Colombia (Lonely Planet, 5th Edition) - Jens Porup [141]
The single most beautiful spot to hang your hat in the area – perhaps in all of Colombia – is just outside the park at Playa Los Naranjos. Here sits the architecturally unique Barlovento (r per person incl meals COP$140,000), a private home featuring open-air beds that jut out on a deck over the sea in a spectacular setting where the gorgeous Rio Piedras bursts out of the Sierra Nevadas and empties into the Caribbean. The waves crash right under your mattress. You can book through Aventure Colombia in Cartagena.
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Getting There & Away
Cañaveral is easy to get to on your own from Santa Marta. Take a minibus headed to Palomino and get off in El Zaíno (COP$4000, one hour); Palomino minibuses depart every 20 to 30 minutes from Santa Marta’s market (at the corner of Carrera 11 and Calle 11). From El Zaíno, walk for 50 minutes to Cañaveral or catch a ride with locals who regularly shuttle between the two (COP$2000, 10 minutes). Alternatively, a tourist bus departs daily from outside the Santa Marta’s Hotel Miramar at 10am, driving direct to Cañaveral, and returning at 1pm (COP$10,000 one way, COP$16,000 return).
Another option is a boat from Taganga directly to Cabo San Juan de la Guía. Boats with a capacity for 12 people depart the bay at 10am and return to Taganga at 3pm (COP$35,000), though keep in mind that this is illegal, as you’re not entering the park through the appropriate gate and therefore not paying admission. This can cause you problems on several fronts. If a ranger sees you and asks for your proof of payment, you won’t have it and you’ll be fined. The boats have been known to sell the tour round-trip and never return for you; you’ll also have to think about what you will say to the police or park rangers when they catch you walking through the park without an entrance bracelet.
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CIUDAD PERDIDA
There is rarely anything more mysterious than the discovery of an ancient abandoned town, and Ciudad Perdida (literally ‘Lost City’) has lived up to its name for four centuries. Known by its indigenous name of Teyuna and the archeological designation Buritaca 200, it was built by the Tayrona people on the northern slopes of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, and was most probably their biggest urban center. Today, it’s one of the largest pre-Columbian towns discovered in the Americas.
The city was built between the 11th and 14th centuries, though its origins are much older, going back to perhaps the 7th century. Spread over an area of about 2 sq km, it is the largest Tayrona city found so far, and it appears it was their major political and economic center. Some 2000 to 4000 people are believed to have lived here.
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THE LOST CIVILIZATION
In pre-Columbian times, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast was home to various indigenous communities, of which the Tayrona, belonging to the Chibcha linguistic family, were the dominant and most developed group. The Tayrona (also spelt Tairona) are believed to have evolved into a distinctive culture since about the 5th century AD. A millennium later, shortly before the Spaniards came, the Tayrona had developed into an outstanding civilization, based on a complex social and political organization and advanced engineering.
The Tayronas lived on the northern slopes of the Sierra Nevada where they constructed hundreds of settlements, all of a similar pattern. Due to the rugged topography, a large number of stone terraces supported by high walls had to be built as bases for their thatched wooden houses. Groups of terraces were linked by a network of stone-slab paths and stairways.
Recent surveys