Taironas Tropical Paradise

My last morning in Minca. Another amazing view in the morning, some mangos for breakfast and then I have to make may way down to the town center.

waking up in Minca

breakfast, (fried stuff filled with egg and garlic)

breakfast2 (fired stuff filled with potato salad and chicken)

Today it is again getting up early for the Tairona National Park. It is located about an hour east of Santa Marta. So I have to get most of the way back to the main city and then get another collective to Tairona. There you have to pay a massive entrance fee of 42.000 Pesos (in Colombia that is A LOT). The main problem with the park is that all camping sites are about 2h walking from the gate and there is no public transportation. I had little motivation to carry my 20kg backpack for 2h through tropical heat. Luckily I found a little shop that would store my main bag for some cash. Well, they put it into their shop. Actually everybody would be able to just walk in and take it. But what other choice do I have. I keep all my valuables with me anyways. (There is actually the option to rent a horse to carry your luggage, but again I had some financial issues. Most other tourists leave their luggage at the hostel, but since I wont go back to Minca, that wasn't an option).

When I started walking around 11:00 I was soon out of water and sweating my last drops out. Even carrying my laptop and other technical stuff proved to be a hard burden in the burning heat. The walk itself was very beautiful though. Pristine beaches, palm forests and occasionally encounters with the Kogu people, which still live in these rainforest like they have done for the last thousand years.

I am getting more and more exhausted :D

finally :D

At last I arrived at my destination. The Boca del Juan Camp. Cabo San Juan del Guia camping ground. Many other tourists made their way here. Some actually rented horses to get here. There are no houses, you have to sleep outside. Either you bring your own hammock or you just rent one for about 8$. The beaches are a just a dream. If you ignore the people it is like in a movie. However, if you walk along the beaches and through the jungle you quickly find other beaches that you have just for yourself (most tourists I met here don´t ever move away from the main beach).

Here in this tropical paradise I again encountered a problem well known to me: lack of money”. It is not that I wouldn't still have funds on my account. But neither Minca, nor Tairona, nor Palomino (my next destination) have any cash machines. So the 80$ that I withdrew in Santa Marta now have to last me for the next days, food, accommodation and transport. Why do I always get stuck like that. Anyways, if there is something I am good at, it is saving money :D.