Depending on who you speak to Colombia is synonymous with Coffee, Cocaine and Football. That is because that is mostly what is printed in the news and shown on television but there is more to this South American, Spanish speaking country, than we hear in the news. Colombia is rich in history and culture and unlike the Caribbean islands to the north of it; it has manage the keep some of its indigenous people along with some of their historical sites.
One site that has remain hidden for years and was recently found - by outsiders in 1972, is Ciudad Perdida (“Lost City”), an ancient city dating back to 500 years BC and was the home of the Kogi Indians. The Lost City is a hidden gem lying in jungle at the northern tip of the country facing the Caribbean Sea. Surround by thick tropical rain forest Ciudad Perdida can only be reach by Helicopter or trekking through dense vegetation – Indiana Jones style.
To make it a worthwhile short break I would suggest you visit on foot, taking in its bright blue sky, lush vegetation, exotic birds and beautiful butterflies. The city is about a five days trek through the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta jungle, wading through fast-flowing river, tackling steep hills then a 1500 step up to the top of the city.
Ciudad Perdida was abandoned when the Kogi people fled to escape the Spanish Conquest but today an area below the Lost City is the home of the Tayrona Indians, descendants of the Kogi Indians.
The lost city is about 4Km in radius and holds the remains of this ancient city: with more than 100 weed-encrusted and palm-fringed stone terraces that once provided the base for the Kogi’s wooden huts, linked by a labyrinth of winding paths and steps studded with wildflowers. Ciudad Perdida remote location has protect it from the constant traffic associated with Machu Picchu, here you get the sense of finding somewhere long forgotten, a lost world undiscovered.©