Also, if you’re doing it, bring hiking sandals. On the 4th day the river was rising quite fast and there was no time to be taking off our boots every time we wanted to cross it, so then we were walking for a few hours in wet boots. By the way, most days we walked in the mornings because the rain would come down in the evening. It was kind of cosy to sit under the shelter, play cards and watch it. We had a really nice group, but I’d say every group bonds the same way (or messing around with the soldiers on day 3 and taking some scary photos with big guns). Except on the 4th day we had our tour of the ruins (really large in size, but not the same wonder from a distance as Macchu Pichu, partly because of all the trees) in the morning and walked in the afternoon in the rain.

sparkulicous

If you had a day or two to spare and want to relax before you head home you could check out Mompox(or Mompos in some books.). the place is so relaxed its practically in a coma. In the evening the locals come out ans sit in rocking chairs along the river. Its like a scene from gabriel garcia marquez novel and this is where he set one of his books. It's a bit of a treck involving a bus, boat and taxi but i enjoyed every minute of the two days we spent there. Its someplace very different. As for the lost city trek Didnt do it myself(Didnt have 6 days to spare), but some of the guys we were travelling with just arrived in taganga and booked into the trek the next day! Got it a bit cheaper too i think!

cailinoBAC

I can't remember how much we paid for the lost city trek but it ended up being about 25% cheaper than what we'd been originally quoted, which was great. I liked the sound of Mompos, but just didn't have the time.