Welsh David's South America: 3 to 5 April 2017 - To and at Tayrona (Colombia)

Walking into the camp site

Up at 0400 hours to leave the camping site at 0500 hours barely being able to see the track back to the truck to arrive at Tayrona at midday to find initially that the operators of the park would not allow the truck onto the site, but then relented. Thank goodness they did as it was a long drive from the gate to the parking place. It then took nearly an hour to walk the 3 kilometers through the forest and rocks to the place where we were to stay - in a lousy hammock! Tayrona is a national park of some 150 square kilometres with various camping area, beaches and jungle. It's an ideal place if one likes walking; sleeping in a hammock (there were other alternatives but we were booked into a hammock stay); beaches (if open as the red flag was up on the one nearest us while we were there); mosquitoes; bugs; ants, and all sorts of things that fly in the night. I did not like the place and slept most of the time on top of the picnic tables or on the floor. Also, when in the hammock and moving around at night I kept bumping into Tanja and she into me as the hammock area slept 46 people all hung up together like a load of bats hanging there. I did walk to a beach and in the forest but apart from that I was more than glad to leave. I thought it was a wasted and expensive two days! Water cost 8 times what it did out on the road, that just show what profit is made on what is a necessity. Some of the food was quite bland, others good, but still pricey I thought. A chicken meal I had in Mompox costing £2 was £13 here and I thought the Mompox one was much tastier. Yes, the ambiance was different with tablecloth and cutlery, but the difference did not gel with me. Just as well I had taken in some biscuits as they kept me going for the two days.