Taganga and the Lost City trek

In the last week we have trekked up and down mountains and beaches.
Taganga is a quaint fisherman village with a lot of tourists just down a windy road from Santa Marta. We were fortunate to find the best hostel in the whole city (or so we think) on our first go. El Oso Persozo (the sloth) is a treehouse like hostel in the middle of the city where we can swing from rooftop hammocks and relax in the breezy cafe - includes 360 panoramic views of rolling green hills and caribbean sea.
However, we have seen far better in the last week. Last friday we embarked on a 5 day 4 night trek through Tayrona National Park to the very lost city of the Tayrona indians. Our first day included a (10 person full) bumpy jeep ride up a mountain to Pueblito where we began our hike. Through the jungle we went passing banana trees, parrots and rivers. The hike is steep both up and down but we were well taken care of with fresh fruits like mandarins, pineapple, bananas, sugar cane, and cocoa sweetness. After approximately 4 hours of hiking we stopped at the home of our guide (where he has lived all his life) and were feed and put to bed in hammocks. We go to bed early and rise with the dawning sun to eat another huge plate of food, sip on coffee and juice. We pass semi-domestic cows, chickens and roosters on steep pastures as well as indian villages made up of thatched palm huts. Coffee and cocaine fields abounded. We see the biggest cockroaches, butterflies, beetles, toads and spiders bigger than our hands! Every day it pours, and our sweat soaked clothes smell a little better from this rain relief. The sun is hot and the humidity is strong the whole way through, something us washingtonians dispise, but we instead are distracted by the wonders of the world which surround us. Every minute, day and night, hums with the jungle electricity of bugs, waterfalls, wind in the trees above, strong rain, load birds and randomly scattered pigs. Every step feels fulfilling, and our guide points out the smallest beautys along the way, he knows everything about the flora, fauna, people, and living off the land. We relied on his knowledge every day, although he often made sarcastic jokes that hopefully we have eventually been able to decifer from the truths.
On the third day we rise at 5 and find Courtney´s only shoes scalded by the warm oven they were placed next to to dry the night before. Our guide has nothing to offer but aquasocks. After this upset, with grace, we scale a waterfall, and walk 1500 stairs to find overgrown stone circles which were once foundations of prehistoric homes. When we reach the center of the old civilization we are literally blown away by a ginormous Colombian military helicopter. After landing in most sacred spot of the ruins, hundreds of supply boxes are unloaded to feed and accomidate the armed military men stationed on site. It seemed a bit sacreligious to us, but we were curiously perplexed by the mass quantity of supply that only comes once a month. A decade ago guerillas used to feed off tourists that came through the trail, so the military has been set up as permanent protection, and it was affective.
We spent time soaking up the spiritual energy that eminated from the old city and learned lessons from one of the two indigenous elders that still lives there. On our decent back we felt influenced and inspired, making our journey even more worth the while. We return to pueblito on Tuesday completely bug bitten, sore feet/legs, and stinking from a lack of showering in the last week. Fortunately there were cold rivers for us to swim in to somewhat relieve our noses from the worst body odor either of us has ever experienced. That said, we were very excited to return to Taganga and reset ourselves, launder our clothes and finally bathe.
We are now scheduling our next adventure to the coffee region of central Colombia where we plan to volunteer on farms and see where Starbucks gets its gold.
We are happy and we are safely enjoying this paradise we have landed in.
Mucho amor,
Emilia y Chia