Journey Of Death

So, this happened a while ago but i've only just recovered enough to share the story.

Before we came to Cartagena, we went to a little town called Taganga from where the most popular trip is to Tayrona National Park - an amazing prehistoric looking place surrounded by clear blue sea. At this point in the trip we were running a little low on cash, so we thought we wouldn't go to the cash machine and we'd just try to make it through the next few days on the cash we had, which wasn't all that much but we thought it's be alright. Little did we know that by the time we'd paid for the bus ticket to the park and the entrance ticket we would only have about £15 left each for the next two days - but, we thought, that'll be ok becuase you sleep in hammocks and they MUST be cheaper than staying in a hostel.

To get to the place where you sleep you have to trek about 45 mins (so they say) through the rainforest and along the beach. Despite, reading about this beforehand we somehow thought it would be appropriate to do this walk in flip flops. Of course, it wasn't. About two minutes into the walk are feet were sinking into the mud and we were slipping and sliding all over the place. For some reason we didn't think it'd be wet, depite it being a RAINforest. When we finally emerge from the forest (an hour and a half later) we have to walk down a small stretch of beach where we get attacked by a swarm of sandflies. But, the beach is amazing and we can't wait to cool off in the sea.

However, when we arrive at the 'village' we find that staying in a hammock is more expensive than a room in a hostel. At this point we're tired, hungry and thirsty and there is nowhere else to stay, so we pay. As we take our bags into the netted cage that will be our room we realise that we now have hardly any money left. In fact, if we bought a meal we would have to go back the next day and after the long journey that wasn't really an option. So we scoff the bag of crisps that we brought with us (luckily) and contemplate our fate. Later on, we're so hungry that we have to buy something so we order the cheapest thing on the menu - plain rice with a few veggies - and hope it fills us up for the entire next day. So, with other travellers drinking beer and eating fresh fish, we head back to our hammocks and have an really early night as it was only 7pm. With no light, we can't even read, so we're reduced to playing 20 questions and thinking about ways to find food and/or water the following day.

When we wake up (hungry, of course) we decide to move onto another beach which we hope will be cheaper. Looking at the money we have left, we realise after accomodation we can only afford one more meal. So, we start walking without breakfast and sharing a bottle of water. Again, this 'short' walk took hours and when we got to the beach we were tired and dripping with sweat and we were told that a hammock, this time with no mosquito net, was even more expensive. Being so tired we couldn't walk all the way back so we bite the bullet and pay. Now we only have enough money for one bowl of rice each and two bottles of water and as it was only 10am we had to make it through all that day and the following morning's walk back.

This beach is even more amazing than the last but we couldn't enjoy it as much as we wanted because all we could think about was our stomachs. Actually, we made it through the day ok by just sunbathing and taking the odd dip in the sea, the rice filled us up in the evening and we headed back to our hammocks. We were woken up in the night by the loudest snoring known to man which was impossibe to sleep through, so we decided to leave as early as we could to avoid the heat seen as though we only had one bottle of water and a small bag of peanuts to share between three for a three hour trek.

Even though we left well before 8am, again with no breakfast, it was soon about 100 degrees and we were soon drenched with sweat. At one point the sand was so hot that we thought we would get blisters on the bottom of our feet and our flip flops would melt. After about an hour we took a break and, like idiots, ate about five peanuts each which of course made us really, really thirsty. When we finally make it off the beach and into the rainforest, we are starting to feel dizzy and have to stop adter every little incline. At this point Linda pulls out a rehydration sachet which we add to the three inches of warm water we have left. Again the mud defeats us and we have to go barefoot. When we finally make it back we are covered up to the knees in mud, our clothes are sticking to us with sweat and we're either red from sunburn or pale from lack of food oh and we don't have any money for the bus! We thought that we'd be able to get a taxi and ask him to stop at an ATM on the way. But there are none so a bus driver takes pity on us and says he'll stop at an ATM when we get to the town.

Candice is the only one who brought her card and when we get to the ATM the card doesn't work. Great. Now the driver is getting angry and thinks we're lying so he says that Cand must go and find another ATM while he hold Linda and I captive on the bus. Luckily we're rescued by two amazing Colombian women who pay our fare for us. It was such a lovely thing to do and after the past few days it brought a little tear to my eye. God knows what we would have done without them!

So that's our near death experience (slight exaggeration) and it was totally our fault for being such morons!