2 days in Bogota / 2 days in Tayrona National Park

Saturday, January 09, 2016
Bogotá, Bogotá, Colombia
We debated coming to Bogota, but figured if we were going to Colombia, we should pass through the heart of it in this city of 9 million. We stayed in a nice area, full of expensive shopping and many bars and restaurants. The first afternoon and evening we arrived, we wandered around the area, stopping at little bars and sampling the craft beers from the Bogota Beer Company. Knowing this wasn't really seeing Bogota, we ventured out the next morning to explore the real city. We took a taxi to the base of Monteserrate, then took a funicular up to the top, 10,000 ft elevation with a large church at the peak. After walking the grounds we then took a cable car down and started walking to the old historic center of Bogota called La Candelaria. Later we went to a flea market and finished the evening with multiple bar stops near our hotel. The next morning Gina and Tami woke early to hit a hot (104 degrees) Vinyasa flow class near the hotel before catching our flight to Santa Marta, on the northeast Caribbean coast.

Upon arriving, we were picked up by a driver to take us to Villa Maria outside of Tayrona National Park on the northern coast of Colombia . We had to purchase tickets yesterday (an adventure in of itself) to avoid a line at 7 am to get in, as they limit the number of people entering the park. We later learned the limit was 2,000 people so you can imagine the line when we arrived at the gate when they opened. The park is huge, covering a vast area that had lots of wildlife, various beaches-some that you could swim and others with rip tides that according to the sign has claimed hundreds of lives. We hiked two hours over rocks, beaches and jungle to get to a highly recommended beach only to discover 1/2 the park guests wanted to be there as well. It's been a long day, starting with breakfast at 6:15 am, then spending 9 hours inside the park. At this moment we are sitting on our balcony overlooking the Caribbean Sea, resting after spending the whole day hiking and beaching inside the park and enjoying a cold beer. We have one more night here before traveling back to Santa Marta (1 hour west) tomorrow for our last night in this region.

Comments

aulp
2016-01-11

Looks awesome. Stay safe. Love, Pam

2025-02-14

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