We departed from Santa Marta after Olly took a final Spanish class. Whilst he was studying I sat in a coffee shop escaping the heat and writing my blog. Whilst I was in there a lovely American/ Colombian couple sat with me and we exchanged stories of our travels and their life in America and now Colombia. It was a really interesting hour and they gave me a great insight into life in Cartagena.

So on the bus we went to Santa Marta, 4 hours driving along the coast side. Most of the journey was through forests and down beaches but we hit the odd settlement. One of the most striking was a huge shanty town surrounded by plastic; in the middle there was a football pitch cleared, but around the edge plastic and rubbish piles were burning. The boys playing barely noticed as they were running around the fumes. A very startling sight but not one that shocked me now that we have been on the road for so long. Burning small piles of rubbish in the evenings is the most normal form of waste management.

The scenery changed again as we landed in a bustling small city and arrived at our hostel. Our hostel owner was the friendliest women, and she was gleaming as we attempted broken Spanish conversation with her. As she did, I noticed that we were being shown to our room behind the laundry room. Another glamorous location for the mintons!

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We explored town briefly and then hit the hay. Our next day was spent finalising our trekking booking and exploring the town. We sat on the beach for a while and I started talking with a Venezuelan lady with her three children. I had asked if I could read a Spanish book to them that I had downloaded for free on my kindle to aid the Spanish lingo. After, a few pages the kids looked a bit unimpressed! I noticed the little boy playing with his sandal and realised he had fixed the plastic to the sole with bits of twisted metal. His mum pointed and said something i didn't understand. I then asked whether we could buy him a new pair and his mum looked delighted.

From my conversation with the couple in Santa Marta I understood now that there was a huge Venezuelan population in this area and this family had been here for two years. It didn't appear that they had much money and I understood that the mum didn't have a husband so these kids were all hers to look after. The girl who looked about 15 had a sparkling ring on her wedding finger and we managed to gather that she was engaged to a man from the Dominican Republic. But I am not sure where he was.

So the 5 of us trotted into town with the mum leading the way. For a while I felt nervous that they were leading us astray as we walked passed numerous shoe shops, but actually they took us to a discount store where there was a huge selection. After a good 10 minutes he finally found a pair he liked. So excited to be in some new shoes he took his old ones off and put them back on the shelf ..!

The next day we rose early to meet the tour group and start our 4 day adventure to the 'ciudad perdida'. After a two hour jeep ride into the mountains we stopped for a huge lunch before grabbing our gear and starting the hike. The first 4 hours was hot and sweaty but it seemed to go by quickly as we got chatting with the rest of the group we were walking with and the translator and guide.

The first night camping site was so much better than we had expected. We managed to take showers and were fed a hearty meal before we went to bed in bunk beds! We had expected camp fire cooking and hammock sleeping.

We had, on the first day, picked up 2 very young indigenous children who followed us the full four hours to the first camp. At times they asked for sweets but for most they were talking to each other. Aparently they were on their way back from school to their remote village. The girl slept on a bench where we had dinner and the boy found a spare hammock. The next morning the cooks gave them eggs and we gave them our fruit. I think they know they'll get a good feed here. I'm not sure where they went afterwards.

Day 2 was an ok day for hiking. The sun was shining and we made our way deeper into the indigenous part of the park. Everything started to Look more lush and jungle esque. The day was broken up with a lunch time swim in the river and another when we reached the final camp. Again we ate another hearty meal and set to bed early next to the roaring river ready for another 5am wake up.

Day 3 we crossed a river (shoes off!) and we made our ascent up the original 1200 steps to the Cuidad Perdida, thankfully these were 1200 small steps and we managed to get up in 40 minutes. We spent three hours at the top being given a history of the place that remained abandoned from 1600 though to the 1970's. There aren't any buildings, but lots of markings of where the houses and out houses used to be. The guides and the translators oral history of the site is a really great way of understanding the history rather than readings manmade signs.

Down we trekked the 1200 steps..crossing back over the river. This time one of the boys in our group got stuck between four mules walking across the river with supplies. In an attempt to steady himself he threw his boots across to the waters edge, missing the dry spot and landing straight in the water. His friends helpfully stood by taking photos and laughing rather

Than helping him out. On the way down we also passed an indigenous family, where the mum had a bag around her neck and in the bag there was a little baby with his head bobbing up and down. V sweet to see.

The second half of the day the heavens opened, the walk became much less comfortable and the downward slopes much more hazardous. As we came down, two of the group developed food poisoning, and the rest of us returned to camp fully soaked (boots included!)

Our final evening camping out was interesting. We had an indigenous chief from the Cogi tribe speak to us about their Tradition of writing on a poporo. It's difficult to explain, so here's a link to a description. The chief also talked about their concerns for the unbalance in nature and reminded us all to look after the environment. He talked openly about the fact that tourists leave bad spirits in the park when the visit...Later this year the park will be shut to visitors in an attempt to rebalance the site of good and bad spirits.

Day 4, our final day of the hike, I really started to feel the aches, and with wet shoes I knew today was going to be a tough day. But all in all the total journey was a brilliant experience. Seeing the locals walking the same paths with their pigs on a string, the children collecting water from the rivers and the mules carrying food up and down the pathway made this a very unique experience coupled with a real physical challenge.

After the long walk back and a big lunch we jumped in a jeep to get back to Santa Marta. As we had all started to drift off the car started to churn over and then stopped. There were some unfunny remarks made about walking the rest of way back, but fortunately we managed to catch a local bus back into town.

That evening there was a festival which was either festival of the sea or of cooking, itwasn't quite clear. The whole town was out in the streets drinking and eating. So we joined up with our hiking friends and drank in the square then headed to a bar for some dancing. From what I recall I made a request for some English songs, but was denied. We danced under the stars (no roof on this bar!) until the early hours.

We woke with a plan of journeying to Tayrona National park but it took us a few hours to summon the energy to pack up and find the local bus. We eventually did and then started another a much more civilised hike down the coastline of the hike, spotting monkeys, lizards and numerous sweaty tourists. The coastline is very enticing with white sand and beach boulders , but the sea is very rough and hundreds of people have died trying to swim. There are reminders everywhere stating ' don't become a statistic'.

We stopped briefly for a homemade ham and cheese sandwich on the exotic beach ( true Brits on tour) and walked further into park, dodging numerous horses transporting people around the park. We reached our camp site location on a stretch of sand with two beaches, dumped our bags and headed for the sea. The sun set was apparently stunning but I missed it....