Beach day at Tayrona National Park

About four hours northeast of Cartagena is Tayrona National Park. There are beautiful hiking routes, picturesque beaches, and some wild animals to discover. I had found a small, inexpensive hostel near the park entrance and wanted to explore a small part of the national park for at least one day.

Fortunately, I managed to get a spot in the fully packed minibus. When I arrived in 'El Zaino', I first went to my hostel. It turned out that it had only opened a few weeks ago. There were only a handful of private rooms and a 'dormitory' with four beds. The low season in Colombia had begun and the few tourists in the region had apparently booked accommodations in the park, so I had the whole hostel to myself. It was run by a young couple who had previously worked for a German hostel owner (whom I also met). Now the couple had started their own hostel. There was a beautifully landscaped garden with various small art objects (such as colorful flower pots made from old towels) that the hostess made herself.

Neither of them spoke English, which was once again a relief for my Spanish skills. Since there wasn't much to see or do in the village, which consists of only a few houses, besides the national park, I spent the evening with my hostess. She cooked something and we talked about traveling, her daily life, and the behavior of Colombian men and the patriarchal structures that still prevail in Colombia (to the best of my Spanish skills).

The next day I went to the national park. I didn't feel like hiking too much, so I decided to run to the beach as quickly as possible. But even that meant a two-hour walk. However, it was also because I couldn't find the shuttle to the start of the trail right away and therefore walked the distance there on foot.

It was very hot and humid in the forests of Tayrona. However, the march was sweetened for me by beautiful blue butterflies and the encounter with some monkeys. And finally, I reached the 'La Piscina' beach, where I spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between reading, staring at the blue water, and cooling off in it.

On the way back, I treated myself to a shuttle ride back to the park exit, and after another night in the small hostel, I started my journey to the last stop on the Caribbean coast: Santa Marta.