The park is great, but our guide was not. It was difficult to get information concerning when&where the tour would start fromt he tour operator and the guide, after multiple enquiries we finally got a time&place at 9.30pm the evening before. Our driver, Steven, was really great and early for pickup in reference to the time he‘d been given by the guide (8), we, however, had been told 7.30 so it was great that Steven was early. He was very reliable and extremely kind.
Steven was meant to pick up our guide, Cristián, but when we arrived at the arranged place he was not there. So Steven had to go pick him up even further. Next, Cristián had to organise cash from a cashpoint, because he wasn‘t prepared. By the time we reached the park entrance, there was a long line. According to Steven, guides usually come prepared so there is no wait, but this was not the case. When we finally had our entry tickets, Cristián had to get yet more cash (why?!) and also water and snacks for himself, as he had come unprepared for a day‘s hike in 32C… the park was absolutely beautiful and we much appreciated the nature and everything we saw, however none of this was enriched by our guide. He couldn‘t give us information about anything (we asked about plants, birds, how long we‘d hike, where we were going etc.) Also, his English was very bad, luckily, I speak Spanish.
We absolutely recommend going to Tayrona National Park, but do not take a guide, especially not this one.
Imagine our faces, when Cristián turned around at the end of the day (after failing to make Steven drop him off closer to his home as this would have meant driving much further and his job is to drive us to our hostel) asking for optional tips…
My excellent guide Guillermo had a lot of interisting things to tell about nature and mor and showed me small animals that i would not have seen when hiking alone. Beautiful beaches a bit crowded because of holiday time. The tour was very well organised and also the driver Camillo did a very good job.