When most people think of Colombia they think it’s a dangerous country full of cocaine smugglers. This makes us nod our heads since Colombia is beautiful and definitely one of the best backpacking destinations of 2014. The country is so diverse it offers dense rainforests, open farmlands and even a desert the La Guajira. But lets not get this story get out of hand we are reviewing a hike in the Tayrona National Park. Parque Tayrona is located in the north of Colombia not far from the tourist city of Santa Marta, short advice here; stay in Taganga just next to Santa Marta this is a much more habitable place!
Hiking the Tayrona National Park
We were staying in Taganga, which is a small village located just outside the parks borders. The village of Taganga is the perfect hangout for backpackers that like to do everything laidback. Well we were there to hike the park so we got up early around 07:00 a.m. and had our breakfast. The bus to the park departed at 08:45 and took around two hours to get there, mainly because the roads are diverted around the mountains.
Arriving in the national park
The gates of the park showed that this could be a touristic attraction park but the jungle sounds surrounding it made up for it. But sadly enough after the gates the track was still a tourists paradise and mules carried the lazy ones. The mule dung really contributed to the jungle atmosphere… or maybe not. Getting on our way the groups of tourist spread out and the jungle came to life. The jungle was relatively dry compared to the Panamanian cloud forest we visited in Boquete. We hiked for about two hours when arriving at the beach, and wowie the beach was deserted! But this was mainly because the waters were too dangerous to swim, because of the strong currents. A nice sign even told us how many people had tried to swim and died.
Hitting the beach in Parque Tayrona
We followed the beach line and crossed some funky stones that were carved by nature’s forces into softly shaped giants. The jungle bordering the beach was amazing since it had swamps and was partly underwater when it was high tide. After about one hour of walking we arrived at the first beaches were you could swim. And guess what we were in tourist paradise again… there were camps set up everywhere and you could spent the night in a tent. Not cozy next to the campfire like you would expect, but massively with at least fifty other tents cultivating even more tourists!
Read some more information here about Parque Tayrona Colombia
Looking behind the tourists
We hiked a little further and found out that the beaches and jungle were harder to walk and reach, which resulted in fewer tourists. We came across different small lagoons or isolated beaches that were protected from Mother Nature’s forces. After around one hour of hiking we reached the end of the line since the jungle was impossible to enter and there were big boulders blocking the beach. We sat down and enjoyed the nice weather and took a dive in the crystal clear water with some tropical fish as our companions. It was a nice hike with some difficulties but the reward was stunning since the beach was absolutely beautiful.
Looking for a track really off the chart? Maybe Ciudad Perdida should be on your bucketlist.
Review of the Parque Tayrona trekking
Scales consist of points ranging from one to being easy or not cool to ten being awesome or very hard.
| Question | Answer |
| Elevation level | 0-100 meters |
| Distance | 6-10 miles |
| Difficulty level | 2 |
| Climate | Dry and hot, some rain on the end of the day |
| Temperature | Around 28-33 degrees Celsius |
| Best shoes to equip | Light hiking boots or normal hiking boots |
| Hike equipment | Mosquito repellent, knife and a simple medical kit, swimsuit 🙂 |
| Kids | Yes, definitely a fun hike to do with your kids |
| Worth tracking? | Yes, but expect other tourist. |
| Most beautiful aspect | The beach on the end of the line, don’t stop at the first few beaches! |
