12th January 2025

The usual 5am wake-up call came and we automatically woke and readied for the day. After breakfast, we headed on out where we passed small communities where children played outside and coffee beans laid out drying in the sun on wicker bags. We crossed from the indigenous land and back onto farm land, stopping every now and then for pineapple and watermelon. 

Before long we were back at the camp we stayed at the first night where we enjoyed a refreshing drink of passion fruit juice and an orange cake dipped in dark chocolate. We moved quickly through the final section and soon I was leading the way with permission from the guide to head down to the restaurant, our final destination. 

Once here I showered and when everyone else arrived we enjoyed a lunch of local fish with coconut rice and smashed yacca patties. We all said farewell then split into two cars. Dan and I ended up back in the stuffy jeep where we bounced our way down the mountain side.

Rather than being taken back to Santa Marta, we were dropped off at Calabazo, a small town near the entrance of Tayrona National Park. We walked up a hill and crossed a river to arrive at a hostel which stood at the edge of the park.

It was a very uneventful afternoon spent washing dirty clothes, reading, relaxing in the pool and, in my case, eating all the remaining snacks we had brought. Dinner was a quiet, average affair and it was an early night for us in a room with four solid walls and air conditioning!