Rosi Cornwell
So after leaving the hostel on the beach in Juanchaco via a motor bike tuc tuc, a boat, a trip to the supermarket, a taxi to the bus stop in Bueanaventura, a bus to Cali and then an over night bus (8pm to 6am) we arrived in Nieve.
Feeling like I’d been awake for about 10 years we got into a taxi that drove one hour to take us to our hostel.. Well it was actually a hotel..
We checked in and hung out in the hammocks until we could go the room at about 10am. It was boiling. This was a very nothing day as we were all shattered. We did end up going out into town as we tried to inquire about bikes to cycle into the desert but had no such luck. We had a few Smirnoff ices and picked up some ingredients to make a ramen.
Hollie and Amie got cooking and we had a swim whilst we waited. Now this hotel had a lot of rules signposted about the place… And Hollie and Amie broke 2 of them on the first night.. Cooking after 9pm and cooking in swimming clothes. They got told off and it all felt very much like being at school.
It was worth it as the ramen was delicious.
I ended up having a bit of a melt down (it was literally hot enough to melt) when I later couldn’t choose what bed to sleep in. A hard single bed that got the breeze from the fan… Or the top bunk that was comfy but didn’t get the breeze. I ended up leaving the room in a rage and slept in the hammock. No sleep mixed with this heat, and maybe pms was a recipe for disaster.
I had a fairly decent sleep in the hammock and we all awoke early for a day in the desert. Hollie asked permission to cook in the kitchen ( the rules said you can’t use it before 9am..which is kinda crazy as the tours leave at 8am)… And we had a yummy breakfast of tinned veg with tomatoes and onions on toast. We later got called into the managers ( I think she was the manager) office and told off again for the night before, and now for using the kitchen 9am. We were told if rules were broken again we couldn’t use the kitchen. Like wtf.
Anyway belly’s full we set off in a tuc tuc to the grey desert. The scenery was epic as we drove along dusty roads, surrounded by cactus’, vast expanses of sandy landscapes, the occasional wooden shack bar, and then soon the start of the grey desert.
We were so so thankful that it was cloudy other wise this day would have been awfully sweaty and unbearable.
We walked down into the sandy dunes and it was just mesmerising to be so small with high sandy hills above us. The patterns everywhere were fascinating, and I couldn’t stop taking pictures.
We ended up coming up to a fallen fence. And walked over this to explore more. We joked about getting lost in the desert and then decided to turn back, we soon didn’t recognise the route and this whole trip my mum has referenced how some of the scenarios we get into our like ‘The Inbetweeners’… And this would be the ULTIMATE inbetweeners moment getting lost in the bloody desert. But alas we went a different route and walked back over the fence and carried on the route.
We soon saw water below us and had made our way to the swimming pool that had been built. It was a bit rouge with fencing all around but for 10 pesos, and when the sun came out, it was lovely. It was super deep and a great temperature. We swum around and then got some food. We were going to head off to walk about an hour to the red desert, but as the sun was in full force about 1pm, we decided to stay in the pool.
We then set off about 3pm, got a frozen fruit drink and played sing along show tunes as we walked. Later a guy on a motor bike offered us ice lollies so we got green ones, and I don’t know what e numbers they had in them, but I was on top of the world!!!
We were singing, dancing and it was great. We stopped to run up to the crosses for a picture and then sat and had a cold drink and, a wafer with chocolate and jam.
We were making our way to the red desert when a car pulled up with two girls in who said that they had seen us on there way to the grey desert, and now on the way back. They offered us a lift which we thankfully took as when we got to the red desert it was getting dark.
As we entered a guide advised we didn’t stay long as the sun would soon set. I was sad to not see more. But didn’t want to have any sadness on such an epic day.
We then had to navigate our way to the observatory which was a 20 minute walk and at this point I was tired. We traipsed back up the path and I was thankful when we arrived to lay on the ground and look at the stars.
It is so clear here due to no light pollution and the sky was full of stars. We even saw a shooting star that slowly crept it’s way across the sky before disappearing before our eyes.
The presenter introduced himself in Spanish and then asked in English where the English people were. It was us and some people from China, he told us to be patient with him but it turned out that by patient he meant.. Wait until the whole thing was over and then when asked by Hollie for the English version get a very sped up version.. But hey I guess it’s better than nothing. We got to see Venus through a telescope and learn to spot the southern cross which is always opposite Orian’s belt.
It was about 8pm and dark now. I asked a lady about getting a taxi back and she asked her mate who had a motor bike taxi and he then called in someone else, so Hollie and I went on one and Amie went on the other.
It was an exhilarating ride back and too late to use the hotels precious kitchen, but amazingly we weren’t actually hungry.
We had 2 new people in the room now, and so this called for an extra fan which they gave us! So it was a cooler night which was good as we had another tour at 8am.
We awoke and got ready for the tour and to everyone’s dismay, hers as well.. Our tour guide was the miserable manager. The three of us sat in a the back of a tuc tuc and she rode a motorbike.
We rode for about an hour along the bumpy desert roads when we finally arrived at the first stop. The waterfall. We walked around to a closed off little area surrounded with rocks and trees. A thin waterfall was cascading into a pool below, which was swum around in and cooled off. The water from the waterfall was warm and the stoney walls were fury with moss.
The moody teacher fell asleep when it was time to go and we didn’t know how to best tell her, so Hollie did a huge laugh which was just trick and we set off to the museum!
We were some of the first people to this museum full of fossils all found by one guy who had been collecting over his life time. We even got to see behind the scenes and he explained how they got the fossils out using molds to protect them. He showed us a huge tooth which they had just found and was really rare!
We then had a yummy lunch and drove to the mud baths for the last stop! We swum in the pool. Then dunked in the mud, it felt nice whilst it was wet but it really wasn’t nice once it started to dry and feel tight. We washed it off and our skin felt so soft and smooth after! We had a dip in the pool and got dropped back to the hotel.
I went out to inquire about getting a bus to the terminal in the morning as this worked out 90,000 cheaper than a taxi! We had an early start ahead of us as had to get the bus to Bogotoa at 8am! In town someone advised me to get to the square at 5.40am to get the bus at 6am…. We had dinner and an early night and got to the square the next day at 5.45am…..to be told that the bus didn’t leave until 7am! At least we were there on time, but I was worried we would be late to the terminal…. The bus driver put the pedal to the metal and we made it with plenty of time and boarded the 6 hour bus to Bogota!
What an experience the Tatacoa desert was, I would highly recommend it to anyone who is in Colombia!
