Colombia (Lonely Planet, 5th Edition) - Jens Porup [139]
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Sights
Tayrona’s eastern part features most of the park’s attractions and tourist facilities, and is by far the most popular and visited area of the park. Its main gateway is El Zaíno, 34km east of Santa Marta on the coastal road to Riohacha, where you pay the COP$31,000 park admission fee (Colombians pay COP$12,000). A COP$3000 insurance supplement is in the works to become mandatory in 2009. And leave the drugs at home, Cheech – the military does a very thorough search at the main gate of all who enter. Unofficial guides gather here, whom you can hire for considerably less than Aviatur’s official guides (COP$80,000 vs COP$122,000 for Pueblito, for instance), though guides really aren’t necessary if you plan on keeping to the main tourist routes.
From El Zaíno, a 4km paved side road goes northwest to Castilletes, the longest beach in the park and the first place you can turn in for the night. A few more kilometers down the road is Cañaveral, also on the seaside. Here there is a campground, upscale cabañas (cabins), and a restaurant. The beaches in Cañaveral are good, but there is no shade, and swimming can be dangerous because of treacherous offshore currents. Each year, four to five tourists drown in the waters here. If you don’t want to continue walking from here, horses are available to Arrecifes (COP$16,000 one way) and Pueblito (COP$112,000 return).
From Cañaveral, most visitors take a 45-minute walk west along a trail to Arrecifes, where there are budget lodging and eating facilities. Bear in mind that sea currents here are just as dangerous as those in Cañaveral.
From Arrecifes, a 20-minute walk northwest along the beach will bring you to La Piscina, a deep bay with quiet waters, making it reasonably safe for swimming and snorkeling.
Another 20-minute walk by path will take you to Cabo San Juan de la Guía, a beautiful cape with a great beach, and by far the most crowded area of the park.
From the cape, a scenic path goes inland uphill to Pueblito, providing some splendid tropical forest scenery. It will get you to Pueblito in a bit more than an hour, but this path is definitely more challenging than others in the park – the majority of the uphill climb is over stones, some of them massive. It is not an easy trail and you can forget about it when it rains or if you have a large pack.
Not much of Pueblito’s urban tissue has survived, apart from small fragments of the stone paths and foundations of houses, but it’s worth seeing, especially if you aren’t planning a trip to Ciudad Perdida.
From Pueblito, a path continues southwest to Calabazo on the main road. After five minutes, the path splits to the right down to Playa Brava. Don’t listen to the folks working at Cabo, who will tell you there is nothing in Playa Brava. It’s a good idea to call ahead to Teyumakke if you are heading this way; the path is not well-marked and a bit more jungly than others in the park, and you definitely do not want to trek all the way down here to a completely full hotel. You’ll reach Playa Brava in about an hour.
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Sleeping & Eating
The park is unofficially divided into sections according to the type of traveler you are. In general, Castilletes is for nature lovers and green-minded travelers; Cañaveral is for the well-to-do; Arrecifes is for families; and Cabo San Juan de la Guía is for party people.
In Castilletes, the ecofriendly Camping Tayrona ( 317 798 2723; www.campingtayrona.com; campsite per person COP$10,000, tents COP$18,000, r per person with/without bath COP$40,000/30,000) are the newest accommodations in the park, housed within a former