To the northwest of Santa Marta, and only about 30 minutes by car, one finds La Sierra de Santa Marta, and the Tyrona National park. This spectacular park has the highest peaks in the world that are closest to the ocean. The very highest peak of the Sierra is the Nevado, a snow-peaked mountain one can see on a clear day from the ocean.

The Tyrona Indians were composed of many different tribes, including the Arawaks, Cogui, etc. Each tribe had their own language and culture. They lived peacefully throughout the Sierra. The Spanish' savage quest for gold and slaves (Indians were made slaves) pursued the different Tyrona tribes which survived by taking refuge in the Sierra because of its impenetrable and difficult terrain. Today, there are 4 tribes left that are still living in the Sierra.

We tried to make reservations to stay at a cabin or, worse case we thought, rent a hammock but we had no luck. So we took a taxi to the park (taxi only charged us $10,000 pesos per person or about $5 US) which took us to the entrance where we checked in with our passports and paid a fee, and then drove us to a place where the trail to Arrecifes started. We had prepared for a good hike. However, the hike was rather easy, fairly comfortable as the tall trees shaded the trail and we arrived to Arrecifes in about 20 minutes. We ended at a nice Restaurant which was part of a small resort of cabins and very nice white hammocks with mosquito netting we were told cost $16,500 pesos/night.

After we ate lunch at the fancy Arrecifes Cabana restaurant, we set out to explore all the surrounding places and find our sleeping options. Next door to the fancy cabanas, there was a more modest restaurant with hammocks under thatched-roofs no-wall cabanas. This area was packed with backpackers, mostly foreign and many of whom had been hiking from the southern part of South America. Unlike the fancy hammocks which were under an intricately made thatched roof, these hammocks were hung from modest cabanas and were rather crammed - one could touch his/her neighbor. Price of a hammock here was $10,000 pesos/night. We then went next door to explore the other place we had been told. This was really inexpensive, with hammocks crammed everywhere and full of backpackers. The cost here was $6,000 pesos/hammock.

We learned that the next stop where we had considered staying, El Cabo, was a bit of a hike and that the only available accommodations would be hammocks but they were fairly cheap and most likely was packed with hikers. Can you guess which hammocks we picked? I guess we are not too adventurous as we settled for the fancy thatched-roof hammock cabana for $16,000 pesos/hammock/night. The place was very beautiful and had the fanciest bathrooms we had seen at a park. There were lighted paths throughout which remained on until 2AM when the generator plant was shut down. In addition to the nice restaurant, there is an outdoor sitting area with tables and a bar area (was not open, however) overlooking the intense ocean where we sat down at sunset each of the 2 nights we spent there to have a sundowner.

Tyrona Park is a fantastic place! It was like being in an isolated pacific island with palm trees bending with the wind and touching the rugged sea, pounding on the shore incessantly. The sand is very white and the vegetation grows right to the beach and close to the water, with a ground cover full of purple flowers making a blanquette almost to the water. The ocean is so strong that most beaches are not swimmable except for one called the "pool" which is protected by a reef making it possible to swim. There are signs posted everywhere about the danger and the many people who had died there. Yet, some people venture and swim and so many bodies are recovered every year.

There was a military post in Arrecifes part of the military's strategy for keeping the park safe from guerrillas and drug lords who took up la Sierra as a hiding place. To see guards in military outfits at such a wild place was odd but we got used to them fairly quickly.

Click on the "Photo Gallery" icon on the blog to find pictures in the album "Santa Marta: Parque Tyrona"