Is The Misplaced Metropolis Trek Protected? My Ideas & Expertise

There’s little doubt about it, the Misplaced Metropolis trek in Colombia is wonderful and worthwhile. It’s the most effective issues to do within the nation!

However is it protected? The brief reply is that the hike is mostly protected and the principle threat is twisting an ankle or one thing of that kind. I did the hike myself and had a fantastic expertise.

With that mentioned, staying out of hazard was one among my primary considerations earlier than going, as a result of Colombia doesn’t have a fantastic security file and there’s nonetheless loads of guerilla violence within the nation.

On this weblog put up, I’ll handle all of those worries and share some prime suggestions for staying protected on the trek.

Security On The Trek: What To Know

• Violence

Colombia has a excessive crime fee and vacationers aren’t resistant to that, though the state of affairs has improved a bit in recent times.

In 2003, eight worldwide vacationers have been kidnapped at gunpoint from the Misplaced Metropolis path by guerillas from the ELN group.

They have been lastly launched after being held hostage within the jungle for 101 days, however the path was closed for two years due to this incident.

The excellent news is that there haven’t been any extra kidnappings because the path reopened in 2005. It’s had a very good security file for greater than 20 years now.

There’s additionally a military presence within the space, and the trek has change into a serious supply of revenue for the locals, so disturbing vacationers could be dangerous for everybody concerned.

With that in thoughts, I wasn’t too anxious about guerillas on the trek, and as soon as we obtained into the jungle I ended enthusiastic about the entire thing utterly.

The Misplaced Metropolis!

• Theft

I haven’t heard of anybody having issues stolen on the camps, however it’s a dorm fashion sleeping association, so simply be sensible.

Every camp can have about 20-40 individuals sleeping in it each evening, and in case you lose something the trekking firms received’t be liable.
 

• Path Situations

One of many primary dangers on this hike is the terrain. It’s very rocky and muddy, and there are many alternatives to slide, journey, or fall.

With 4 days of steady mountaineering in this type of atmosphere, it could be very straightforward to twist your ankle sooner or later on the trek.

Our information informed us that occurs to individuals fairly often. One hiker even broke an ankle, and one other was paralyzed after diving head first into shallow water.

One of many steepest sections of the path

Nonetheless, in case you’re cautious and watch your step, you’ll do effective. Don’t fear. Nobody in our group had any accidents, and not one of the different teams we talked to had any issues both.

Normally, the path isn’t steep sufficient to be harmful when it comes to big drops or something like that. You received’t be mountaineering with publicity or something.

That doesn’t imply there aren’t cliffs on the path, however they’re simply seen and simply prevented.

All the river crossings have bridges now

• Meals Security

The state of affairs with meals and water security has improved quite a bit, however sadly some individuals nonetheless report getting sick on the Misplaced Metropolis trek.

The workers do a reasonably good job with hygiene and meal preparation, but it surely’s arduous to maintain issues completely clear and protected if you’re working in a distant jungle camp.

We talked to a different hiker on the path they usually mentioned 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 further protected, there are many locations to purchase bottled consuming water alongside the path, or you possibly can deliver your personal water purification tablets.

To be truthful, 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.

Drying our garments in one of many camps

An indigenous village we noticed alongside the way in which

• Animals

The Sierra Nevada mountains are house to many sorts of animals, together with jaguars, tapirs, and howler monkeys.

I’ve to say we have been unfortunate and didn’t see hardly any animals on our trek, however that doesn’t imply they aren’t on the market.

Watch out the place you step, particularly in case you go off the path or wander round outdoors the camp at evening. Give your boots a very good shake each morning.

It’s uncommon to see a venomous snake or spider on the trek, however not unthinkable, so take affordable precautions for that.

Vivid inexperienced mountains

• Bugs

This can be a jungle hike, so naturally there are bugs. I didn’t discover them to be horrible.

There’s some threat of Yellow Fever or different illness from mosquitoes on this space, however instances of which might be uncommon. I’m not conscious of any vacationer contracting Yellow Fever right here. Simply know that it’s a risk.

You don’t want a YF vaccine to do the hike, and most of the people go with out it, though I used to be glad to have it simply in case. Nobody else in our group was vaccinated, and none of us had any points.

Positively deliver some bug spray to make use of on daily basis whereas mountaineering. Mosquitoes will attempt to chunk if you sit all the way down to relaxation or eat snacks.

At evening, all the beds within the camps have mosquito nets to guard you when sleeping.

The beds are protected with mosquito nets

Extra Journey Guides

Thanks for wanting! I hope you have been helped by these security suggestions for visiting the Misplaced Metropolis in Colombia.

Don’t neglect to take a look at my full information for the Misplaced Metropolis trek earlier than you go!