So far, the six-day trek to visit Ciudad Perdida (Lost City) has been the highlight of my time here. The Lost City is beautifully located up in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada and was the most important site for the indigenous people of the Tayrona region when the Spanish arrived. It is thought to have been founded around 800 AD making it 650 years older than Machu Picchu. The city was abandoned during the wars with the Spanish (who never knew the city existed). Most of the natives were slaughtered in battles or dying from European diseases and the people from the city dispersed. Unfortunately most of the original culture (such as crafting ceramics and gold, and the language) was lost. Some of the descendants of these people have returned to the region and now there are three distinct tribes in the Tayrona, the Kogis, the Arhuacos and the Asarios. The indigenous knew the “Lost” City existed and continued to use it for ceremonies and meetings. It was “discovered” in 1975 by a family of professional grave robbers who looted the city and excavated gold and ceramics. The presence of these treasures on the black market made other grave robbers (and eventually the government) aware that an indigenous city had been found. One of the original thieves became the first guide to the city (firstly for archaeologists, and then tourists) in the late 70’s. Access to the site (for both tourists and the natives) is now strictly controlled by the government. The indigenous have acknowledged the existence of many more “lost” cities in the Sierra Nevada but (understandably) will not reveal the location of them.
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| Kogi village |
For three days we followed the Buritaca river to reach the Lost City. We joined a group of around twenty people from Slovenia, Ireland, Germany, the US and Canada. Despite the hard walking, it was rather luxurious hiking compared to what I usually do. We had mules to carry the food, a cook to prepare all our meals and we stayed in basic camps, either in hammocks or bunks and even had real toilets and showers.
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Real jungle
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Our guide talking to Kogis we met along the track
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Crossing the Buritaca river
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Walking in the dense jungle, along paths trekked by the natives for centuries was a very special experience. This is still the territory of the indigenous populations and everyone has to be granted permission by them to enter. It is a place of complete abundance and diversity and it was an honour to be there and see how these people live and learn about their cultures. Other than being a completely macho society, where the women do most of the hard work and go barefoot while the men wear boots, it seemed in many ways a very nice life. They live in perfect harmony with the jungle, with complete respect for environment that gives them their shelter, food and medicine. They are peaceful because they have everything they need in abundance. I watched these sweet shy kids immediately start fighting when sweets were offered to them by the tourists, and get crazy eating packets of sugar at the camp, and realise we have nothing good to offer them. They are beautiful innocent people and I resisted the temptation to take hundreds of photos of them, sometimes it felt like they were animals in a zoo with all the cameras in their faces. The tribes are nomadic and many of the indigenous choose not to have contact with the tourists, staying higher in the mountains. Others go to the cities, studying law and medicine and return to help their communities.
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| Precious Kogi kids waiting for treats |
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| Sunrise over the mountains | The mules getting packed in the morning
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Often during the walk our guides stopped to point out plants and animals, giving us fruits to try, or showing us the vines that provide the colours for dyeing the bags. We were able to try coca leaves, which are chewed by the natives (only the men) to give energy during long walks. All the men carry a poporo, a gourd filled with powdered sea shells, which is combined with the coca leaves to activate the chemicals to give a stimulant effect. The coca is used for various medicinal and spiritual rituals and the action of using the poporo is something like a meditation, with positive intentions and purpose placed on it's use. We also tried the fruit of the cacao, the beans are coated with a sweet velvety flesh, which unfortunately gives you a sore stomach if you eat more than a few. We bought some 100% chocolate made by the local farmers, as pure and traditional, and of course organic, as you could get. Not to mention ridiculously cheap.
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| Coca leaves | Cacao pod | Coffee beans drying in the sun |
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| Afternoon rain in camp | Morning sun through an enormous tree covered in orchids |
We were walking about 4-5 hours a day in the morning, in order to reach the next camp before the pouring rain started in the afternoon. Each day we were doing a few river crossings, some of which were very dangerous once the river started to swell from the rain. Most days we made it to the camp just in time, and were showered and enjoying coffee, snacks and games of poker when the rain started. After visiting the Lost City and returning to the base camp for lunch, we had to set off for another 3 hours walking in the pouring rain. Once we were wet to the bone, river crossings were done with boots on and we sloshed into camp like drowned rats. At least it was always warm.
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| Some of the 169 stone terraces of Ciudad Perdida |
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| Absorbing to atmosphere | More steps to the upper terraces | House of the shaman |
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| A map of the region carved in stone | View of the terraces from the top | One of the soldiers guarding the site |
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| The entrance of Ciudad Perdida | Stone balls and dishes for milling corn |
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| Bathing in the Pool of Eternal Youth | A bridge across the river for the leaf-cutting ants |
Every evening in the camps there was lots of free time to get to know our fellow walkers, share impressions of Colombia, and learn more about the region and the people. A few of the local villagers, especially the kids, appeared at meal times, looking for leftovers and treats. They were shy but happy to talk to us, and seemed a bit bemused by our interest and attention, especially by us asking how old they were. Most of them didn't know, time seemed to have no importance at all to them. There were also lots of animal visitors to the camps, happy cats and dogs, a cheeky parrot who stole eggs from the breakfast table, and several enormous toads in the showers.
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| A nice view to enjoy breakfast and coffee |
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| Juancho the parrot, taking his lunch and climbing a tree | Media Luna, a friend at the first camp |
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| The great camp kitchen with wood-fired adobe stoves | Juancho and I making friends |
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| A sunny afternoon for our walk home | Hello, I'm Mister Ed.... |
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| Butterflies along the way. |
I was very sad to walk out of the jungle and go back into a smelly noisy city. Simple days of good exercise through beautiful, lush scenery, clean air and water, sleeping when it's dark and waking when it's light are definitely food for the soul.
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