My next stop was Santa Marta as a stopover on my way to Tyrona National Park and Palomino. Santa Marta was about 4 hours from Cartagena, then Tyrona National Park another one hour from Santa Marta, then Palomino a further one hour from Tyrona.

The journey passed in no time and as I exit the bus, I met Ulrika who was going to the same hostel as myself; La Brisa Loca. I checked in for one night in a 6 person dorm, this place is easily the best hostel I have ever stayed in. They had good/free internet, a welcome beer, it was clean, loads of backpackers, a games room, TV cinema room, rooftop hammocks and even a swimming pool!!

I arrived on a Sunday, the town was pretty empty so it was a good time to explore the place. The beach was rammed full of locals having a Sunday afternoon dip, although it wasn't exactly the prettiest beach I have ever seen...in fact it resembled the River Thames more than a typical Columbian beach. The town itself was a mixture of amazing colonial type buildings similar to Cartagena or newish poorly made buildings it gave the place a rough edgy feel to it. In the evening I just stayed in the hostel but in all honesty the hostel was the best thing about Santa Marta, in fact there were backpackers who have stayed there for over a week just chilling out in the hostel! That's not for me really, but I did enjoy my only night there, meeting some cool people and playing strip beer pong...all good fun!

The next day, with a stinking hangover I headed with Ulrika to find a bus that could take us to Tyrona National Park. The journey was about an hour on a local cheap bus. As we enter the national park, we had our bags searched for plastic bags and replaced with biodegradable ones and had to pay a park entry fee. According to Ulrika's friend we had a 15 minute walk then another 30 minute walk to get to our destination of Arrecifes which was good as I had to complete this trek with a full backpack and also my small backpack weighing in at a grand total of about 28kg! The journey was amazing, common sights were mango trees where we collected some fruit to eat for breakfast over the next couple of days and stepping over colonies of leaf cutter ants going about their daily business. An hour later we get to the first check point, where the road stops and the dirt track starts...okay so that hour was supposed to be 15 minutes, I wonder how long the second part of the trek is going to be! Well we bumped into some other backpackers and they said about an hour but they had small rucksacks and trek shoes, I had all my gear and flip flops. At the junction there were horses which you could hire for the final trek as the terrain was difficult, river crossings, ankle deep mud, rocks to climb; I decided to power on walking. After another 1.5hours we made it to Arrecifes and checked in to the first camp site we could find as I was becoming humpbacked.

The camp site was great. It was spacious with plenty of tents and an open aired hammock dorm and also an outside cold shower area. I book in for two nights in the hammock dorm. That day was spent exploring the beaches of Arrecifes and La Piscina. The beaches were amazing, palm fringed with scattered huge boulders, in Arrecifes the current was very strong so you could not swim there - no problem really as the stats suggest that over 100 people have lost their lives swimming in Arrecifes so I will not be attempting it. Both places were spectacular and the hike to get to each beach was over huge boulders, rocks and through forest so when you finally arrived at a beach you deserved the rest. Most people bring their own food to Tyrona but I didn't so the camp site did dinner from about 6pm-8pm it was basic but tasty.

The next day I really wanted to hike to the beaches around Cabo San Juan and after about an hour from Arrecifes I arrived. This beach area had one huge camp site which was full of backpackers, a decent restaurant and all right on the beach front...they even had a football pitch, I thought to myself; this is where I should have stayed. The day was pretty much a beach day, chilling with Ulrika then I met two awesome Aussie girls (Ashleigh and Tegan) and then bumped into Annica and her friends who I met from Cartagena. So we arranged to have dinner and drinks in Cabo San Juan later that evening. The only problem was how were myself and Ulrika going to get back to Arrecifes after dark, which was an hour's hike through the forest. To be honest, I didn't really care much - I wanted to party and getting back was the last thing on my mind, so reluctantly Ulrika agreed to stay and we both can trek back after dinner and beers. The night was great and a lot of fun, lucky for me Ulrika didn't drink much and had a torch - I got smashed and trekked back in the pitch black through dense forest and over huge boulders and rocks but finally we made it back to the camp sight - in hindsight probably not the cleverest idea I have ever had but it was fun!!

So that's it, my brief trip to Tyrona and I was up early the final day to start my 2.5 hour trek back to the main road to catch a bus to my nest destination which was Palomino. The journey back was made easier as this time I decided to trek in my trekking shoes rather than flip-flops! Again the journey was amazing like the way there, this time I heard something in the trees and looked up at the swaying branches and there was a pretty big monkey. I'm not sure what type but from the glimpses I had of it, it was big and had a tinge of orange to it. Back to the entrance, I didn't have to wait long before flagging down a bus going in the direction of Palomino...the journey continues.

Another hour away from Tyrona was a tiny hidden gem called Palomino, very close to the Venezuelan border. I got dropped off on the man road opposite a tool store; from there it's a 15 minute walk down to the beach front were all the campsites/hostels are based. Once you get to the beach, turn right and there are a few hostels scattered along miles of sandy beach. I stayed in this lovely hostel, again sleeping in a hammock; the place was run by a German couple but they spoke perfect English and were very welcoming - I'm only here for one night but would have liked to stay longer. In Palomino there isn't anything to do during the day except enjoy the beach or watch the local fishermen go about their daily work. In the evening it is very quiet, but you can buy a fish from the fishermen and cook it on one of the beach fires. A short and sweet trip to Palomino but well worth it, now I'm heading back to Santa Marta where I'll make my way to Quito in Ecuador. Columbia, you have been amazing, diverse and pretty crazy at times; very fond memories.