Final Blog :(

Well, here it is. The last blog. It´s been a trip, but it´s time for me to go home.
My trip to Ciudad Perdida was an absolute success. But by the last day I was soooooo ready to sleep in a normal bed again. My original group consisted of only 3 people, including myself, but after another group of seven lost their guide (he got sick) we joined together to form a nice group of ten. From my original group there were Ruth and Ben (Irish), then from the other group we had 3 Germans, 1 Canadian, 2 Americans (one from Yakima another from Salem, Oregon), 1 Australian and myself. All the people working for the tour company as guides and food guardians were local campesinos from the area. It felt nice knowing that we were being led around by people from the region who knew the area and were the ones making the profit from our tourism. We stayed in hammocks in shelters along the way which were surprisingly comfortable. The food they made us was absolutely wonderful, different for every meal. Our guide Yovani and our two food guardians did everything they could to help us along the way and make our journey more comfortable. From the second we stepped out of our hostel the first day until the last day when we returned we were drenched in sweat. Santa Marta is humid and hot as it is, but the slightest bit of physical exertion results in a sweat so profuse and without pause that I have nothing in my entire life to compare it with. It got easier as we ascended in altitude, but it was still physically difficult so the sweat level was pretty much the same the whole time. But on the plus side, my skin hasn´t looked this good since I was about 11. The hike itself is about 30 miles each way, but they managed to break it up in such a way that we only hiked about 4 hours each day, with the exception of the 5th day when we hiked about 9 and a half. We spent the first 3 days getting to the ruines, spent the 4th day touring them and made it back in the remaining 2 days.
The ruines are believed to be the remains of a huge city-like complex at one time containing several thousand of the Tayrona people. The Lost City consists of a number of circular platforms that are connected by steep and winding staircases. They cover an expanse of 16 kilometers squared, but only the central platforms are open to the public. The ruines themselves are incredibly well-preserved. Like Machu Picchu, they were never discovered by the Spanish colonizers. In order to reach the Lost City from the river at the base of the mountain you have to climb almost 3000 steps, or 1200 meters (if I remember correctly). Seriously, climbing up and down those stairs was the scariest thing I´ve done the whole trip. I´ve never been that scared--ever. Why? Well, first of all the stairs are made of stone. Unlike Incan structures, the stones are uneven and uncut. They are at times steep and other times very steep. They are ALWAYS slick and mossy. Most of the time my feet didn´t fit on the next step and my hiking boots kept bouncing back each time I tried to climb the next step. If that had been all, it would have sucked, but it wasn´t. About 5 minutes into the climb it started to pour. Tropical, jungle rain that doesn´t let up. So as we got higher the rocks got slicker and slicker. This was already after a few hours of hiking. So, I´m sweating, soaking and tired, but I don´t even notice it because I´m thinking that each step is going to be my last. Seriously, I´m not exaggerating, that was the scariest part of my trip, maybe even of my life. The entire three months. I would never do it again. ever. I started crying a few times. Not going to lie. Coming down was almost as bad, except for the it wasn´t raining. But it rained later. And that experience also brought me to tears a couple of times, but I won´t even begin to go into that story. Let´s just say, at the end of the day both my body and spirit were broken.
There´s sooo much more to be said about that trip, but I´d rather do it in person, so you´ll just have to wait.
But all, in all, great trip!
After getting back to Santa Marta I left for the beach along with the Irish folks and Mike, the Canadian. We went to this national park called Parque Tayrona where they have a couple mile stretch of beaches linked by a footpath. We met up with a few other people from our trek who had also decided to spend some time relaxing and snorkeling on the beach. Again we slept in hammocks, but the beach was waaaay better than the jungle. And since the beaches are only accessible by foot there are less people than a normal public beach. The caribbean sea was absolutely wonderful and just what the doctor ordered. Well, sort of. The last day I got sick with a fever and a head cold, but whatever. I´m still sick now, but it´s not too bad. The fever broke and now I´m just suffering the usual cold symptoms. I was planning to visit Cartagena, but since I got sick I couldn´t get moving in time. Oh well, something for the next time I´m in Colombia. I took the bus to Bogota yesterday and arrived this morning. So far, the place seems pretty cool. I´m feeling pretty lazy so I don´t know if I´ll wander too far, but I do plan on visiting the famous Gold Museum and the Police Museum sometime before I leave.

Alright. That´s it. To sum up: Good trip. Many more details and stories to be shared in person and with my photos!

Love and Peace.

Gabi