Tayrona national park has a stunning collection of beaches where huge boulders tumble into the sea, and the jungle hugs the coast. Behind the rainforest are the steep hills of the Seirra Nevada de Santa Marta, the world’s highest coastal mountain range. We spent two days walking the trails, swimming in the few permitted bays (sheltered by coral reef - the sea here has viscous currents) and soaking up the sun on the beaches of this beautiful coastline, home to the indigenous Tayrona people who where clad in gold when the Spanish arrived in the 16th century. On the first day my dad and brother joined us and we ate a really tasty lunch at Restaurant Arrecifes, which was a bit pricier than our usual eateries but nice to toast David's last day with us.

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As dad and David ventured back to their teepee, just outside the park, Rory and I hiked for an hour to a campsite (affiliated with the hotel we ate lunch at) where we stayed in in hammocks. Not quite as fun as it sounds, I manage to curl up like a cat and got a bit of kip but Rory almost gave up trying to get comfortable and contemplated sleeping on the tiled floor. It was definitely worth a night of discomfort to wake early and hike another hour or so along the coastline to see the beaches at sunrise before the crowds began to gather.

 

David left early that morning to fly home so we joined dad for lunch at his accommodation. It was a lovely relaxed place set just across a shallow river where the hosts (a friendly older couple) grew plenty of tropical fruits, enjoyed listening to jazz and made us tasty breakfasts - the Guanabana is (a large green spiky fruit) was particularly nice. The juicy, white flesh tastes sweet like strawberries with a hint of pineapple flavour too. We decided to stay on a couple of nights to re-energise after a week of walking.

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