Day Thirty-Seven: Car, Airplane, Van and Horse to Tayrona

Gilberto picks us up at 5:30am.  We go to the car and meet his daughter, Stephanie, who he brought along to translate.  When I texted Lolo last night to arrange the pick up, I failed to mention that there are four of us now and that Alanna speaks Spanish.  We squeeze into the tiny purple hatchback.

Gilberto unloads our bags at the Bogota airportGilberto swerves around potholes the size of manholes as we race to airport to catch our flight to Santa Marta.  The roads are chaotic.  Red lights and stop signs are treated as suggestions.  We whip around a tight corner and barely avert a t-bone collision.  This reminds me of driving in India, where people drive on the wrong side of the highway.  I never understood why they did that.

Waiting for our flight

We get to the airport, check in and our flight is delayed.  Once we arrive in Santa Marta a van is waiting for us.  We load up and drive about an hour to the park.  Once we get into the park, we drive a couple of miles on windy dirt roads.  We park and load our luggage onto the donkeys and get on our horses.

I am riding Otto.  He is anxious and he needs to be leader.  We start in the back but he decides that he belongs in the front. I oblige and we lead the pack. 

The ride is long, through tiny foot passes, rocks and mud.   Aldo, who is escorting us on foot, does not speak a word of English.  But both we give each other a little lesson in the others language.  I ask "Como se dice?" as I point to Otto.

"Caballo," he replies.

"In English, horse," I say pointing to Otto.

Aldo

After riding though the forest for about an hour and a half, we come to an open area and I see the sea.  It's incredible.

Otto and the view Finally, I can let Otto run to his heart’s desire. He wades in the shallow water before galloping down the beach.  I feel the earth move under him.  We are both liberated.

We arrive at the villa, which is directly on the beach.  A lady gives me a coconut with a straw in it.  This is paradise.

The villa has only the essentials, but everything you need.  There is no power until 6pm.  No hot water, no internet, no phone service.  Pure bliss. A massive boulder serves as a foundation for the building.
We arrive at our villa

We have lunch and relax on the beach.  We begin our Yoga session at five and continue into the sunset.  It is a challenging two hours but focusing on breathing is easy when the waves of the ocean are there to guide you.

The view from our villaWe shower and get to know each other better over dinner and drinks before falling asleep to the sound of the ocean.  All of my dreams take place on the beach or near the ocean.

Meghan relaxes on the beach