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View Full Version : Colombia: Tayrona National Park Tourism?


mugwump
07-06-2006, 12:18
A neighbor girl (20? y.o. college student) is talking of going to Ciudad Perdida, a huge pre-Columbian ruin complex in the Tayrona National Park, just east of Santa Marta in the jungle surrounding Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. This is all part of a University of Chicago archaeological expedition that is in the planning stages. Google says suspicious/hostile tribes to the south and CI activity to the north. The parents are good friends. The girl, frankly, is a sheltered twit who has never been out of the country.

If anyone has any insight they can share, I'd appreciate hearing it.

x SF med
07-06-2006, 14:55
Mug-
try www.cia.gov use the world factbook area and go to the country studies and travel alerts - our friends in the trenchcoats did a pretty good job on this for an open site.

The Reaper
07-06-2006, 15:28
Extremely bad idea, IMHO.

Have her google "Colombia" and "tourist kidnapping" or "turistas sequestros".

My favorite deterrent is the video where they snatched the lady and put a PVC collar bomb around her neck while waiting for a ransom, and her head wound up popped like a grape.

Maybe NDD or KGoerz have a different perspective, but I would not let my kids tour the countryside there.

Just my .02, YMMV.

TR

x SF med
07-06-2006, 15:43
TR-
I just wanted to send him in the right direction for open source intel, I believe teh travel alert is posted as a "red" travel area. I wouldn't want to be there without 11 of my closest friends and an FOB... Now Rio is another story....

FILO
07-06-2006, 16:04
I have been to the Parque, last time was December 2002. Absolutely gorgeous beaches, quite primative and swimming is dangerous given the tough currents. On my last trip there I scuba dived, 2 tanks and lunch for $35.00. There are several diving operations out of Taganga which is a small fishing village northeast of Santa Marta. Most of the dive sites are off of Parque Tayrona.

The coastal areas around Santa Marta are relatively safe and I have traveled there extensively. In fact, I tried to get to the Lost City on my last trip, but because I had time constraints I was limited to the helicopter excursion which was offered from the Hotel Irotama, which is located just southwest of Santa Marta in a suburb on the beach. However, they were sold out of slots on the aircraft; therefore I didn't make the trip. I wouldn't recommend traveling on foot since it's a couple of days and there have been incidents of kidnapping on that specific route, one as late as 2003.

TR is correct, touring the countryside is still a risky venture in Colombia, but, I wouldn't have any concerns if she stuck to the cities and the coastal connecting routes. In fact I noticed a major influx of foreign tourist on my last trip, which is a considerable change from the mid-to-late 1990s when nobody was traveling, not even the Colombians. For a reference, travel from Cartegena to Barranquilla to Santa Marta is safe. This is the coastal route. Any travel in-land is a no-go.