Panama/Colombia/Belize Trip Report

Left Panama from Panama city to cartagena with Aires airlines for $158.

arrived in cartagena and stayed at balcones de badillo hotel in el centro district. $44 a night for an AC, TV, firm good mattress, hot, but not great shower, and very clean room with balcony and free breakfast. not just that toast and coffee breakfast, but EGGS with ham and cheese or onions and tomato, toast, and coffee or chocolate..that good shit! i highly reccommend this place. great italian owner and wonderful staff in general too. only there two nights then went to santa marta for teh famous ciudad perdida. stayed one night at nueva granada hotel, which was i believe about $20 for the cheapest room. TV, fan, cold shower, but it was nice in teh heat. bus company marcel from cartagena to santa marta was 35,000 pesos, which is about $18. got to make reservatoins though. very nice way to do the 3 hour drive. then the ciudad perdida, which was 460,000 pesos.

Okay, i read a lot on this branch about ciudad perdida or the lost city, but here is the TRUTH about what you need and how hard it is.

It is hard, but not impossible. you don't need to be a marathon runner, but you can't be terribly out of shape or it could get pretty difficult. if you are not in excellent shape it is okay. i am 22 and have youth on my side, but am not in great shape. just take your time and you'll be cool. my most important suggestion is to PACK LIGHT!!!! you will be sweaty and dirty, wear the same shorts everyday (new underwear is a luxury). it rained everyday in teh afternoon so bring a poncho or something and keep your clothes in a garbage bag in yoru backpack, but when you arrive at camp, change into dry clothes, let the wet ones hang, and put them on again the next morning. in my opinion, it wouldn't be that bad to do the trip with two sets of clothes. one to wear when you can stay dry at camp and one to wear when the sweat will surely and the rain will maybe soak you. three sets of clothes would be nice though. bring your bug spray but leave the malaria pills at home. YOU DO NOT NEED THEM. I took one the first day and I threw up, my legs cramped, and thank god for that beautiful donkey that carried me up the hill and the expense of a few laughs from my new friends on my trip. I didn't take pills after the guide told me I did not need too, and my health and legs were fine. also, the turcol company is the only one you should consider. my guide walter was EXCELLENT. He's been working at the ciudad perdida for 25 years and i could not have hoped for a better guide. Lewis, our cook was EXCELLENT too. My groups only had 8 but we were lucky. the 4 other groups i saw had 25, 32, 15, and 9 people. the turcol company tells you to bring a flashlight (a little one for reading and anything else is perfect) and a sleeping bag. i didn't bring a flash lite and was completely alright without it. to keep the packing light, just bring a thick sheet or something instead of a sleeping bag, because it does not get that cold up there. oh yeah, bring a pair of pants to wear at night so the mosquitoes dont get you as bad and also for warmth. there is plenty of description of the ciudad perdida on teh internet, so i will save my travel prose for another occasion, just wanted to let everyone know what i thought are some good tips for the trip. when i finsihed ciudad perdida, came back to santa marta for a night and stayed and the hotel miramar for 8,000 pesos (about $4) a night. hostel with shared rooms, fan, cold shower. pretty dirty with varying mattresses but damn was it cheap! there are also private rooms there, but not much cleaner.
went out that night to la puerta and ancon, two different bars. ancon was great, with lots of outdoor space and many beautiful girls. la puerta was fun too.

left santa marta for parque nacional tayrona (tayrona national park) the next day. hammocks on the first beach, playa aricifies for 11,000 pesos, hammocks on teh third beach, playa cabo de something for 12,000 pesos. or the deluxe hammock setting set above the beach for 20,000 pesos. bring rum if you want, but hide it well because there is a chance you will be throughly searched upon entering the park. the park authorities have their price and i heard can be bought off in rum, so it might serve you well to bring an extra bottle (or two, depending on how much drinking you do). the park stops excepting new entrants at 5, and i arrived at about 4:45 and was not searched at all, possibly because of the near to closing laziness that any worker can understand. friends of mine had arrived earlier and were searched heavily though, so just be safe and bring some bribery rum. or you can buy beer at the park for 3,000 pesos a can. or you can abstain from the devil's cough syrup! but who the hell wants to do that!?

after tayona, i had to go back to panama for a flight to belize. to check out the belize info, look on the belize branch.. i will wirite that stuff up tomorrow. if you have any questions about cartagena, ciudad perdida, santa marta, or the tayrona national park feel free to ask.
PEACE.