Friday 26th August
I went to Tayrona National Park today and had a great day there. As I think I mentioned previously you can stay there but I didn’t really want to on my own, so I decided I’d go for a day and follow the typical trail between beaches. It’s easy to see why Tayrona is one of Colombia’s most popular national parks but it was nowhere near as busy as I expected- maybe because it wasn’t a weekend day or a holiday time in Colombia…. On the trail paths I was walking on my own with a couple of people coming in the opposite direction. The beaches had people on but were not at all crowded. The Michellin guide describes the beaches as among the most scenic and breathtaking in the world. Well, I’ve been fortunate to see lots of stunning beaches and I would say they are indeed beautiful. I decided that to maximise my time in the NP I would get the boat to the park. It was supposed to leave at 10.30 but as I am realising here, departure times are not really reliable- as it happens it gave me the chance to chat (in Spanish) with a Bolivian girl who was on holiday in Colombia. The boat set off at 11. No-one told me when I paid my 40,000 pesos that I was going to spend almost an hour on the bumpiest boat ride ever, almost bouncing off the seat every time the small boat hit a wave, which was very regularly- I’m talking clutching onto the side of the boat to stop yourself from falling off the seat kind of stuff! By the time I’d almost got used to it luckily we had arrived, but not before going all along the coast of the NP, which reminded me a little of where ‘Lost’ was set; big green mountains/hills, with occasional beaches. On arrival at the first beach, ‘Cabo San Juan de la Guía’, the boat ride was soon forgotten! It was beautiful! The beach, which is lined with palm trees, had probably a maximum of about 10 couples sat on it- really very peaceful. I put my stuff in the shade of a palm tree and went straight in the sea, warm but very refreshing. Next a bit of shade-bathing (too hot and was also the midday sun), reading followed by another dip in the sea. By about 1.30 I decided it was time to get lunch before starting the walk back to the entrance where a bus would be collecting me at 5pm. I had lunch at the restaurant there- I decided I felt like prawns so paid way more than I would want to and it wasn’t really worth the cost, but the food was on the whole a little pricey, to be expected in somewhere of this location. Having topped up my suncream and put on my walking trainers I set off on the walk to the first stop ‘La Piscina’ (the swimming pool) which is a bay surrounded by a barrier of coral and provides a really nice place to swim. Guidebook says it takes 20 minutes, I took almost 30 but I stopped to take photos. The trail was mostly through the forest and as you neared the end you could hear the ocean again. My ‘photo of the day’ (well apart from all the stunning beaches) has to be of a green lizard/iguana. It ran across the path in front of me and I saw where it went to camouflage itself- on a plant and if I hadn’t have seen where it went it would have been impossible to see it. La Piscina beach was an ideal spot for another swim and I could happily have stayed for a while but I decided I better not stay too long as I was worried about making it back in time for 5pm. The next beach was a place called ‘La Aranilla’, a bay surrounded by big boulders. From here I followed the beach to get back to Arrecifes – it was great to walk along the beach but in direct sun it was pretty hot! Arrecifes beach is not safe for swimming so it was deserted. There a few boulders dotted along the shore, I walked round one of them thinking it was not that deep but the water came up to just below my thigh! At Arrecifes I bought a mandarin juice (to try and cool down) before heading back to the entrance. Arrecifes is another place where you can stay in hammocks or tents. I wouldn’t have minded staying to have more time to spend at the beaches but I was also happy with what I had seen and done today. It wasn’t over yet though! There was a 45 minute walk back to the park’s entrance. I allowed longer than 45 minutes thinking it would probably take longer….it was quite a tough walk as it was quite muddy and slippery in places and required some careful walking to avoid the muddiness of where the horses had walked (you can rent a horse to carry you or your back pack in). Luckily for me a group of Colombian teens helped me out at a couple of spots where I might otherwise have slipped down. I didn’t check the time, I’d say it took around an hour- luckily since it was through forest it wasn’t in the sun but it was still hot and humid making it even harder. At the end I was happy to get a cold bottle of water! I also used the facilities which the LP describes as “the best toilets in Northern Colombia”- they were very nice, and didn’t seem to fit in with the forest surrounds! I was at the car park with 15 minutes to spare which was good. The driver asked me how it was and I said very good but I was hot and tired after the final part and indicated the up and down-ness of the trail with my hand- he then asked if I’d come the same way as the horses, I said yes and he said there is another way to go, possibly along the beach. I’m not sure where exactly but it didn’t matter to me, I’d taken that route but it did now make sense that the path didn’t always seem appropriate for walking on, and more suited for horses! The drive back to Taganga took about an hour- we passed lots of checkpoints on the road, luckily we weren’t pulled over. Once I’d showered I headed out for dinner, I decided to eat at the same restaurant as last night, and saw the German couple who I had chatted to at breakfast who were at my hotel in Cartagena. They invited me to sit with them and I had a delicious fish dinner. Afterwards we went for a drink and I had my first alcoholic drink of the trip, yes, you guessed it, a cocktail! Well 2 actually as it was happy hour! They ‘invited me’, an expression that doesn’t translate into English, but basically means they treated me to the drinks, which was very kind of them. It was a nice evening which rounded off an excellent day.
Not so good was the bat that was flying round the dorm at about midnight! I was almost asleep when I sensed movement in the room- I put on the light and it was a bat! It flew around a bit, probably trying to escape but didn’t seem interested in the open door….it also walked across a couple of the beds and then seemed to disappear. I couldn’t see it anywhere! This meant I went to bed with the light on wondering where it could be. I told Rob (the American) about it when he got in and he laughed that I had the light on! Light was turned off and I tried to sleep, for the first time since I got here I lay under the sheet, ready to cover my face at any sign of the bat flying around. Well, at about 3am I heard Rob get up and open the door- the bat flew out but he said it had landed on his head! Soooo glad it picked him not me and I was really glad it was gone, but my sleep continued to be poor, worried that it might come back!