Unearth Colombia: 5-Day Lost City Trek from Santa Marta

The hike was incredibly difficult! Be sure to bring proper footwear. Difficulty aside, it was a wonderful experience. Tour guide and translator were fantastic. Made great memories and better friends.

We started the 4 day adventurous hike with our amazing guide Dennis, translator Maria-Laura, and assistant guide Samuel and our ever greatest cook Fernando (who always sleeps in the kitchen 🤩🤩). It was heavy, rainy, amazingly breathtaking and super experience. We were taken care off, motivated, supported, with many laughs and spiritual sharings. Our children of 13 and 15 were very much taken care off. Thank all of you guys to make us live an amazing adventure. Hopefully we’ll meet again one day🤩 Noor, Noah, Koen & Mitchell

I had an excellent 4-day trek with Miller, the fresh air was amazing, and we learned so much about the flora, fauna, and indigenous history and culture. I have recommended this company to friends who have also had amazing experiences. Additionally, Miller got us to the Ciudad Pérdida before any other group, so all of our photos are free of other trekkers! Highly recommend!

An incredible experience! I’ve hiked all over the world and this was one of the most unique adventures I’ve ever been on. The guides were very knowledgeable and friendly.

My friends and I completed the 4 day hike last year with Impulse Travel. The hike was challenging at times, but never overwhelming. I was a little concerned about the food quality/quantity given some of the reviews I had seen, but that was NOT an issue. The food was delicious and plentiful; they also had really good vegetarian options (two of the friends who went with me are vegetarian and were quite pleased with the food). The guide + translator were a real highlight of this trip. They were both friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful. Overall t Impulse Travel did an excellent job organizing and leading this Trek.

If you looking for a challenge. I highly recommended taking the trek to lost city make sure you pack light. I mean very light bring more drinking water if anything. You will be sweating during the month of June. Luckily it did not rain during my trek. I’m not fluent in Spanish but Juliana who is bilingual arranged everything for me which made the trip a lot easier as this was booked the last min. Food, Trek, swimming in the rivers daily were all fantastic

I had a fantastic time on this hike. Views were superb, guide Jorge was friendly and welcoming and there were many different groups on the route. Some stopped at different locations for the night. I was disappointed with the lack of food available. It was very stodgey, salty and oily rice and meat. The fruit was great when it was out for snacks or small amounts for breakfast. I had requested plant based food months before booking. Impulse couldn't give me a set answer. It wasn't a no but it wasn't a yes! I should have used my better judgement to find other means. The chef Sandra said plant based food was very difficult.... I don't think dried oats, more fruit, some nuts and seeds would have been an issue. We had lentils one night only. Dried beans and quinoa would have gone down well but beans were only offered on the first and last meal. (Lighter and last longer than meat alternatives) Sweet potatoes beans and salad would be ideal! Colombians are famous for decent soups, I know as I'm half Colombian - but I didn't feel that love. That energy that Colombians usually love to feed, to care for and to support you. I didn't get that vibe from this trek and maybe my expectation was too high. But you always expect a lot from familiar roots. The hike and walk itself was beautiful. Very demanding and challenging. It was Greta to see all ages give it a go. Everything was staggered at a decent distance apart, just personally, I was let down by the lack of sustenance that is required for such a hike. I feel the people here - Colombians and the tribes would do better to connect with the land more. There were few and far between stalls on route that night do well to stock some fruit - and the best bit is it's all biodegrable and can be thrown back to the earth unlike the biscuits we buy that are covered in plastic.

Yesterday my husband and i completed 4 day / 3 nights Ciudad Perdida trek with Magic Tours. We can say we were very happy. They treated us like royalty. Our little group of four had a guide-Juan Carlos and a translator/guide- Brayan, who couldn't do enough for us. They talked us through the history of the place in detail, the life of the indigenous tribes in the mountains, the old civilizations and were willing to answer questions with pleasure. They were extremely helpful and fed us more than we could possibly eat. We would highly recommend this company.

My husband and I traveled to Colombia specifically to ruck the 30-mile trek to La Ciudad Perdida for our honeymoon. We researched as much as we could on this trek, both online and in books, and thought we could do it comfortably in 2 days time as there is little elevation change. We hired a private guide through Magic Tour, José Rada, who was excellent in every way (knowledgeable, friendly, accommodating, fun), and he agreed to our 2-day plan. It was amazing and the timeline worked perfectly for us. Carrying everything we had packed for Colombia on our backs in our rucksacks, we started on foot from Mamey (Machete Pelado) just before 10 am on the first day, turning down the motorcycle ride that José said most people attempting to do the trek in 3-days take. We enjoyed the challenging terrain with steep inclines and downhills and river-crossings along with a few leisurely stops for lunch and taking photos until we reached the final basecamp "Paraíso" in time for dinner. The next day, we woke up at 4:30 am to get to La Ciudad Perdida before sunrise, using our headlamps in the dark as José led us up the 1km of steep stairs that date back to 700 AD. The reward for rising early was that we had the site to ourselves for hours as the sun came up, even before the Colombian army guards woke up and well ahead of the 60+ tourists arriving from the Basecamp. It was an amazing sight to see and experience. We also avoided being eaten alive by the mosquitos by using the local repellent (Nopikex) which comes as a bar of soap and works great. Still on a high from our private visit to La Ciudad Perdida, we rucked back to our start point in Mamey moving quickly and revisiting all the downhills, this time as steep inclines. It was a good workout but we felt good enough to finish strong with a light jog. 10/10 recommend this trek, the 2-day timeline if you can walk 15 miles in a day, and José from Magic Tour who made this all possible. Also, shout out of major respect to all the elderly hikers out there pushing their bodies to the limit. We can only hope to be moving and living our lives like that in 30 years.

We had the honor to have Gabriel and his staff as guides for the trip. The trek was professional and well organized. Definitely recommend!