The Tayrona did not build one city. Bunkuany is another set of their terraces in the Sierra Nevada, and outside Santa Marta almost nobody has heard of it — which is why people here call it the second lost city.
The difference that matters is the walk. Teyuna asks for four days and 60 km. Bunkuany asks for 8 km and a single day, or two, or three if you want the mountain to keep you longer.
It also runs in October, the month the Lost City does not.
What is actually up there
Terraces cut into the Sierra by the Tayrona, reached on foot from Calabazo. The trail in is roughly 8 km through forest, climbing and dropping the whole way rather than settling into one long ascent — about four hours at a normal group pace.
The site itself takes about an hour to walk. Below it there is a natural pool, and that is where most groups stop discussing the climb.
Three ways to do it
| 1 day | 2 days | 3 days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price (COP) | 490,000 | 900,000 | 1,345,000 |
| Pickup | 07:00 | 08:00 | 08:00 |
| Back in Santa Marta | 17:30 | 17:30 | 16:30 |
| Nights out | — | 1, in the mountains | 2 — mountains, then a Kogui village |
| Piedras Donama | — | yes | yes |
| Taikú community | — | — | yes |
All three are picked up from your accommodation in Santa Marta and run with a minimum of 2 people and a maximum of 15.
One day — eleven hours, door to door
Pickup at 07:00, then the drive to Calabazo, where you eat breakfast before you walk. From there it is the 8 km in, an hour at the terraces, the pool, and lunch at about 13:00. You come back down the same trail to Calabazo and drive home, finishing around 17:30.
Breakfast and lunch are both included. It is a long day and a real walk — the trail is not flat and the shoes matter — but you sleep in Santa Marta.
Two days — Piedras Donama and a night in the mountains
The two-day starts at 08:00 and goes in a different way, through the veredas of Aguavivas and San Isidro, to reach Piedras Donama — carved stones that are the other reason to come up here.
After lunch there it is a 7 km walk to where you sleep. Dinner, a night in the Sierra, then breakfast at 07:30 and a short 2 km to Bunkuany itself. Terraces, the pool, lunch at 13:00, and about 8 km out to Calabazo.
Two lunches, one breakfast, one dinner and the night are included.
Three days — sleeping at Taikú
The first day and a half are the two-day trip. The difference comes after lunch on day two: instead of finishing the walk to Calabazo, you turn off the main trail for about an hour and a half and climb to Taikú, a Kogui community deep in the Sierra.
You sleep there, in a traditional house.
On the third morning a young Kogui guide — born and raised in the community — walks you through the village and up to a mirador before you start back. Lunch is at Calabazo, and you are in Santa Marta by about 16:30.
This is the version to pay for if what draws you to the Sierra is the people who still live in it rather than the stones they left.
What every version includes
- Ground transport, both directions
- Guiding
- Entry to the archaeological zone
- Community contributions
- Medical assistance insurance
- Accommodation, on the two- and three-day
- Meals, as listed above. The one-day starts with breakfast at Calabazo; the other two start with lunch on day one
Anything not written into the plan is not included.
October
Ciudad Perdida closes 1–31 October every year for indigenous spiritual and environmental restoration, and no authorised operator runs it. Bunkuany does not close.
So an October trip to the Sierra Nevada is not the dead end it looks like. It is a shorter walk to older terraces, with the same mountains around it. See best time to visit for what else moves that month.
Booking
Bunkuany is sold on our operator’s site:
Related
- Best time to visit — the October closure, and what it does not stop
- Lost City vs Tayrona — the other Tayrona confusion worth clearing up
- Who built the Lost City? — the people whose terraces these are
- 3 vs 4 vs 5 days — if you have the week for Teyuna after all
