Tayrona

Tayrona National Park

From Medellin we flew up to Santa Marta, on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. We looked at the options of taking an overnight bus for this journey, but it was at least 18 hours of travelling in mountainous roads, with very few suitable places to break the journey, and the internal flight was not significantly more expensive. We’re trying to minimise use of flights during our trip, but this one felt like the right decision to ensure that we arrived on the coast ready to enjoy our time there.

The second the plane doors opened we could tell we were in a very different climate than we had experienced so far. Santa Marta is firmly in the tropics and the heat and humidity greeted us immediately as we found our way to our one hour transfer along the coast towards Tayrona.

This was one of the most carefully thought out and anticipated parts of our adventure as it covered Hannah’s tenth birthday on August 24th. As we would be away from friends and family for her birthday she was allowed to select our activities for the day (within reason!) and she had asked if it would be possible to see jungle, the beach and wild animals. Tayrona national park offers all of that, with a hike through the jungle to secluded, sandy beaches and the chance to see various wildlife including monkeys.

We pushed our accommodation budget up a little for the special occasion at stay at beautiful Ecohostel Yuluka and we were certainly not disappointed by the setting. The family room was cosy, with hammocks and sitting areas on the porch and an outside shower with hot water (not a given in this region!). It was only about 10 minutes drive away from the main entrance to the park and offered a free drop off there. It was only about a 20 minute bus away from the beaches at the edge of the park which were free to access.

We enjoyed relaxing around the pool at Yuluka and exploring the ‘free’ beach on the days approaching Hannah’s big day. The kids were also delighted that the on-site restaurant served spaghetti bolognese having been eating in local restaurants with us for a few weeks.

The only downsides to these beaches was the steep drop off on the sand making them quite thin and the very strong waves and currents making them unsuitable for the kids to swim in. They were though very picturesque and a great place to spend a few hours relaxing.

On the big day itself we got up early to have our breakfast before heading to the entrance to the national park. A big storm the night before had made the electricity somewhat unpredictable, so we took cash for the entrance fee, and just as well as the card machines were not available. Cash is very much king in this part of Colombia and there wasn’t a cash point within 45 minutes drive of Yuluka.

The rain the day before led to a warning from the staff at the entrance at the park that some of the paths would include deep mud, and if the rains came again in the afternoon some of the paths may become blocked by deep, fast flowing water… Fortunately the day was completely dry and warm, which was perfect for our adventure.

The walk through Tayrona national park takes a couple of hours. It's around four miles on good footpaths through the jungle and then along the coastal path to a collection of beautiful beaches that are naturally protected by rocks to allow swimming. As it is essentially the only footpath permitted through the park, it did feel quite busy, a little out of keeping with the visions of pristine coastal jungle that we had, but the views and experience were fantastic. The kids were at their limit of stamina by the time we returned to the entrance, but we made it in time for the 5pm cut off to get the bus back along the last 5km to the entrance. Hannah was worried that she hadn’t seen any monkeys on our walk on the way back, and this was the only thing missing from the dream day out she had planned. Fortunately, about a mile from the entrance we came across a small group of people that had stopped to see a pair of monkeys up in the tree canopy jumping and swinging around looking for food.

We loved our day in Tayrona national park and it was such a special place to spend Hannah’s tenth birthday. It was a long day and quite a tough walk for the kids (but they were very proud of themselves to have managed it all by the end). It is an expensive day out by Colombian standards, with a hefty entrance fee, compulsory health insurance and the need to pay for the shuttle bus into and out of the main path meaning that it was £60 before we had even considered food or drinks. Many people do choose to stay in the park as your entrance fee covers you until you leave, and this can be a more economical way of experiencing the park and also being able to see it when it is quieter. I hope that the fees are positively contributing to the preservation of this special place, which is also home to a small indigenous community, but some locals were concerned that the ownership had been privatised.

We stayed for a few more nights a bit further down the coast at a budget hotel to extend our time by the sea. This was a perfectly nice place for us to enjoy the sun and explore along the coast to the backpacker haven of Palomino. Here there are a huge number of hostels, bars, restaurants, and a small beach where you can take surf lessons (though the current was powerful again). The town is filled with sandy, dusty streets around the access to the narrow beach and had some excellent coffee pastries for a mid-morning stop.

Tayrona is definitely a great place to visit, and a huge contrast to our other stops in Colombia with the Caribbean humidity and a laid back sensibility. The travel infrastructure was good, with cheap local buses and plenty of places to stay. The key thing to be aware of is to take plenty of cash!