Ciudad Perdida Trek: Hiking To The Lost City in Colombia
The Ciudad Perdida is the archaeological site of an ancient city in Colombia's Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. It is believed to have been founded about 800 CE, some 650 years earlier than Machu Picchu.
The Four day trek takes you through river crossings, steep hills, and deep into the jungle. Despite being accessible to tourists for the past 10+ years, the Lost City is still surprisingly under-visited.
Picking A Tour Company
Like my guide to Acatenango in Guatemala, you have a lot of option on picking what company to go with for your trek adventure. For Cuidad Perdida my research came down to three companies. ExpoTour, Magic Tour, and Wiwa Tour. All three tour companies offer the same basic itinerary on the trek, and most of the time you share the campsites along the way with a few exceptions depending on how many people are trekking at one time. I ultimately went with ExpoTour because of their history of providing English speaking guides along the trek. I suggest you look into all three companies and get out of your trek all that you want to find.
Once you arrive in Santa Marta, you simply just arrive to the tour office the day before your trek and pay for it and fill out the proper paperwork. You can arrange for your backpack to be stored there as well. The cost of the 4day trek is $1.150.000 COP/PP or about $290 USD. This is expensive by Colombia standards, but trust me it’s worth it.
What to Pack
Expotour provides you with all your food and snacks, as well as water. They also provide bedding at the campsites so you will not need any sleeping bags or gear for that matter. Everything you need should fit in your day pack, allowing you leave your main backpack behind. The lighter the better for this trek as the terrain is very challenging and also wet.
Day Pack: Outlander 35L
1 pair of Shorts
2 t-shirts
1 long sleeve shirt or light sweatshirt
1 waterproof rain jacket
1 bathing suit or boardshorts
1 pair of sandals or water shoes
1 pair of hiking shoes or athletic shoes
Extra socks (very important)
1 refillable water bottle
Addt Accessories: Hat, Flashlight, Sunscreen, Mosquito Repellent, Toothbrush and Toothpaste, Soap, Towel, Phone Charger, and *Extra Cash
*Extra Cash: Along the trek you will have oppourtunites to by fresh juices, cold drink and additional snacks. Also at each campsite beer is for sale, and after a long day hiking its a must!
This may not seem like a lot for a 4 day trek, but no matter what, all your clothes will get dirty. I often washed my shorts and tshirts in the river while at camp. It worked out great.
Day 1
On the first day of the trek, you meet at the ExpoTour office in Santa Marta. There you can check your main backpack if you were not able to keep it secure at your hostel. I left my bag with the tour company office, and they kept it safe.
You get a chance to meet your fellow hikers, and your guides for the trip. We had Nico who was our main guide and grew up in the indegiounus tribe that still lives in the jungle. He dis not speak any english, so we also had Andres who was our english translater and guide.
Then they arrange a few trucks to pick us up, and the group is divided up and piled into the transports. The journey to the trailhead was about an hour or so. Be prepared for some bumpy riding along some very narrow mountain roads. Our destination was a small little village called Machete Pelao, which is located at the edge of the foothills leading into the dense Colombian jungle of the Sierra Nevada. Here you will have lunch and gear up for the trek.
On the first day you will hike for about four hours to reach the first campsite. Dont forget that the weather in the Caribbean is humid and hot, and it often does rain. The terrain of the first day was open to the sun and had multiple elevation gains. ExpoTour arranges times for everyone to stop, rest and enjoy a fresh fruit break. As the trek goes on you will grow to look forward to these fruit stops very much.
Non the less the views are stunning as you go deeper into the jungle. In the distance you begin to see the many waterfalls, pool, and green hills that awaits you. Once you reach camp they serve you dinner, and its a much needed time to just relax.
ExpoTour campsites are well maintained with bunkbeds or hammocks with mosquito nets. The meals are prepared fresh in the campsite kitchen by the groups chef, and the food was some of the best things i ate my entire trip in Colombia. Unlimited filtered water is also available for free, along with beer for purchase. After a quick rinse in the cold river, the time was spent getting to know everyone better. We had hikers from so many different countries; Germany, Norway, USA, France, Brazil, England, Argentina, Belguim and many more.
Day 2
After a delicious breakfast, you pack up your stuff and head back on the road to the ancient ruins of the Lost City. The second day of hiking takes you through the Buritaca river basin. For this day you will hike for about 7 hours, which makes day 2 the longest day, distance wise on this trek. While entering the jungle of the Sierra Nevada you can really start to appreciate the natural diversity that exists on this path. The jungle starts to memorize you as you cross river beds, and move along the narrow paths. I started to realize that this trek was going to be way more intense than anything I have every done.
On this day of trekking, you will most likely have your first encounter with the local people still living in the rural jungle area. It is important to remember that you are a guest on indigenous lands that is considered sacred. On this trek, you walk through indigenous villages and lands of the decedents of the people that built and lived in La Ciudad Perdida. Depending on your guides you will learn a lot about the indigenous culture, some tours even spend time talking with tribes men at the camp.
After a long day of trekking, dodging locals on dirt bikes and horses you will reach the next campsite. I believe depending on when you go on the trek will determine what camp you use. Most of the camps are setup near the river, so you can go for a swim to get a much needed rinse. Our group all used the river instead of the cold shower, and often spent hours relaxing in the water all together.
Day 3
On the third day you will wake up really early for breakfast and prepare to make the final ascent towards the Lost City. The day begins with crossing the Buritaca River to arrive at the ancient 1,200 step path that was built by the Tayrona's. You can walk across the river and except the challenge, or wait for the small one person transport that runs over the river.
After climbing the challenging steps, the end of the stairs will find you at the entrance to the Lost City (you made it!). Your guide will give you a quick tour, providing background information to the different ruins that still stand in the city. You will even go up to the Shamans house, and if you are lucky he will be home to great you and bless you.
In all you will get around 3 hours to explore the archeological wonder, with a ton of time given to explore on your own. Words can’t explain the energy you feel while standing alone on one of the mounts, with waterfalls in the background and the sound of the wind blowing in the tree line. You are instantly overwhelmed with gratitude and curiosity to what the ancient people of this land represented to the world.
Shamans Path
Stone Map of the City
My favorite part was this long path made of stone that started deep into the jungle valley at a natural water pool, which the ancient people thought was a healing pool. The path leads up the hillside all the way to the temple mount of the Lost City. The path was used by the Shaman to approach the city to teach and connect with the people who were visiting.
We got to go for a swim in the natural “healing pools” and it just added to the magic we were all already feeling from this place.
Eventually you head back to camp, gather your gear and prepare to trek back to the camp from the 2nd night. As we walked the guide let us start to create larger gaps, so that we can spend time alone and take in all that you just experienced. I got pretty separated and find myself alone with just my German friends about a Kilometer away from me. Suddenly a massive rain storm came in and we found ourselves in quiet the situation. Since we were without the guide we had no idea how much longer we had to go to reach camp, but instead of stopping we just pushed through and kept walking.
For the most part we had to guess on turns and trusted our memory of the trail from the day before. Luckily, we made it to camp and were greeted with smiles and laughs from the others as we were soaked and looked frightened.
That night we were visited by a local villager, who came down from the mountain to speak to us. He taught us all about his culture and the importance of the Cocoa leaf. This was such an opportunity and no one took it for granted. We all were hanging onto everyword he spoke. You could feel his passion in his voice, see the seriouness in his eyes, and the lifetime of experiences on his face. Before he left he shared some Cocoa leaf with all of us, which is a sign of gratitude and respect.
As this was also our last night, some karokee and beer drinking broke out among everyone in the camp. This included all of us on the trek, the local people, and the trek guides. It was really starting to sink in now that this was the end of one amazing adventure.
Day 4
On the final day you get up to a fresh breakfast and hot coffee. Gather your things and prepare for a long day of trekking back to Machete Pelao.
Our guide again suggested to try and create gaps between ourselves on the trail. This will give you time to be surrounded by the jungle and let this entire experience sink in. I walked alone for a few hours, and all the different sounds of the jungle began to come alive. It was also such a great time to clear my mind, and be so thankful for this memorable experience I just had.
Along the way to Machete you will stop for a lot of snacks and water breaks, and a few dips in the river to cool off. Once you get back to Machete you will enjoy a much needed lunch and cold beer.
If you read my blog about trekking the Acatenango Volcano in Guatemala, then you know that It was my birthday when we summited the volcano. Well it so happened to also be on my birthday when we stumbled into Machete at the end of the 4th day. One of our guides lived in town and surprised me with a birthday cake so we could celebrate in true Colombian style with all my new friends. It was a perfect end to an epic journey.
Eventually the trucks return to pick you up and return you to Santa Marta.
My birthday party in Machete
Check out more photos below:
