HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Making it to the damn beach
BUMMER OF THE DAY: The 6 hour walk it took to get there and back
WORD OF THE DAY: Marakoosha - passionfruit in Spanish
Beach day! I was feeling good today. Going to the beach was just what the travel doctor would order and it would also give me a chance to further enhance my now very brown tan. It struck me a little odd that we had to leave at 7am for a day trip to the beach, and there were a few people mumbling about why we couldn’t go later, so that the piss heads could have a bit of a sleep and the reason was made clear once we arrived to the national park and our day was mapped out for us. With my flip flops on, my beach bag packed (thanks Intrepid) and wearing a skirt I was all set. As expected there were a few people that had just got home from their night out at 6.30am and a few that struggled home around the 3am mark, so a few people decided to not join us, but I do have to say a super human effort to Matt, Tash and Michelle as they were still drunk when they got on the bus that was going to drive us to the national park at 7am.
We stopped at 8.40am for a quick bite to eat which entailed a stop at a side stall and with us all eating a very greasy areapa (like an empanada filled with meat) and even though it was terribly oily it hit the spot of an empty stomach. This is when I noticed I left my purse back at the hostel and when checking my bag also realized that I left my swimming shorts behind as well. I had my bather on and I just change into my swim shorts when I go in the water. This body hasn’t been seen in a swimsuit only for quite a few years, but the morning was already muggy and I just knew I would have to have a swim. Not to mention the beautiful tan line of where my shorts usually finish, I was going to look a treat when I went into the water. It was that hot, that my care factor of what people thought I looked like was low…very low….. Little did I know what was still to come!!! The drive to Tayrona National Park took just on 2 hours and after paying the entrance fee of 35,000 (15AUD) and donning the wrist bands that we had to wear, we had arrived.
The Tayrona National Natural Park is a protected area in the Colombian northern Caribbean region. The park presents a biodiversity endemic to the area of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range presenting a variety of climates (mountain climate) and geography that ranges from arid sea level to 900 meters above sea level. The park covers approximately 30 square kilometers of maritime area in the Caribbean Sea and approximately 150 square kilometers of land. It was the second most visited national park in Colombia in 2009, with 211.833 visitors. The most visited park was the Rosario and San Bernardo Corals National Natural Park. Scholars have done an extensive classification of animal species living in the park, which include about 108 species of mammals and 300 species of birds. The black howler, the oncilla, the deer and more than 70 species of bats are among the park's typical residents. The park's 300 species of birds include the white eagle and alone eagle. There are also approximately 31 species of reptiles, 15 species of amphibians, 202 species of sponges, 471 species of crustaceans, 96 species of anels, 700 species of mollusks, 110 species of corals and 401 species of sea and river fish. There are more than 350 algae and more than 770 species of plants.
This is where the details started to emerge on what was involved for the day. We weren’t just going to pull up and have a beach day. There are 3 beaches that are accessible from this part of the national park and the first one was an hour’s walk away, but you weren’t allowed to swim here due to the currents, it was just too dangerous. The next beach was a 20 minute walk from there and then the best beach of all three was a further 15 minutes on. WHAT!!!!! I was totally unprepared for the walking, but I was here now and really how hard could the walk be? So after buying a small bottle of water we set off at 9am for the first section to check out Arrecifes Beach. Well let me set you the scene. Think George, George of the Jungle. This is what we were walking through. Running creeks, animal noises, twisting vine, massive rocks, killer ants, you now have a mental image. It was cloudy but you could feel the sun still beating through, keeping in mind it is only 9.15am. The humidity must have been around the 1000%, okay maybe a slight exaggeration, but it would have been in the 80s for sure and then after a nice simple boardwalk we hit …..the steps and the trail. It was a hiker’s paradise and a lot of effort to get to some damn beach!!! They had made steps out of timber but also used the natural landscape as steps as well. Sneakers would have definitely been the recommendation on this stretch of the walk, and a backpack and not a side bag and also shorts and not a skirt. Some places was just rock faces that we had to scoot over with no railings and using trees as support as we crossed over and descended boulders. It was a rainforest environment with vines and lots of massive rocks and well a rainforest. It was very peaceful with not so many people walking this section and you could imagine my relief when we got to a viewpoint and that first fresh hit of sea air hit my sweaty face, was an amazing feeling. To be able to see the ocean after nearly an hour was a lift that’s for sure. It was only a further 15 minutes to the restaurant of Arrecifes Beach and we stopped for a cold drink of a passionfruit juice slurpee and with it being so hot and being so sweaty I think it must have been the best cold drink I have EVER had. We sat here for around 20 minutes to have a rest before walking past and on the actual beach of Arrecifes and onto Piscane Beach which was supposedly only 30 minutes away. It really was humid as hell. There was a warning sign in 7 different languages telling people not to swim at Arrecifes as 100 people had lost their lives here. I can see how people would just want to have a dip after that hike through a tropical rainforest where it was so humid and hot inside….. The highlight of this section was the army of ants we saw in several sections all carrying leaves or twigs twice their body size. There were hundreds of them, some coming some going all on a mission and getting it done. The ants were massive to start with and I am sure they would pack a punch if they bit you, but at first glance it just looked like the leaves were walking as you couldn’t see the ant underneath carrying it. It really was fascinating.
The next section was more like trail walking and flatter with just a few steps and boulders to scurry over. We could see the beach, or at least hear it now from the trail as we made our way to Piscane Beach. By this time the group had split into the fast walkers (the fit buggers), the middle group (still fairly fit) the back group (that was me, the unfit bugger) and then the last group which was the hung-over people who were sweating out the nights alcohol consumption. I wouldn’t want to do this hung-over that was for sure, a very HIGH FIVE goes to Michelle, Tash and Matt. I saw a green snake slither across the path on this section and it just so surreal to actually see one. My uneducated snake guess would be a green tree snake, but he really didn’t hand around and was a fast little bugger. We had streams to cross on this section as well, so having flip flops here was recommended, so really if I had of known what to expect I probably still would have worn flip flops but the ones with backs to get a bit more support as there were a lot of water crossings that we had to hop, skip and splash across. It was beautiful here, with palm trees swaying, mountain backdrops and birds, lots of egrets also on this section as we left the trail and got back to some beach walking again. There are big boulders on the beach and they remind me a little of the Seychelles. The sand is shingle, it’s not fine white sand, but it was still beautiful and made the rainforest hike worth it. Just. It took us 30 minutes to get to Piscane beach and was like a small bay and the water looked amazing here. We decided to push on to the last beach, San Cabo, as it was supposed to be the best of all three and if I stopped here at Piscane I just know I would not be motivated enough to keep going.
From Piscane Beach to San Cabo Beach was supposed to be only 15 minutes, well according to the sign we saw as we had to climb over some more boulders and stone steps. By this stage I was really hot, my skirt was hitched probably a little too high for it to be PC, but my care factor was ZERO as I kept slinging my side bag back on my shoulder. After the initial rock climb we were back to trail walking and after 25 minutes we hit Nirvana. It was like walking into a scene of the movie ‘The Beach’. We really didn’t see many people of the whole walk and then when we reached Cabo there were people everywhere, around 50 tents pitched, some accommodation huts and a large outdoor restaurant that was serving lunch from 12.20pm. It was currently 11.40am and it had taken me nearly 2.5 hours to get to the beach!!! Now is that keen or what? Since we had nearly an hour to wait for food service a group of us decided to cool off in the Caribbean Sea and with no swim shorts, sporting a grand swim short tan, I had the best swim I have had in a long time. Bringing my body temperature down I rekon 15C. The worst thing of it all was we had to go back the same way and be back by 4.45pm. So working it back to give us 3 hours to get back we had to be leaving Cabo Beach at 2pm. This is why we needed to start so early in the morning and why it really couldn’t have been done at 10am, we really only got 2 hours here before we had to turn around and head back. So the day at the beach was really a hiking day TO the beach and knowing what I know now, I still would have come but been just a little more prepared.
Lunch was a busy time as everyone wanted to be fed all at once. They had a great system though to keep it all moving along and basically you ordered off the menu and considering where we were there was a large selection of fresh fish, chicken, salads and pasta’s. You paid the guy and got a number and then the plates just rolled out of the kitchen in no particular order. I had to learn what 83 was in Spanish as that was my number and I only had to wait 20 minutes and I had my meal on the table. They also had a fresh juice stall open up, so I ordered another passionfruit juice and they are just so tasty. I defiantly will be making these when I am home; I wonder if Ethiopia has passionfruits? These ones are massive and yellow in colour, not like the small purple ones we have back home.
So after chillaxing after 2.5 hours it was time to hit the trail home. I was exhausted and couldn’t imagine how Tash and Matt felt with only 2 hours sleep. I didn’t even bother getting changed out of my bathers and sarong and did the 3 hours back dresses as I was. The sun was behind clouds again but the humidity was still a killer. Matt was our positive motivator for the afternoon and we started off in small baby steps, breaking up each of the sections as an accomplishment rather than looking at it as a 3 hour hike back to the bus! I have to say I think it helped. There was now a mass movement of people heading back, just like those ants we saw in the rainforest. We stopped back at Arrecifes for a rest and another drink, this time I went for the heavy stuff and got a bottle of coke and revived, we left for the last 45 minute hike back through the rainforest. I was sweaty, tired and I had 2 blisters, one on each middle toe trying to keep my flip flops on my feet, and one popped half way back, but we made it back to the bus with 10 minutes to spare!!! HIGH FIVE us!!!! I was totally exhausted, I’m sure I looked a sight and it was a totally non-Bernie thing to do, but I was glad I did it and I got it finished. What a day!
We had the 2 hour bus trip back to Taranga and then after a much needed and earned shower we turned back around for dinner at ‘our’ café Bonsai, with another BBQ’ed pork, salad and of course a passionfruit juice to wash it all down, I headed straight back home after dinner as I was knackered and the others followed a few hours later. I am still not feeling much love, so I have decided that when we get into Quito to not stay at the Tucan hotel and book into somewhere nice for my last 2 nights on the South American continent. So I booked the hotel where Amy and I stayed for our Galapagos pre-tour accommodation at the Dann Carlton Hotel. I know where to get food, I know where the post office is and for 120USD a night I am getting a junior suite and a little luxury. Apparently the Tucan hotel is not that great, and if I stayed there for the one night and then swapped hotels you run in to check-in and check-out issues and I just think it will be easier this way anyway.
I don’t think Taganga is really my type of place. It is renowned for partying, drugs and diving. I do like partying, but my party mojo has been left somewhere in either in Rio or Addis, but I’m okay with that. I will just look at it that I am saving myself for the States and when I get home, I won’t mention the ‘O’ word, I’m not getting ‘old’ but clever and smarter. Yeah that’s what it is J
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