Drew & Marta's Travels: Colombia: Parque Nacional Tayrona

Parque Nacional Tayrona is a short jump from Taganga, a reason why this area has become quite the backpacker hang out in Colombia. Many visit to hike to the Ciudad Perdida (Lost City). Drew and I didn't have the 5 days budgeted for this trek, and quite honestly hiking in the humidity of the jungle just didn't seem all that great anyways. However, I hear the trek is worth it from those that do it. We visited Parque Tayrona for its well known beaches, spending two full days in the park.

We chose to take a boat from Taganga to Playa Cabo San Juan de la Guia, spend the night there, and then hike between a few of the other beaches before taking a car back to Taganga. I was expecting a smooth boat ride since it is the Caribbean. But I am happy I took my anti-nausea medicine before we set off because the swells were quite large for your typical speed boat. Fifty minutes in the hot sun bouncing around on a boat was not exactly that pleasant! The views and beaches in Tayrona were quite worth it. Cabo San Juan is also equipped to rent you hammocks/tents and has a restaurant and store. We slept in hammocks on the mirador overlooking the sea.

We spent much of the second day hiking to the other beaches in the park. La Piscina was a beautiful beach (pictured in the panoramic pics). We spent most of our day there, as the other beaches are unsafe to swim in due to dangerous currents. You can tell just looking at the waves how rugged and dangerous they could be. The last bit of the hike was 45 minutes through the jungle...needless to say, we were sweaty messes by the time we reached our vehicle pick up site.

We headed back to Taganga for one last night...excited to eat our $2 pollo a la brasa and Coke Light for the third time in town.

Playa Cabo San Juan de la Guia in Parque Nacional Tayrona. Pictured is the boat we arrived in from Taganga and the hut above is where we slept in hammocks for the night.

Playa Cabo San Juan de la Guia.

More views of the same beach.

The other part of the Playa Cabo San Juan de la Guia beach.

Good view from the opposite side. There were really two beaches separated by a little stream and the hammock hut on the rocks above.

The lush rainforest pictured behind...a sharp contrast to the arid hills of Taganga.

Smooth rocks surround all the beaches in Parque Tayrona.

Rain clouds moving in later in the afternoon.

Our sleeping quarters. We chose the ocean view location instead of the field below because it was cooler with fewer mosquitos. However, it actually got cold enough that I had to use my pack towel as a blanket to cover my head and upper body.