Our Great Adventure: El Mamey / Santa Marta Day 324 08/08/2015

We were up early in preparation of our long walk back to El Mamey, our starting point on day 1, had breakfast and set off just after 0630. Despite the early hour the heat from the sun was already intense and it wasn't long before we were dripping with perspiration. We contoured around the hillside before reaching the bottom of the first hill. It was then a long and very hot 60 minutes before we reached the top. We continued along to Camp de Alfredo where we'd slept on the first night, enjoying water melon and drinks. From here was another uphill although luckily less ascent than the previous one. Part way up we saw a mass of what looked like caterpillars on a tree trunk. From a distance they looked like a wig! We asked Sergio if he knew what they were but he didn't (and we forgot to ask Gabriel who would no doubt have known). We finally reached the top and continued along the path passed farm land and watching a red squirrel dart through the banana trees. The path widened to a track which is used by motorbikes to transport goods and people from El Mamey. We continued downhill and suddenly a motorbike appeared behind, out of control with a western girl as pillion. We rushed to the side of the track but not before the bike had clipped us. Simon got small graze on his hand and Diane had two cuts on her arm, luckily both were superficial although bruised and sore. We were both OK just a bit shaken. At the top Sergio had suggested we continued all the way down the track avoiding the very steep descent that we'd done in reverse on our first day. It was very dusty but did give good views across the hillsides. We finally arrived exhausted back in El Mamey just after midday. We treated ourselves to celebratory drinks, showered and had our final meal of the trek. It had been a fantastic experience, the scenery along the route was lovely and the Lost City an unforgettable site. But it was brutal, the heat and humidity along with the steep ascents made for an exhausting trek. We'd been lucky in that we hadn't been plagued by mosquitos, in fact the only ones we'd seen in any number were at the Lost City, and we'd got only very few bites thanks to Michelle and Becky's deet and wearing long sleeves and pants. The conditions by all accounts were good with low water levels for the river crossings and dry paths. And we'd not seen any jungle creepy crawlies which we were both delighted about. Ironically the only injuries we got were from the motorbike. After lunch we climbed in the jeep for the 2 hour drive back to Santa Marta. It was lovely arriving back to the comfort and coolness of Casa Amani. After showering we headed out to Lulo for a late afternoon snack before wandering back and chilling out in the courtyard. In the evening we went to Ouzo again, this time having pizzas and a bottle of red reminiscing over a great trek.