Turcol - Colombian Tourism — Local services in Santa Marta

The hike to The Lost City was absolutely unforgettable. After looking at several touring groups, we chose Turcol and I am so glad we did. Our guides and translators made the trip even more interesting and educational with stories of the area and answers to all our questions. Janeth Varela was especially helpful. She was happy and helpful and never seemed to run out of energy to help us. She kept us steady through slick, boggy mud, and over riverbeds. She was never without a smile and a bit of encouragement. Misael kept our group going at a good pace so we never arrived at camp too late. He happily answered our questions and told us many interesting things about the area and people. Edwin has a long family history with the indigenous people and the area itself - Wow. We were with a large group of non-Spanish speakers, so our translators, Juber and Jerry made it possible for us to always understand what was going on and learn from the stories of our guides. It was so nice to have all our meals prepared for us.

Do your research, get a good backpack, put everything in plastic zip-lock bags, and make friends with your stair stepper before you go. Yes, your shoes will probably always be wet. Yes, you’ll come out of the jungle with bug bites that will last at least 2 weeks. Yes you will wonder how you’ll get up or down another mountain. Yes, you’ll feel triumph at going past what you thought you could. Yes, you will have your breath taken away by what you see. Yes, you will feel so lucky to be doing this.

It was grueling. And incredible. Painful, and inspiring. To hike through the unique beauty of the deep Colombian mountains and reach The Lost City is such an incredible experience, that it must require an incredible effort.

I would do it again and would definitely want to do it with Janeth and the...

I loved my 4-day experience with TURCOL, the guides were super nice and always attentive to your needs/questions. I really enjoyed my time there and felt like my money was well invested. I got a bit sick during the trip and the guides were always ready to assist me and were really preoccupied of my health.

We had an amazing guide (Arghenith alias Pataconcito), which made us laugh and kept our energies up always with his jokes. The translator for our group (Fabian alias El Indio) was well spoken and had a lot of knowledge related to the indigenous tribes from the Sierra and Colombia in general and of their traditions. Our cook Moises always made delicious food that fueled our LONG hikes. Something I noted is that all of them interacted with ALL the farmers, indigenous people and other guides that passed us, which is a note to their presence and their friendliness. Also is something I noted not all guides from other companies did.

I saw that turcol really cares about their tourists, our group was small, and we were always taken care of. I really love that I saw the community impact they make and that they want to contribute to make the mountain better, we had an activity of reforestation which I saw was unique to this tour and makes the trip even better.

I want to thank them again Pataconcito, Indio and Moises for making this trip unforgettable. I will always recommend this company to any friends/family, because I know they will have a great experience and enjoy their time. I recommend this trip to everyone as it is a hard hike, but you will disconnect and enjoy nature and connect to a place like non other. You can really feel the good...

We went on the 4 days Lost City trek with Turcol. Our guides were Jose Fernandez, Marco (translator) and Juan Pablo. Our group had 21 people. We were very pleased with every detail of the trip. The guides were very informative and knowledgeable, took care of every one of our needs and answered all our questions fully. They were very safe and made sure we were safe all the time. They were beyond our expectations, smiling, being pleasant and kind all the time, and it was pretty sad saying goodbye at the end of the trek. There also two cooks who went with us along the trek, who were also kind and pleasent. They cooked for us breakfast, lunch and dinner. The meals were more sufficient and tasty, the food was diverse, and all people with food allergies received sufficient food as well (gluten free, vegetarian). Along the day we also received fruits along the way which made the walk easier. The food in this trek was much like the food we had in proper Colombian restaurants. The sleeping arrangements was beds for most and hammocks for some, with mosquito nets in both cases. The camps in which we slept had clean bathrooms and showers. The showers are a great addition after a long day of sweating. The transportation there and back was punctual and comfortable enough (A van and a jeep), and we were picked up at our hosteles in Taganga and dropped off there, which was very convenient. We had a great time and we definitely recommand this trek with this company, the price is...