Trekking to Colombia’s Misplaced Metropolis is an expertise that stays with you lengthy after you’ve washed the jungle filth out of your mountain climbing boots. In a world of wonders, some treasures nonetheless really feel seemingly hidden, ready to be discovered.
‘They are saying that the town was misplaced as a result of the Spanish got here. The Indigenous Tayrona group didn’t need to combat, so that they left, heading additional up the mountain,’ says Andrés Castellanos.
Andrés is from Colombia. He turned an area chief for Intrepid in 2019 and earlier this 12 months, turned their deputy operations supervisor. Earlier than becoming a member of Intrepid, Andrés used to information faculty journeys to Ciudad Perdida. Provided that he studied structure, the youngsters couldn’t have hoped for a greater information.
Cuidad Perdida lies within the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain vary. Andrés factors out that this vary just isn’t a part of the Andes, which dominates a lot of South America. He provides the peaks right here soar over 5700 metres, making it the best coastal mountain vary on this planet.
Previous metropolis, new journey
Intrepid has launched a multi-day trek led by native guides to Ciudad Perdida for 2025. Starting within the World Heritage-listed port metropolis of Cartagena, travellers wind their means alongside the Buritaca River, via rainforest and jungle and camp within the mountains. On their solution to the Misplaced Metropolis, trekkers spend time with Indigenous group members, even listening to from their religious chief. It’s a visit for anybody who longs for an journey.
Reaching Ciudad Perdida appears like stumbling right into a delusion, an echo of the legend of El Dorado – the fabled metropolis of gold that lured explorers and treasure hunters deep into South America’s jungles. Whereas the Misplaced Metropolis might not shimmer with gold, it represents a chapter of historical past wealthy with the tales of the Tayrona civilisation and their sacred connection to this land.
Meet Indigenous mountain communities
Constructed by the Tayrona individuals over a thousand years in the past, this archaeological web site is claimed to predate Machu Picchu. Unfold throughout a mountainside, the Misplaced Metropolis’s terraces appear impossibly exact, with steps worn down by centuries of use. Mist typically clings to the stones, lending an charisma, but it surely’s not exhausting to think about life for a civilisation as soon as thriving within the infinite inexperienced cover of this high-altitude jungle metropolis.
In spite of everything, this trek isn’t simply in regards to the vacation spot. It’s additionally in regards to the individuals who name this land house. Alongside the best way, there are encounters with the Kogi and Wiwa communities, descendants of the Tayrona, who protect their ancestors’ knowledge and connection to nature. A few of these embody agricultural traditions reminiscent of farming coca, an vital plant for religious practices.
The second day of Intrepid’s trek brings travellers to the Wiwa Neighborhood Camp, the place they’ve a uncommon alternative to fulfill El Mamo, the religious chief and sage of the group. El Mamo talks in regards to the Wiwa lifestyle, sharing how everybody of their group has a vital position. From there, the path leads deeper into the humid, tropical jungle, taking trekkers to Mutanyi, a small Kogi village of 20 conventional huts crafted from mud, wooden and palm leaves.
Find yourself the place the world started
Andrés explains that to the Indigenous communities of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta – together with the Kogi, Wiwa, Arhuaco and Kankuamo peoples – the mountain vary is sacred. They imagine it’s the ‘Coronary heart of the World’ and contemplate its peaks, rivers and ecosystems integral to the universe’s stability and well being.
‘For them, that is the world and the place the world started. They’re the one ones allowed to go to sure peaks and among the tallest mountains in Colombia,’ says Andrés. Historically, solely Indigenous leaders and clergymen are permitted to ascend snowcapped mountains like Pico Cristóbal Colón and Pico Simón Bolívar.
Whereas among the mountains are off-limits to guard their sacred standing, the Misplaced Metropolis fortunately just isn’t – although it stays a privilege earned via effort. The one solution to attain the location is on foot. The four-day trekking element of Intrepid’s journey is difficult – anticipate steep climbs, muddy paths and river crossings – but it surely’s thoughtfully paced, providing you with sufficient time to absorb the landscapes and join together with your environment.
This trek is a bodily problem, but it surely’s additionally a cultural immersion, a historical past lesson and an opportunity to stroll within the footsteps of historic individuals. Andrés emphasises the importance of those mountains and their tales. ‘Being in the course of nature, after all, what you see up there may be very rewarding, however you even have an area to speak with the group,’ he says.
As somebody who loves structure, Andrés marvels on the Misplaced Metropolis’s design, a masterpiece of type and performance. However as a Colombian, he’s most pleased with how the trek connects guests to his nation’s coronary heart.
Go to the Misplaced Metropolis with Intrepid on Misplaced Metropolis Trekking in Colombia. Discover out what else is new for 2025 with The Items.
