So, horses we got to get to this beach, Playa Brava, in Tayrona National Park. Proof.
This was just before a huge tropical thunderstorm in which we got absolutely soaked, and the horse above tried to turn round at least twice. I guess that´s why they call it a rain forest. It took us two and a half hours to climb through the jungle, up the mountain and down again – and most of this was through torrential rain. But it was worth it when we arrived to this:
We slept in hammocks underneath these huts, which were run by a Colombian guy and the local tribe. It was an amazing thing to see, but really quite strange as we had dinner with the other 4 people staying there and the tribe people. Food was lovely, but from somewhere they pulled a projector (the only other electricity seemed to be about 4 light bulbs) and insisted we watched a 1980s BBC documentary made about them. The beach was stunning and made all the more beautiful for the wild horses, pigs and chickens that roamed around. We woke up with a horse standing over Holly and staring her in the face.
Although lovely, it was maybe a bit “outdoorsey” for Elliot so we thought we would take the short hop to the other beaches which were along the same coast. Apparently it was about an hour and a half (everything here seems to be “about an hour and a half”) back through the jungle.
Well. It wasn´t – it took us 4 hours. That´s four hours of hiking up and down a mountain which was covered in thick rainforest. As you probably know, we aren´t really the hiking type so managed it in flip flops and plimsoles. There was a path to follow, but it was hardly a yellow brick road and it repeatedly disappeared as we walked through rivers, over waterfalls and clambered over boulders. Although absolutely exhausting, it was unbelieveably spectacular and impossible to do justice with photographs, but you get the idea.
The first time we sat down to have a rest we saw some branches falling from trees and stopped to watch. There were two young monkeys playing in the tree tops and we think they saw us too, as they went to get their dad who came a bit too close for our liking and looked straight at us. So we shit ourselves and ran up the mountain a bit quicker this time. Also childhood ambition fulfilled by drinking from a fresh river in the rainforest.
The next day we walked along the coast which was thankfully much easier and equally beautiful.
Our next stop was the city of Cartagena. It´s full of salsa playing bars and we´ve managed to wander around aimlessly for a few days eating some fish and drinking some rum and white wine – a rarity so far. Awesome place and it seems everyone is up for a bit of a party, with shops, bars and market stalls competing for the loudest sound system.
Regular readers (haha) may know that we planned to head to an Island called Providencia from Cartagena, but we went to book the flights and had a bit of a change of plan as it was far more expensive – nearly as much as it cost to fly to Venezuela from London – than we thought it would be. So instead we are heading off in the morning on quite a long journey to Sapzurro on the Colombian coast near Panama. Should be a proper adventure, as it involves a bus, a truck and a boat. Marvellous.
Will fill you in on how we get on…







