DAY 1 – CARTAGENA ARRIVAL DAY
Meet your AJ trip leader and group at 7:00 pm.
Welcome to Colombia and Cartagena! Officially named Cartagena de
Indias, and once known as Calamari, this romantic city of Colombia is
home to more than one million inhabitants. The city is located on the
northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean coast region. Cartagena
offers residents and visitors a wide variety of activities and
amenities, combined with the picturesque beauty of its cultural and
architectural past. Enjoy colonial churches and pre-Colombian art in
contrast with the futuristic high-rise buildings of a busy metropolis.
There are no planned activities on your arrival day, so check into our
hotel and enjoy the city. Your trip expert leader will hold a general
briefing in the evening, normally between 7pm and 8pm (a note will be
posted in the arrival hotel with details).
Accommodation: Hotel Don Pedro de Heredia or similar
Meals included: None
DAY 2 – CARTAGENA
After breakfast enjoy a walking tour through the old part of town,
visiting key sites throughout the historical center of the city that
were inspiration for Colombia’s most famous author, journalist and Nobel
Prize winner; Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Enjoy a beautiful afternoon at leisure exploring the old city by
yourselves, particularly the inner walled town, perhaps visit San Felipe
de Barajas Castle, the largest of the fortresses, or head out of town
for a mud bath at Volcan de Lodo El Totumo. The nearby group of tiny
coral islands and stunning expanses of Playa Blanca (White Beach) reveal
the hidden beauty of Colombia’s Caribbean coast. Maybe choose to end
this adventure people-watching in the heart of Getsemaní, Plaza de la
Trinidad, where kids play soccer and singers strum their guitars.
Accommodation: Hotel Don Pedro de Heredia
Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner
DAY 3 – SANTA MARTA
Travel in the morning to Santa Marta for around 5 hours by the
coastal shore of the Caribbean Sea. You’ll pass by important cities like
Barranquilla, among the biggest in Colombia, also see large sea ports
located in the delta of Magdalena River, the largest in the country.
Take the afternoon at your leisure to explore the colonial old city of
Santa Marta.
Accommodation: Hotel Santa Marta Real or similar
Meals included: Breakfast
DAY 4 – LOST CITY TREK CAMP I
Start your Lost City adventure travel with a 2-hour drive on a 4×4,
on a small road climbing up to the Santa Marta Range, to reach a small
countryside town called Mamey. Here, we will have our lunch and get
ready and start our trek to the magical Lost City. After 4 hours (5 mi/8
km), arrive to camp 1 to spend the night in this impressive tropical
forest.
The overall climb on the first day is about 520 meters. We will have a hearty, well-earned, and relaxing dinner by candlelight.
Accommodation: Camp I
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
DAY 5 – LOST CITY TREK CAMP III
Continue the journey and hike for approximately 5 to 7 hours (9.5
mi/15km) on the second day. Along the way, we will stop for lunch and
pass camp 2 on our way towards campsite 3 and make a stop at the Indian
Kogui’s settlements in the valley of the Buritaca River to get a feeling
for the local Indigenous cultures and their way of living in these
pristine villages; later we will arrive at camp 3 located on the
foothills of Teyuna Lost City. You can also take a refreshing dip in the
Buritaca River.
Accommodation: Camp III
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
DAY 6 – TEYUNA SACRED CITY (LOST CITY)
Finish the remaining climb to the Lost City. We will start early in
the morning, climbing up steps for one hour in the last part of the
well-designed Tayrona trail that will take us to the monumental city of
the royal Tayrona Culture. On the way, we will have magnificent views
overlooking the dense jungle and rugged terrain, feeling the weather
changing and the ecosystems morphing as we get higher in altitude and
closer to the sacred place. Once we arrive, appreciate the magnificent
terrain and the beauty of this place along a guided tour around the Lost
City for about 3 hours. The local guide will give you a better
understanding of how large and spectacular this place originally was and
of the importance of the Tayrona Culture. Afterwards, trek back down
hill for about 3 hours to camp 2 where we will spend the night.
Accommodation: Camp II
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, DInner
DAY 7 – RETURN TO SANTA MARTA
On the last day of our trekking expedition up in the sierra range, we
will hike 5 hours back to Mamey town, our starting location. We will
enjoy a last lunch provided by our trekking team and then get our
transportation to take us back to the hotel in Santa Marta. We’ll have a
celebration dinner tonight after the accomplishment of our challenging
hike.
Accommodation: Hotel Santa Marta Real or similar
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
DAY 8 – DEPARTURE
International departures, end of services. Take with you memories and
photos and leave a piece of your heart, as you will want to return to
Colombia soon to experience more of this enchanted land. We wish you a
“buen viaje”!
Meals included: Breakfast
Inclusions:
Transportation: Comfortable land transportation, Jeep 4×4, trekking.
Activities: Cartagena Gabriel Garcia Marquez walking
tour, Experience dinner at the local women’s jail, Salsa lesson in
Cartagena , Santa Martha City, Lost City Trek 4 Days / Five nights, Half
a day guided tour of Teyuna City (Lost City), Local encounter with the
defenders from Tayrona tribe kogui.
Accommodation (based on double occupancy): Comfortable 3 to 4 star Hotels (4 nights) and 3 nights at basic camps along the Lost city trek ).
Meals: 7 Breakfasts, 4 lunches & 4 dinner Allow USD 120-200 for meals not included.
Staff & Trip Leader: Certified AJ expert English-speaking adventure leader and local guides.
Exclusions:
- Single supplement
- Entrance fees not listed
- International air (also applied to trans-border flights)
- International airport transfers
- Applicable tourist visas
- Incidentals
- Mandatory Travel Insurance
- Airport taxes
- Tips or gratuities (recommended: $8 per trip leader, $5 per local
guides, $2 for drivers. NOTE: keep in mind that this is all per day per
traveler)
- Beverages
- Meals not mentioned above
- Optional tours or optional admissions not listed above
Also,
be part of this active adventure and travel through lush jungles and
across streams passing by Indigenous villages, learning about one of the
undiscovered regions in the hearth of Santa Marta mountain range.