Finding The Lost City- Colombia
When I first heard of ‘The Lost City’ and of a 4 day trek across the Colombian rainforest, through the Sierra Nevada mountain range in order to find it, I was immediately filled with awe and curiosity and knew this was something I was going to do!
I simply love hiking as it provides one of my very favourite things: the great outdoors! In particular I am never happier than when up a mountain, or in the sea, or in the middle of nowhere surrounded by wildlife and nature.
The Lost City trek (or Ciudad Perdida more commonly known in Spanish) starts from a small town in the Colombian countryside called Machete Paleo, in between the city of Santa Marta and the small holiday town of Palomino. All tours drive along a bumpy road to this start point where the trail begins.
Nearly all of the local tour companies offered this hike and from what I could tell they all cost roughly the same fee of $1,750,000 Colombian pesos (about $375). However, it is important to choose wisely as for the same price the tour quality varied hugely as I found out for myself. I made the mistake of relying on the information provided to me by the tour company I used which wasn’t extensive or in fact terribly accurate, causing me a few issues when I started. In comparison with the other tours happening at the same time, mine was rather disorganised.
So, to begin here are some useful things to know about the trek if you are considering it and before you book!
Useful things to know in advance:
The trek is roughly 46km and is spread across 4 days or if preferred 5 days, making the distances each day slightly less. I chose the 4 day option.
The route is not a circle, you walk to The Lost City and then you walk the same route back
It is not for the faint hearted. It is a tough one. It is generally rated medium to high difficulty. The terrain is very up and down, paired with humidity and high temperatures if the sun is out. Be prepared for this. There are mules available but I do not recommend doing this hike if you would consider using a mule. They are worked extremely hard and in my view should not be used for anything but an emergency.
You need to be prepared to carry your bag with things for the 4 days on your back, so pack as lightly as possible and make sure you have a comfortable well fitted backpack. You can pay extra for a mule to take your bag if you really struggle (this is much fairer on the mule than the weight of a human. 6 kilos for a bag versus 60-90 kilos for person!).
Swim stuff is a must. There are the most beautiful river swim spots along the way, and believe me it’s so hot you will want to jump right in
Mosquito repellant and sun screen are definite must haves
You do get a bed with a mosquito net, blanket and pillow at each campsite but I recommend something warm to sleep in. Also I took my own pillow case, for which I was called a princess, but in reality it was a great move as the pillows smelt a bit musty.
There are in fact plenty of blogs out there that break down the route beautifully, so I am not going cover that ground here. However, if that’s what you are after, try this one: (https://uncorneredmarket.com/lost-city-trek-colombia/). It's got some great detail.
In this particular blog, I am sharing my own personal experience as a means to inspire and tell a story.
The Experience
And what an experience this little adventure was! This is one example of where not quite everything totally went to plan (I'd already had a less than organised start and in fact to share a little more, my tour actually forgot to pick me up in the morning), yet the whole experience was still so incredibly worthwhile, challenging and special in its own way.
By this point in my travels I had already completed quite a number of four or five day hikes in mountainous terrain. I was well used to long days uphill. However, there was something different about this trek that made it the hardest for me of all treks so far.
On day one, within the first half an hour of walking, my entire body was sweating. The humidity was something else. It was impossible to stay cool so you just have to embrace the red, sweating face and go for it!
And not only this, the group I was matched with were three 21 year old Swiss guys, who despite my good hiking pace, could naturally by far, out walk me. In fact they pretty much decided to jog most of the trail. Being the non defeatist 36 year old that I am, I did my very best to keep up with this pace and try and stay in a group but to put it in context, even the tour guide who did this trek regularly, could not keep up with them. They therefore had to wait at various rest points for us both to catch up. This of course was not ideal, but did give me plenty of time and space to practise my Spanish (as our tour guide did not speak any English) and to take photos and enjoy the spectacular scenery! I was already blown away by the peace and landscape and this was only the first day.
When we reached the first campsite the highlight was the waterfall and fresh water lagoon, ready for the first dip of the day. Cold water on tired muscles.
On day two, I woke at 4.30am, actually well rested, ready for a 5am breakfast and prompt 5.30am start. Breakfast was usually scrambled eggs and arepa (a flat round cornmeal cake that is very popular in Colombia and Venezuela). I felt in fighting form for keeping up with the 21 year olds today. Up hill was my forte and the morning offered plenty of it. But by lunchtime I was flagging. The food was really quite generous on this trip, plenty of rice and protein for main meals so after eating a hefty lunch, all I really felt like was a nap. But with less than an hour to digest the food we were back up on our feet and off along the trail again. I decided from here on I would go it alone. No point busting a gut to keep up with the boys anymore.
Learning about the Wiwa indigenous people
One of the most fascinating parts of the journey to The Lost City, was a stop at a small indigenous community- that of the Wiwa tribe. There are 4 different indigenous tribes living still in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, of which the Wiwa are one. They are all thought to be descendants of the original lost city civilisation.
Along with travellers from other tour groups, we were invited into a shelter made of bamboo, with a smoking fire inside to keep the mosquitos away. Here we were welcomed to learn about the Wiwa culture and way of life- still very spiritual and focused on the sanctity of Pacha-mama (Mother Earth).
We were shown an ancient technique of stripping the Blue Agave plant (also used to make Tequila) of its flesh to reveal a fibre that was then treated, spun and woven to make bags and clothing.
We were also told about how the boys, at the age of 17, undergo 4 days of ceremonies with a shaman as a right of passage to become a man. It is at this point they are given a hollow wooden vessel, rounded at bottom and thinner at the top called a poporo. This poporo acts as their identity and signifies they are now a Wiwa man. Inside the poporo is a powder of crushed sea shells (a type commonly found on the beaches on the north coast of Colombia) and dried Coca leaves. A small stick from within the powder is transferred to the mouth. When the lime from the sea shells is mixed with saliva it is used to turn the outside of the Poporo a gold colour. This process is repeated throughout the life of a Wiwa man and the poporo goes everywhere that he goes. Bags made from the agave fibres are used to carry the poporo and dried coca leaves.
When it comes to the Wiwa girls coming of age, I haven’t found much written about this in blogs yet, perhaps due to the uncomfortable nature of it, but I would like to share what I learnt because I feel it is important not to shy away from things just because they can be difficult to hear.
The Wiwa girls when they come of age (when they begin menstruation), are sent to a male community leader for a number of days to be taught how to have sex (and yes, that means the community leader has sex with them). Once they have been through this experience they are then free to leave and choose a man as their partner for life. If they break this tradition, such as fall in love and have sex with a man before this process, there are severe punishments. Withdrawal of food for a period of time was given as an example.
At this point, there were a number of female travellers who respectfully yet pointedly asked a few questions.
Did the girls get to use contraception?
What happens if the girls didn’t want to be taught how to have sex?
Do boys also get taught how to have sex?
I am sure this leaves you with some thoughts and questions too, as it left me thinking very hard for the rest of the hike that day.
Welcome to The Lost City. (Teyuna or Ciudad Perdida)
Day 3 is the day you reach The Lost City. It is it remarkable as it is built at the top of 1200 very steep and narrow stone steps! A great defence mechanism from enemies, as they need to be trodden slowly and carefully and of course require a good up hill stamina!
But on reaching the top, very early before the sun has risen over the nearby mountains, there is an extreme sense of peace and connection with this place. This place, that was once a thriving city and civilisation. So much time has passed and so much history lies in the ground we were standing on, the mind cannot help but drift to imagined images of what it could have been like back in 800 AD.
The city stretches across over 2km of space and almost all remains of structures are built in circular formation. We begin a walk to explore, taking in the vast number of terraces and shocked to have learned that when Teyuna was rediscovered in 1973 almost 80% of it was actually destroyed by looters. Almost everywhere there are broken pieces of pottery across the ground.
The very centre of the lost city is the most impressive structural remains with views that look over terraces and mountains. This would have been the most sacred area of the city, at the top on the highest level.
There are no records of the Teyuna people having used written communication except for a map of the city carved on a giant stone at its very entrance.
The way back
There was something about the way back that despite retreading the steps we had already trod, made it so beautiful. Some of my favourite pictures of the trek are from the return route, avocados growing on trees and the sheer greenness of the surroundings. The way back was split across half of the 3rd day and all of the 4th day.
When I made it back to Machete, where we started, I cannot tell you how relieved and how much of sense of accomplishment I felt in completing this trek. A truly unique and eye opening experience.
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