Two travellers from the hostel, Sean and Christian were going to the park as well, so we headed off together in search of some of Colombia's finest beaches. After an hour in a taxi, 15 minutes by jeep and 2 hours of sloshing through a muddy jungle path, we arrived at the Finca El Cabo San Juan camp-site in the park. The stories proved true, Tayrona's beaches were fantastic.
Close your eyes and imagine long stretches of white sand beaches lined with palm trees. The waves gently lap the shore and a cool breeze ripples through the trees...that's Tayrona national park. The park is one of those perfect places to do absolutely nothing. Options include (but are not limited to) swimming, chilling on the beach with a good book, hiking on trails through the jungle, or napping in the hammock. I did all four. :-)
Other than Sean and Christian I also spent time in the park with Marcello and Katherine, an Italian-American couple I met there. Katherine and Marcello were really cool, and talking with them provided me with the opportunity to practice my Italian (which has basically been in hibernation since I graduated from college). Perhaps it was he handful of days in Taganga speaking Spanish that wrestled the language skills out from the far corners of my mind, but I was able to slip back into basic conversational Italian with relative ease. AND (this is the really important part)...I was also able to switch back to Spanish without lapsing into my "Spantaliano" hybrid for several days (which is what normally happens when I do a lot of switching between English, Spanish and Italian).
After the ordeal of getting to the park, I was keen to find an alternative (i.e. faster) route back to Taganga. Supposedly, when the sea is clam, a small boat makes the trip between Tayrona and Taganga. Katherine and Marcello also wanted to try the boat, so after breakfast on day two, we sat on the beach and waited for the "lancha" (small motorboat)to arrive from Taganga and take passengers back. Eventually a boat with about 12 seasick looking backpackers approached the beach. The waves were large, so when the boat was 20 feet from the shore, people started to bail overboard and swim ashore. Everyone from he boat kissed the sand and then either proceeded to get sick in the bushes, or started crying and hugging their fellow passengers. Hmmmmm, perhaps the sea is a little rougher than I thought. Suddenly the long route through the jungle was sounding pretty nice. Four hours, a jungle hike with a horse, a pickup truck and two mini-bus rides later, I was back in Taganga at La Casa de Felipe...in the hammock watching the sun set over the Caribbean.
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| From Colombia 2009 |
Jeep to Tayrona
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The hike through the jungle begins...
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| From Colombia 2009 |
Christian leaping across a mud pit during the hike
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Orange juicer in the middle of the jungle, just in case you have a hankering for some OJ during your hike and came prepared with a bag of oranges
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| From Colombia 2009 |
Arriving at the beach with Sean
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| From Colombia 2009 |
Heron at Arrecifes beach
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Views from the walk to the camp-site
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Home, sweet, home for the night (my first full night in a hammock...they are definitely not made for tall people)
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| From Colombia 2009 |
Moonlight on the beach
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Finca El Cabo San Juan
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Hanging out on one of the beautiful beaches
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Afternoon clouds roll in
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The scene at the boat arrival
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| From Colombia 2009 |
Walking back with Marcello and Katherine
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| From Colombia 2009 |
Hiking along the beach
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Palms
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| From Colombia 2009 |
:-)
1 comment:
The Tayrona National Park boasts fascinating wildlife including black howler and "titi" monkeys, red woodpeckers, iguanas and jaguars.
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