All About The Misplaced Metropolis Trek In Colombia

The Misplaced Metropolis trek is a bucket listing jungle hike in Colombia the place you may see the ruins of the Ciudad Perdida, an historical metropolis constructed by the Tairona folks greater than 1,000 years in the past.

It is a guided trek that usually takes 4 days, and there’s loads of problem. The trekking packages embrace lodging, meals, and a few very educated, sort, and useful native guides.

I did the Misplaced Metropolis hike lately and it was an amazing expertise. We had a enjoyable group and we went far into the Sierra Nevada mountains, visited indigenous villages, crossed rivers, swam every single day, and hiked until our legs damage.

On this weblog put up, I’ll clarify every little thing you might want to know concerning the Misplaced Metropolis trek earlier than you go!

Fast Info*

• Distance: 49 kilometers (30 mi)
• Elevation Acquire: 2,650 meters (8,700 ft)
• Max Altitude: 1,190 meters (3,900 ft)
• Period: 3 – 5 days
• Issue: Arduous

*These stats are for the spherical journey journey

Huts on the indigenous village

How To Get There

The Misplaced Metropolis is positioned within the mountains close to Santa Marta, in northern Colombia.

There are many direct flights every single day to Santa Marta from airports like Bogota, Medellin, and Pereira, and the flight time is simply about 1.5 hours. You may store for flights on Skyscanner.

The trekking excursions embrace a switch from Santa Marta to the beginning of the path, after which again to city afterwards, so that you gained’t want to fret about transportation.

In case you’re on the lookout for a spot to remain in Santa Marta the night time earlier than your hike, I’d suggest Lodge Boutique Casa Chunuu.

The Misplaced Metropolis

Misplaced Metropolis Trek: What To Count on

The Misplaced Metropolis is an all-inclusive, absolutely guided trek that features lodging in camps with beds and mosquito nets, plus 3 meals a day.

It’s an out-and-back trek with about 5-7 hours of mountaineering per day, and it may be performed in 3, 4, 5, and even 6 days. Most individuals do it in 4 days, and I feel that’s the proper size of time for the typical particular person.

In case you’re a really match hiker who’s restricted on time in Colombia, then the three day possibility could give you the results you want. In any other case, if you wish to decelerate and spend extra time within the mountains, then 5 or 6 days could also be proper.

Nevertheless, for most individuals I’d suggest 4 days. It offers you sufficient time to expertise the sights with out feeling too rushed, and it’s not too troublesome for many hikers.

Mutanyi village

You’ll be waking up at 5 AM every single day of the trek, and winding down exercise at round 3-5 PM.

That seems like an terrible lot, however don’t fear, there will probably be loads of breaks to eat, swim, and relaxation in between. It’s not all mountaineering.

There are river crossings on every day of the hike, however all of those have bridges now, which is nice. You gained’t have to fret about wading by the rivers like within the previous days. Some journey guides on the web had been written earlier than this modified.

Within the subsequent few sections, I’ll share my very own expertise on every day of the Misplaced Metropolis trek and what you may count on by way of sights, actions, camps, and challenges.

There’s a lot of good surroundings

Day 1: Begin Of The Trek

My trek started with a 7 AM pickup from my resort in Santa Marta. I used to be joined by my cousin and his spouse, and we had been first delivered to the tour firm’s workplace in Santa Marta, the place we had a snack and met the remainder of our group.

There have been precisely a dozen folks in our group — 10 hikers and a couple of guides. Many of the hikers had been from the Netherlands, plus a couple of Individuals (us) and a German couple.

We had been all herded into the again of a van collectively, after which drove 1 hour on the freeway to the primary entrance, the place we stopped for a 15 minute break to stretch and pee (map right here).

Entrance to the mountain highway

Subsequent, we drove 1 hour on a mountain highway to the city of Machete. This a part of the journey was very uncomfortable due to the cramped leg room, aspect going through seats, and bumpy highway situations.

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant in Machete and met our Colombian guides, who gave us a briefing on the hike and what to anticipate. Then it was time to start out mountaineering!

For the primary day, we solely needed to hike about 9 kilometers (~6 miles), which wasn’t too onerous, though we bumped into some heavy rain that turned the trail into pure mud and sludge, inflicting us to slide round for the remainder of the afternoon.

Lastly we reached Camp Alfredo, the place we ate supper and stayed the primary night time.

Eating room at Camp Alfredo

Day 2: Villages & Tradition

The second day was one of many longest and hardest components of the trek, though we had significantly better luck with the climate in comparison with the primary day.

This time, we wakened at 5 AM for breakfast and hiked all the way in which from Camp Alfredo to Camp Paraiso, which took us deeper into the jungle one other 14 kilometers (~8 miles).

There have been a lot of steep hills and it was a killer exercise. Alongside the way in which, we obtained to see the standard thatch hut village of Mutanyi, belonging to the Kogi indigenous folks.

Mutanyi village

We additionally stopped for lunch at Camp Mumake and swam within the river, which was a really stress-free break from mountaineering. The water was surprisingly chilly and that’s simply what we would have liked.

Many of the day was spent mountaineering close to the river, and this time, the rain held off till we reached Camp Paraiso.

The rain didn’t begin up till after we went to mattress, after which it was only a good background noise as we fell asleep.

The rivers are very nice for swimming

Day 3: Exploring The Misplaced Metropolis

On the third day, it was time to go see the Misplaced Metropolis!

To achieve it, it’s a must to climb roughly 1,200 stone steps. They’re steep, oddly-shaped, wobbly, and slippery, particularly within the early morning dew, so be very cautious.

This might be a straightforward place to harm your self.

Mountaineering up the steep stone steps

The Misplaced Metropolis is fascinating, and it’s quite a bit greater than I anticipated. It was constructed by the Tairona folks in 800 AD, so it’s older than Machu Picchu in Peru.

It takes hours to discover the primary ruins and terraces, so we had been stunned when our information instructed us that there are much more ruins that aren’t open to the general public!

What we see as vacationers is simply a fraction of the Misplaced Metropolis, nevertheless it’s nonetheless spectacular.

The perfect view could be discovered on the high of town, wanting down on the terraces and the mountains in all instructions.

The Misplaced Metropolis!

After a radical tour with a lot of explanations from our information and loads of time to take photographs, it was time to start out mountaineering again.

We went all the way down to Camp Paraiso and grabbed lunch, swam within the river slightly extra, after which hiked all the way in which again to Camp Mumake, the place we stayed the final night time of the trek.

Day 4: The Return Journey

The final day of the trek was one other whopper. We wakened at 5 AM once more, and hiked about 16 kilometers (~10 miles) again to the beginning.

On the way in which again, the sky was clear and we obtained some great views of the Sierra Nevada mountains, which we had missed on the primary day due to the rain. Shiny inexperienced mountains!

We had our final lunch collectively in Machete city, after which headed again to Santa Marta to get cleaned up.

All in all, the Misplaced Metropolis was an amazing hike and everybody in our group loved it immensely.

Shiny inexperienced mountains

Map Of The Path

Right here’s a map from AllTrails that reveals the mountaineering route and elevation profile.

The camps are additionally marked, though not in the identical order we used. Alfredo is marked right here as camp 1, Mumake is camp 2, and Paraiso is camp 3.

How Arduous Is It?

The Misplaced Metropolis is a tough hike. It’s positively more durable than I anticipated.

You’ll be strolling up and down steep hills every single day with rocky and muddy terrain, plus the loopy humidity. Your sleep high quality gained’t be the best both, due to the early wakeup instances each morning.

All of that is compounded by the 4-day size of the hike. We had been contemporary on the primary day or two of the hike, however by the top we had been exhausted and fairly beat up.

That doesn’t imply the trek is unmanageable, or that you might want to be tremendous match to do it. The guides are very affected person ready for stragglers, and so they give loads of snack breaks and relaxation stops alongside the way in which.

So sure, you are able to do the trek. Don’t fear. Simply count on loads of problem!

The entire river crossings have bridges now

What Are The Camps Like?

I’m glad to say the camps on this trek are pretty snug, though you may’t count on luxurious.

There are showers, flush bathrooms, and clotheslines, and the bunk beds have nets to maintain you secure from mosquitoes at night time.

The entire camps have charging stations and WiFi, though you could have to pay a small money payment to make use of it. Aside from that, you gained’t have cellphone service wherever on the path, together with the camps.

Electrical energy is turned off at round 9 PM each night time, so maintain your charging and requirements earlier than then.

Every camp additionally has slightly store the place you should buy snacks, drinks, and toiletries. That they had a stunning assortment of goodies on the market: shampoo, tooth paste, rest room paper, tampons, cigarettes, beer, Gatorade, batteries, and extra.

It really had me wishing I’d packed much less stuff!

Beds within the camp

Drying our garments

Is It Protected?

Whereas some locations in Colombia are sketchy by way of crime, the Misplaced Metropolis trek has had a very good security file for a few years now.

Lengthy story brief, it’s usually a secure hike and the primary threat is twisting an ankle or one thing of that kind.

Nevertheless, for those who’re fascinated with understanding extra, I’m engaged on writing an in depth article on this topic, which you’ll be able to learn quickly.

Welcome to the jungle

Meals Illness

Sadly, some folks nonetheless report getting sick from meals or water on the Misplaced Metropolis trek.

The workers do a fairly good job with hygiene and meals preparation, nevertheless it’s onerous to maintain issues completely clear and secure while you’re working in a distant jungle camp.

We talked to a different hiker on the path and so they stated three members of their group obtained very sick (with diarrhea and throwing up), and needed to be carried out on mules.

Fortunately that didn’t occur to anybody in our group, however if you wish to be additional secure, there are many locations to purchase bottled consuming water alongside the path, or you may carry your personal water purification tablets.

To be honest, all of the meals we ate was nice, and there was filtered consuming water obtainable at each camp the place we stayed.

We had no points with illness on our trek, however the risk stays.

Can You Hike Independently?

No, you may’t do the Misplaced Metropolis trek by yourself. A information is strictly required for anybody who desires to do the hike.

Sure, it’s costly, however the excursions carry cash into the area people and preserve it sustainable. Cash retains the paths open, the camps snug, and plenty of different issues.

It additionally helps the onerous working Colombian trekking guides, who do quite a bit to make this hike secure and pleasant for everybody.

Thick jungle

What To Deliver

• Backpack. My bag had roughly 30 liters of area and that was sufficient.
• Spare Garments. I struggled with what number of spare modifications to carry, as a result of my bag was very restricted on area however I additionally didn’t wish to stink an excessive amount of. Primarily based on my expertise, I feel I’d suggest bringing no less than 4 shirts, 2 socks, 4 pairs of underwear, and a couple of pairs of shorts. You’ll wish to preserve one change of garments clear and separate from the others for sleeping in.
• Outerwear. Personally, I don’t suppose there’s any have to carry a jacket or hoodie for this hike, however for those who do, carry one thing very gentle. I remorse bringing my hoodie and pants. They took up weight and area, and I by no means used them on the entire hike, even at night time.
• Swimsuit. You’ll need this for swimming within the rivers alongside the path. It’s a good way to calm down and funky down.
• Plastic Baggage. These are important for maintaining moist garments separate from dry garments, and soiled separate from clear. I introduced 5 plastic luggage, and it might’ve been good to have much more.
• Toiletries. Issues like cleaning soap, deodorant, a toothbrush and toothpaste.
• Solar Safety. You’ll need a hat and sunscreen, particularly for the primary day of the hike. There’s no shade in any respect and also you’ll get roasted. After the primary day, you’ll spend extra time mountaineering underneath jungle cowl however there are nonetheless some spots the place you’ll need solar safety.
• Bug Spray. Retains you secure from mosquitoes within the jungle and on the camps.
• Ear Plugs. These might be helpful for those who’re delicate to different campers loud night breathing.
• Waterproof Cowl. I don’t suppose a completely waterproof bag is required for this hike since you gained’t be wading by rapids or something, however you must no less than have a water-resistant cowl like this one to guard your bag from the rain.
• Tissues. These could be useful however they aren’t utterly obligatory. Many of the bogs within the camps have rest room paper, and if it runs out, you may simply purchase extra on the little provide store within the camp.
• Gentle. Regardless that you gained’t be mountaineering at the hours of darkness, a small gentle is helpful in case you might want to do something within the camp after darkish.
• Water Tablets. The entire camps have a filter for his or her water, however I didn’t utterly belief it. If you wish to be additional secure, you may carry water purification tablets. That’s what I did. They’re very small and simple to hold.
• Money. It’s good to have slightly bit of money for those who plan to purchase snacks, drinks, WiFi, or the rest on the camps.
• Footwear. You’ll need good mountaineering boots for the path, however having a pair of sandals can be very helpful for strolling round on the camps every single day and going to the river to swim.

The Misplaced Metropolis

Greatest Time To Go

The perfect time to do the Misplaced Metropolis trek is in the course of the dry season, from December to April. You may see a graph of Santa Marta’s climate sample right here.

It’s nonetheless doable to do the hike in the course of the wetter months from Could to August, or October to November, however you have got a better probability of working into rain. The path is totally closed yearly for the month of September.

I went in mid-December and the climate was respectable. There was heavy rain each night time, and one massive downpour on the primary day that lasted fairly awhile, soaking our gear and inflicting us to slide round within the mud for hours, in order that wasn’t superb.

The humidity on this hike is loopy, so if any of your garments get moist, they’re by no means going to dry once more except they sit in direct solar for awhile. Significantly!

Mountaineering whereas soggy moist is not any enjoyable in any respect, so if I went to the Misplaced Metropolis once more, I feel I’d do it someday between January and March. That’s your most secure guess.
 

Extra Journey Guides

Thanks for wanting! I hope you loved this weblog about how one can do the Misplaced Metropolis trek in Colombia.

Don’t neglect to take a look at my different journey guides for South America earlier than you go!