The Earth + Nat

So here i am, finally getting some jungle action after missing the Amazon completely. For four days i trekked through Tayrona, a small national park on Colombia's Caribbean coast, seeing lush forest, amazing beaches and finding out just how sweaty a human can get. Welcome to the Jungle! DAY ONE After loading up on food and water (you will need LOTS of both if you want to keep it budget) we took a local bus to the main entrance to the park. Immediately we were hounded by some guys asking us to reserve bed space for later. It was confronting at first, but we later realised this is actually pretty handy - the accomodation spots have little communication and won't be found on booking.com, so its better to book at the entrance than slog in and find yourself without a place to sleep. Unfortunately we got there too late to take advantage of the 9,000 peso student price which was discontinued a few months ago, and we were forced to cough up 45,000 pesos instead (about $20 A...

Santa Marta from the balcony of the hostel My time in Colombia seems to be hitting a nice stride of big city to isolated getaway and back again, so Minca was an obvious step after Cartagena. After a night in Santa Marta we packed into a dinky collectivo and made the 45 minute journey into the hills overlooking the city. What we stepped into was a whole other world from the town we just left. From roasting hot stone streets and the nearby sea we were taken to the forested and mercifully cool lower reaches of the Sierra Nevada. Birds and motorbikes buzzed around us as we wandered all three streets of Minca, the sun shone overhead and everything seemed right in the world. Waterfall and frenchies Our first day in Minca took us to a waterfall about an hour's walk from the town. It looked like an easy enough walk, but what our map didn't tell us is that it was almost all uphill...even in the cooler weather you can soak through a shirt thanks to the humidity! It was very...