Tayrona National Park, Columbia

Tayrona National Park was the final destination of our trip and it did not disappoint. This park is on the north coast of Columbia and is replete with monkeys, birds, and iguanas. After provisioning in the nearby city of Santa Marta, Whit and I travelled by bus to the park's entrance and hiked for about an hour to our first campsite. Here, we discovered that the promised kitchen facilities were nothing more than a spot to make your own fire and a few dirty old pots; lucky we only took cookable food with us... After a few failed attempts and some support from a local (it was already going when he helped) we managed to cook our dinner the old fashioned way. The following day we walked for about an hour to the most popular campsite in the park which sits right on the beach. Here we slept in hammocks on a mini peninsula jutting out from the beach. At high tide, this crag briefly became a tiny island as water swallowed the spit of sand connecting it to the main campsite. While it took some time to get comfortable, it was a fantastic spot to sleep. You'll be happy to know that we didn't attempt to cook dinner that night, instead we decided to buy it from the campsite restaurant like every other normal person. From here we hiked to a beachfront campsite toward the entrance of the campsite and, because we are masochists, attempted to cook dinner with similar 'kitchen facilities'. It didn't go well but I guess it's all part of the experience.Read more