Tayrona National Park

We got up early to grab breakfast and a basic lunch before hopping on the local bus (yet again, the bus was pulling away as we arrived and we literally hopped onboard). As the guidebook pointed out, we got off the bus early and then started walking the entire hike from Calabazo towards the normal entry point of El Zaino (as opposed to starting at El Zaino, hiking to the beach, and then back-tracking to the start again - I hate backtracking!).

This way we managed to avoid any crowds, and in fact we only passed a handful of other people all day (mostly locals leading donkeys leaden with sacks of coconuts). The highlight of the whole hike for me was the leaf-cutting ant colonies we passed almost constantly along the whole route. These guys really are amazing, and I stopped repeatedly to try and get good photos, and to just sit and stare at them. I remember seeing documentaries back home on these critters, and so I knew a fair bit about their amazing live cycle. So it was great to be able to just stop and watch them go about their work - we passed entrances to nests, their waste disposal systems and of course millions of the wee workers themselves carrying their leaf bits.

The hike is noted for the beaches it passes along, and the first one we arrived at was the best one, La Cabo. By this stage we'd hiked up to the pre-hispanic town of La Pueblito (which didn't have much stuff to see unfortunately, or people milling about fortunately), and the day was beautifully sunny and therefore fiercely hot. Arriving at the beach I was straight into the water to try and cool off, but I think this must have been the warmest sea water I've ever swam in. Strangely it was a bit disappointing really, as what I really wanted was an icy, refreshing dip. But of course, it was still gorgeouos to swim in the Carribean sea and the setting was really cool, with two crescent beaches together and big boulders strewn along the coastline.

We got back to the main road at about 5:30, just as dusk was setting, so we'd timed it perfectly really. It had been a long hot day, but the forest, the beaches and the ants all made for a cracking day out, and of course a local bus came along to take us back to Santa Marta after one of our longest waits yet, all of about 5 minutes!