When I first decided to go on Sabbatical, I wasn't even sure if I wanted to travel, or just take it easy in San Francisco for a few months. I had dinner with my amazing, inspiring friend Jess in New York just after deciding to take a sabbatical, and she said to me "PACHER! Leave the country the first day you can and don't come back until the last possible moment." If Jess told me to jump off a bridge, I'd probably do it, so here I am, partially thanks to her insistence.
Jess was the first person who told me about Tayrona National Park during that same dinner, sparking my interest. Thanks to a chance encounter with a Colombian at my work holiday party, I learned that the park was closing for a month beginning Jan 28. So that meant I had to arrange my trip a bit around visiting before its closure.
When I checked in to my hostel here in Santa Marta, they were not very optimistic about my chances of getting in. A ton of people obviously had the same idea as I did about visiting the park before it closed, and the hostel said it was all booked up in advance. I didn't even know you could buy tickets in advance, I think it must be a new option (available on their website here)
To maximize my odds of getting in, I woke up at 5 AM to take the first bus to the park- an easy $3, one hour ride on public bus. In the end, I had no problem getting a ticket, or a tent (see more below on campsite for anyone planning a visit).
With the worry of not getting in behind me, I could finally relax and enjoy the park! I did what most people do there, hiked a couple of extremely hot and muggy hours to a beautiful beach. I expected there to be slightly better directions, but signage was lacking at the entry to the trails. But it was easy to just ask a few people who seemed to know where they were going, and follow them. The hike itself was pretty flat and easy, though with some pretty muddy spots. People were doing it in bikinis, crocs, or even barefoot, and carrying tons of stuff like blowup mattresses and thermoses of hot water.
The scenery on the hike ranges from tropical to boulders and beaches
Sweet trees along the way
After about an hour hiking, you reach Arrecifes, the first beach and first possible campsite, which I’ve heard described as a little more quiet of the two main options. You can stop in there for a pretty clean bathroom, restaurant, water, and beach (I actually never ended up seeing that beach).
After a short stop there to rest my feet, I hiked another hour to Cabo San Juan, the most popular beach and campsite in the park. It was as pretty as the pictures, though seemed really crowded- I’m not sure if it was because of the impending closure or if it’s just always that crowded. There were some less crowded beaches easily reached with a 10-15 min walk through the jungle, so that’s where I spent most of my time.
If you've ever seen a photo of Tayrona, it's probably this one! This is the beach at Playa Cabo San Juan. There are hammocks up in that little hut- they're the most sought after accommodations in the park, but I opted for a tent.
The campsite was more robust than I expected: it had rustic showers, (dirty but usable) bathrooms, and even a restaurant and place to buy other essentials like water and beer :) And, best of all, it was pretty easy to meet other travelers to hang out with. I ended up hanging out with some American girls for the evening (really immersing myself in the culture, haha).
Tents packed in tightly at Cabo San Juan
The tent came with a little mattress, so my night of sleep wasn’t terrible. I woke up around 6:30 and after a good breakfast at the restaurant, decided to go on a hike that started from the campsite, called the Pueblito hike (since I didn’t think I needed another 6 hours on the beach!)
I’d read about the hike, but it ended up being a lot harder than I expected. There were a couple of parts that required some scary jumps up rocks, the only way I made it was there happened to be a strong Czech guy ahead of me on the trail who helped me up. Naturally, I later saw people doing the same hike in flip flops…I have no idea how they didn't slip and die. The end point of the hike is a small indigenous village where people are living, and some ruins from ancient peoples. The journey was a bit more interesting than the destination, in this case.
An interesting tree along the Pueblito hike (it was hard to get pics showing the crazy rocks we had to jump onto)
The village at the end of the hike- people live in those huts!
After 3 hours of hiking in hot, sticky weather, it was time to jump back in the water! I went to La Piscina, a popular beach for swimming, and cooled off and relaxed for a couple hours before hiking back to the entrance of the park.
Super hot and sweaty, but happy with my Tayrona adventure! Shoutout to my nerdy hat that kept my face mostly un-suburned.
I checked in for another couple of nights in The Dreamer hostel, and then ended up going to a movie with a couple of new friends. We saw Lala Land in a super nice theater with big comfy seats for only $5!
Today is a relaxing day in Santa Marta, and tomorrow I’m going on a tour to visit a couple of other areas in the Caribbean Coastal region!
A LITTLE KNOWN FACT ABOUT BOOKING THE CAMPSITES (for anyone planning their own trip)
There are tons of great blogs out there if you want to plan a visit- here is one I found super helpful. However, I learned something that I hadn’t read anywhere else online: you can book a tent or hammock at the entrance to the park and skip the long lines at the campsites.
There isn’t an official stand, you just talk to the guy with a hat and microphone at the entrance and he steers you to a guy who you can make a booking with. I was worried this might be a scam, but ended up being legit, and a great decision. A lot of people weren’t able to get accommodations at the popular beach (Cabo San Juan) but I got to go right to the front of the line and had no problem getting my tent. I still tried to get to the campsite pretty early, to make sure they didn’t give away the tent I’d booked.