Back to Santa Marta for two nights, before going to Tayrona Park for few days and do the overnight hike through the jungle
On the Caribbean coast, Santa Marta is one of the main attraction, despite Cartagena, because it is located next to Tayrona Park, and is the gateway to Minca, the Lost City trek (4days) and the last big city before making your way towards La Guajira Desert.
I personnally would not recommend to stay in Santa Marta for more than 2 or 3 days because there is not much to do inside the city itself, the points of interests are located around it. So it is nice to go through and stay to rest, but don’t waist your time staying longer in there. But of course this is only my humble opinion.
It was our first time in Santa Marta, and we stayed in a really nice and quiet hostal called Kaia Hostel. It has a swimming pool, a breakfast included, hammocks, AC, WiFi and a pool table.
We arrived on a Friday afternoon to do the hostel, and who Says Friday, says nightlife and party. Once we have checked in at noon, we went to the grocery store to buy some food to cook (avocado, fruits, cheese, nachos) and a bottle of rhum.
This night was crazy, we went to this place called Là Terraza, located on top of the hostel Là Brisa Loca, in the historic city center. From the rooftop we had a view of all the city center it was beautiful.
At one point, a guy came to us and asked us if we wanted to play in the beer pong tournament. Michael and I signed up, while Ryan was waiting for his partner Arlo, who came later. They lost their second game while we lost in the final. Each round, the bartender was giving us free shots ... it was a great night.
The morning of our third day was horrible. Ryan woke us up super hangover at 10:30 (the check out was at 11am and we missed the breakfast). The day before we’ve decided to make our way towards the entrance of Tayrona Park, to a nice and cheap hostel we have found, next to the main entrance. Located 15 mins walking from the main entrance of the park (yes the park has two entrances : Zaino which is the main one and Calabazo which is a really small and unknown one), the journey hostel was the perfect accommodation for us, in order to relax and sober out.
We decided to take a taxi from the hostel towards the Journey Hostel, it was around an hour and half driving and costed us 80 000 pesos decided by the three of us. Too hangover to take the bus for almost 3 hours.
The taxi driver dropped us in front of a nice door, on the bottom of a hill, on which were standing several bamboo houses, it was our hostel.
After we’ve checked-in and signed up for the family dinner (yes in this area of the coast, hostels are offering a full meal plan to which you have to sign, and will be added to your tab. The reason is simple, there is nothing nearby, but small tiendas located 30 minutes away walking).
The dorms are really really cool: 10 bunk beds and one hammock, in an open space without windows, but a beautiful view on the river and the nature. Before dinner, we hiked all the way to the top of hill, where the bar was located, to admire the sunset. Absolutely beautiful.
After dinner we went strait to bed, to be ready for tomorrow’s hike in the park.
