Last time I was inColombia, I regretted not having the time or money to do the lost city trek. Second time around, it was on my to-do list and a must. The price has gone up and it can be done in 4, 5 or 6 days, and it’s the same price which is a little, meh. The park, indigenous community and the government charge you to go into the park, plus the indigenous charge you per night to stay and use facilities etc etc. Overall, it was nice, beautiful scenery and a good time, lots of mosquitos too ahahhaa. It could have been done in 4 days but today my legs are not complaining that we did it in 5 (ahahaha) and I do believe that it is over priced.
We left on Thursday September 15th for what was to be the hardest day on our jungle adventure. We did go uphill for quite a while, and then it took about 3hs until the camp site. They were very organized, the campsites had kitchens and ovens for the cooks, hammocks and sometimes beds for those doing the treks, water, toilet, showers….it was pretty luxurious, I was expecting tents and squatting lol. The group I was with was fun: a Brit, an Aussie, a Spanish couple and a weird German guy.
The natives, known as Koguis, are quite interesting. They have various gods, one for visibility (the eagle), one for strength (the tiger), but the most important is the sun. The men have long hair, and all walk barefoot. Once the boy turns 18, he is given a “Poporo” and a woman, who is usually around 35 years old because she has more knowledge. The Poporo is a type of pumpkin in which they have a powder in it for energy. The Chaman gives it and at that moment there is also a confession moment between the man and chaman, during which he has to confess all wrong doings that he can remember. Men and women, even if married, sleep in two separate houses. The kids will sleep with the mother. Also, men can have various wifes, in which case, all wives and children sleep in that same house. We saw several kids along the way, they are usually not very smiley.
The lost city itself we “found” on the fourth day. We woke up extra early and went up about 1300 stairs to get to the first terraces. The city dates from the years 300-1600 A.D. and has about 600 terraces in total, meant for different things: ceremonies, schooling, stone carvings etc.
The place itself is very big and it is surrounded by other little villages. It was only discovered in 1974, while men were looking for gold.
We saw many nice butterflies, saw a few lizards, some saw snakes, and we heard birds signing. At night, there were fireflies and we could hear the frogs and toads. Did I mention mosquitos? Tons! And they have this other mosquito they call the “black mosquito” which is really big and has a huge “nose dart thing”, ugly and mean bastards lol.
The fun parts were the river crossings, sometimes we had to take our shoes off to get by, and sometimes we would go swimming in natural pools, which was always nice and refreshing!
So I am now back in Taganga, showered and deciding where I am off to next!
La chola 