I am merging day 3 and 4 as our program changed a little as day 3 went on. I won’t give anything away until later in the post.
We woke up at 4 today – there was a group who were doing the 4 day version of the hike who were hiking out today and were leaving at 5:30. We weren’t leaving until 6 but our beds are right next to the kitchens and the lights went on at 4 and pots were banging so no sleep.
The walk to the camp at the base of the Lost City goes through some very beautiful countryside (including a Wiwa village) and crosses the river several times – once as soon as we left Wiwa, once over a long suspension bridge (2 people at a time for safety) and finally as we get close to the camp at the base of the Lost City – the two without bridges are done by foot either with water shoes or barefoot.
Sometimes the path had rather steep drops next to it too.
Todays surprise at the shop about half way between the two camps was Pina and oranges which were both welcome. The walk today was so humid and hot.
We got to the camp at about 12 which was ahead of time and we were told that because we were so early we had the option to do the lost city that afternoon rather than day 4 (hence the merged entry). We opted to do it in the afternoon rather than wait until the morning and go up with everyone else. There are 1200 very slippery steps up to the city (and even more slippery down) which we climbed after a river crossing and after a rather “fun” walk from the camp. All of this was worth it. The city is 1300 odd years old and was a sacred city. Kanka explained that there are two main sacred cities this was one. The city was found by looters early in the 20th century and was pretty pillaged before archeologists got to. Kanka explained that the city was never lost as the indigenous tribes of the Sierra Nevada had continued to perform rituals in the city. I should add we even saw toucans in the city – awesome.
After a couple of hours of having the city to ourselves we descended the stairs back to the camp getting in just as it got dark. We met the chef Luis’s pet pig Pepe.
Because we had done the lost city on day 3, day 4 consisted of walking the 10km back to Wiwa – which we managed to do just before midday. 
The rest if the day was free time until we had a presentation with more information about the Wiwa which concluded with a dance and traditional Wiwa music. Tomorrow we have to trek 14km+ back to Machete prior to midday so early start.
My companion
davstuholidays 