Tayrona National Park

Two Wednesday’s ago, my amigos, Alex, Lisa and I decided to go to Tayrona National Park for two nights. It was closing for a month on January 28 and we didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to visit, as we kept hearing how spectacular a place it was. 

The park is a protected rainforest on the Northern Coast of Colombia. It’s a five to six-hour bus ride from Cartagena. We opted for a private bus that sits about sixteen people as opposed to the bigger public buses. The cost isn’t much more while getting you there a little quicker with more comfortable sitting. We opted for the early bus with a 5am pickup.

Once we arrived at the park, we found ourselves being pitched one of three campsites. I’d done some reading on the various sites and the one he was selling was the one I was sure I didn’t want to stay at. There are a few camping sites in the park with Cabo San Juan being the biggest and most popular because it has a swimmable beach. We were being pitched Castillete, the smallest, quietest site perched on a non-swimmable a beach. He did say there was a swimmable beach that’s was a 15-minute walk away. In the end we decided to stay there the first night and trek to Cabo San Juan for our second night.

We arrived at Castillete and it looked smaller than I’d imagined. The tents on the beach were at a guesstimated 50 yards from the ocean. I haven’t camped in about 12 years and sleeping on the beach directly under the stars teased a new experience. I would be bunking with Alex. Thankfully, they provided an air mattress and pillows. Sand immediately found itself in our tent (which was my fault). At that point, I realized I’d have to except any perceived discomfort and embrace the conditions. This is why I’m here! The site and picturesque views offered a very tranquil and relaxed feel; helping to let go and appreciate the situation.

Upon getting settled and unpacked we headed off to the nearest swimmable beach. Turns out that 15-minute walk was more like 4 minutes give or take. At the beginning of our walk, I noticed a small structure with Jaguars painted all over it. Hmmm does that mean there are jaguars in the forest, I wondered?!?! Later during our hike on the main road, we heard a noise come from the forest little ways up the road. At first, I thought it was Alex’s stomach growling. Lol The perplexed look on his face told me something different. We all kind of looked at each and asked what was that? A cat or a monkey? I hadn’t heard about any Jaguar sightings or warnings and figured that’s a detail I would have heard about. Alex picked up a stick and I followed suit. Then my comrades both just continued walking… wait what? I was confused. IF that is a Jaguar, it sounds to be sending out a warning, so why are walking towards it? I wasn’t convinced it was a Jaguar but wasn’t convinced it wasn’t one either. We heard it again and we just kept walking. After about five to ten minutes we determined we were in the clear and disposed of the sticks. I held on to mine a little longer than Alex to err on the side of caution (later we learned it was a money making the noise. Jaguars are in the park but far from the campsites). We finally made it to the beach and did beach stuff. The waves were rough, and we couldn’t go out too far out but that didn’t dampen anything. Aside from the waves knocking off my sunglasses after I forgot I had them on, it was nice.

After we got back to the campsite we stopped for some beers at the sites “restaurant” and pretty much sat around talking the rest of the evening over dinner and beers. Per my norm, we were literally the last ones there long after the other campers left.  I was tired from the long day and welcomed sleep but also enjoyed the camaraderie. Before I entered the tent, I walked down to the water to gaze over the dark ocean with the almost full moon overhead. Infinite, powerful, peaceful, came to mind along with how massive the universe is and how utterly small we are in comparison.

I slept fairly well and felt rested upon awakening. One concern I had was how cold I might get overnight but it was actually very warm inside the tent. First thing I needed to do was take a shower. I hadn’t bathed the whole day and after being in the ocean, I felt it a necessity. We forwent breakfast and made our way to Cabo Saun Juan; a two hours walk away. I was not looking forward to the walk. I enjoy hiking as an activity but not so much when it’s my mode of transportation for the activity. If for the only reason sustained walking causes me knee and back pain. Not to mention I was hauling around a duffle bag. They offered horses to the next site which Lisa and I preferred to take. Alex wanted to hike. We agreed to walk and take horses on the way back, but we’d have our bags transported by a horse. There was no way I was walking with my bag.

The hike was cool. We got to see much more of the park. Alex keeps a very very steady pace! I’m not a fast walker and the rapid pace exacerbates my knee symptoms once discomfort sets in. I decided I’d just keep my own pace as it also offered a chance to better take in the surroundings.

We made it to the Cabo Saun Juan! I was definitely in some pain but applied some special gels to my back and knees that quickly soothed my aches. As advertised this campsite was much bigger and more populated. Unlike the previous campsite, the tents are far off the beach. We got our tents, unpacked and needed food since we bypassed breakfast. After eating, it was time to head to the beach. There was a beach on our site, but Alex wanted to go to a beach we passed on our trek about twenty minutes away. Another twenty-minute walk was not something I wanted to do after walking for two hours. Lisa and I wanted to stay but decided to be accommodating, again. We made it to the new beach and did beach stuff. It was cool. Nothing eventful happened. Enjoyed the sand, ocean, and sun. We went back to the campsite to walk around and check out the cabin house (not sure what it’s called) atop some boulders to observe the views.

Alex decided to recon a beach he saw while we were up there. He came back excited with what he discovered, and we now knew what beach we’d visit the next day.  The night was pretty much a repeat of the previous night. Just more people around.

Our last day we did more beach stuff most of the day. Alex’s beach discovery was close, and we headed there after breakfast. It was colder than I like. Probably because it was still relatively early not having the chance to be warmed by the sun. We ate lunch. Then a little more beach before we left. One cool thing was a crocodile sitting. I knew crocodiles lived in the park because when I googled the park this video came up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnW_nmCtV4o. (Reviewing the video again I believe this is the beach we walked to on the first day) There was lagoon parallel to the beach that appeared prime for crocodile habitation. I later eyeballed a sign warning of just that. While in the ocean I saw a host of people gathered around the lagoon and presumed it was a croc catching their attention. I quickly ran over to see my assumption was correct. Cool thing to see in the wild.

It was time to depart the park. I think Alex would’ve preferred to walk again but as agreed we were taking horses. I don’t think I ever rode a horse before (maybe a pony as a child). I had some aspirations to learn how to ride properly but never a strong desire to ride for a stroll. They’re kind of intimidating. When I heard horses were an option as opposed to a two-hour walk, I said to myself right then, “Oh, I’m riding the horse.” I’ve been doing A LOT of walking and just seemed like the rational logic thing to do despite my past reservations.

The ride was interesting. I expected some instructions from the guide, but we got none. I climbed the horse, we posed for a photo and after a minute it just started walking without the guide. He was doing other things.  I immediately thought the horse was out of control and this could possibly be problematic. “AMIGO AMIGO”, I yelled to a guide to alert to the situation but he just sort of acted like nothing was wrong. Where was urgency as this is obviously not okay I wondered? Later, I realized the horse has done this march countless times. It knew what to do without guidance. He seemed a leader horse as we were in front of the entire trip. Twice Alex’s horse got ahead of us and my horse seemed to deliberately take the lead. Every step and turn it took was absent of any direction from the guide. It was quite an interesting observation of the horse’s awareness and smarts. A few times I lost balance when he trotted faster because the path opened up and he keenly knew to stop, allowing me to get repositioned. He navigated narrow sections of the path with predetermined steps, ensuring nothing scrapped the rocks on either side; most impressively my feet as they dangled about in the stirrups. As I witnessed the horse intelligence and duty, I felt bad because I was aiding in its exploitation. Maybe I’m wrong but from what I gather this is the horse’s daily routine, all day every day. Slogging people and their stuff around. Not exactly it’s the best life! I tried to show some small appreciation to the horse after the hour journey concluded. Something I didn’t learn until the next day was our guide went off for lunch for a bit during the journey. I had no clue and glad I didn’t know at the time. Ignorance is bliss!