Cuidad Perdida lays in the Sierra Nevada mountain range off the Carribean sea in the north of Colombia. Maudie decided to punish me with a 5 day 4 night trek to the ruins of this 'lost city', and neither of us were disapointed with the hype - it's spectacular.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciudad_Perdida
The city is believed to have been founded in 800AD and it was lost to the jungle until its discovery by treasure looters in the 1970's. The loot soon found its way onto the black market and the Colombian government decided to police and restore the site in 1975. The result of 10 years of careful rebuilding have left an amazing destination high up in the mountains. It's unbelievable to think that over 8000 people lived and worked in this landscape, with water channels, a surplus of maize, trading, gold manufacture and a stable political system - over one thousand years ago.
The city is believed to have been founded in 800AD and it was lost to the jungle until its discovery by treasure looters in the 1970's. The loot soon found its way onto the black market and the Colombian government decided to police and restore the site in 1975. The result of 10 years of careful rebuilding have left an amazing destination high up in the mountains. It's unbelievable to think that over 8000 people lived and worked in this landscape, with water channels, a surplus of maize, trading, gold manufacture and a stable political system - over one thousand years ago.
We started our trek with a 2 hour jeep ride from Taganga up steep roads cut through the valley side. Our companions for the trip were 2 German girls, 3 French guys and a nice chap from Spain. Our guide, Jose, had been doing the trip for many years and brought sweets and treats for the people of the indigenous tribes who we passed on the way.
As the trek went up and down the valleys, the intense heat and humidity soaked us to the skin - but the promise of many cool natural pools along the way kept us going. Some of the pools were 10 meters deep, so we climbed up the sides and dived in for a refreshing dip!
We went with a company called Magic Tours, the food was great and sleeping in hammocks every night made it feel like a proper rough expedition!
No comments:
Post a Comment