If you are on the side of Santa Marta, so don't miss a visit to the Cienaga Grande by Magdalena ! Discover everything from our superb day discovering an exceptional nature and people.
What is the Cienaga Grande?
La Cienaga Grande by Magdalena (or Santa Marta) is located in northern Colombia in the department of Magdalena. It is a nature reserve of 26 hectares, of lakes, marshes, lagoons and mangroves. It is a refuge for migratory birds that come from North America.
Mangrove ecosystems promote the different phases of the life cycle of molluscs, crustaceans and fish. These mangroves also contribute to the conservation and survival of endemic species: Caymans, monkeys, manatees, iguanas, otters, brown herons, needle ducks, pelicans, snake birds, great blue herons ...
Lakeside villagess of the Cienaga Big
Located 2 hours by boat, 3 villages (Trojas de Cataca, Buenavista and Nueva Venecia) reign over this nature reserve. About 300 fishing families live on wooden houses on stilts of all colors. These authentic and very welcoming people live mainly from fishing. Far from everything, he seems forgotten by the world ...
My love at first sight for the inhabitants of Cienaga Grande
We were lucky to discover this nature and this people in a very confidential way. Indeed, we were the only tourists in the mangroves and were even a curiosity for the inhabitants of Nueva Venecia. We caught people at the windows taking pictures of us!
We were accompanied by an approved guide from the national park who told us with all his heart the history of his people (he himself lives in Nueva Venecia). From his ancestors, to the massacre of 37 fishermen in 2000 by an armed group, through the ecological disaster they are trying to overcome… It was fascinating!
We went from house to house, met the people, discussed with them and ate at their tables. We went to the soccer field, to see the pool halls, the police station, the school and the church. On the wall of the church, we stop in front of a commemorative plaque. It is in tribute to the 37 fishermen who were victims of terrorism in 2000 (paramilitaries shot them to show the population what they would continue to do if they did not obey them…).
A day rich in discoveries, human exchanges and emotions… They were proud that we were interested in them and that we took pictures of them. On leaving, they thanked us for coming to see them. I still have tears in my eyes ...
How to get to Cienaga Grande?
Tourism is not at all developed in this mangrove and that's good! But suddenly, it's much more complicated to get there.
I had emailed requests to many local agencies to organize a day trip, but only received one positive response. It was Aventure Colombia who took up the challenge!
Aurélie Justine LETORT -aurelie@aventurecolombia.com
Mobil: (+57) 314 357 2545 - (+57) 311 671 9552 (Whatsapp)
Aurélie was very responsive because she worked on a Sunday to offer us this wonderful excursion on Monday morning. I therefore say a big BRAVO to Aurélie for her professionalism and the quality of her services!
She will have made this day a memory that will remain deeply and for a long time in my heart.
Updated on 24/09/2024: Since my trip, Aurélie has left the agency. So, I recommend you book an excursion on Civitatis:
On the way now for a big breath of fresh air with our stay at MINCA.
Hello,
We made the excursion to La Cienaga Grande in Magdalena, thank you again for this "plan", we were delighted, a real happiness, people of extreme kindness and without tourists thank you thank you
After Bogota, Santa Marta, Tayrona Park (book imperatively), Minca, Cienaga Grande, Cartagena, we stay 2 days on Mucura 🙂 with a very beautiful fishing village
I keep your site in favorites for our next trips
THANKS AGAIN
Silvan
Hello Sylvain,
Oh thank you for this comment! People ask me very often when they are in the middle of preparing for their trip but the returns after the trip are rather rare ... and yet it's crazy how they can encourage me to continue ...
See you soon perhaps on the occasion of exchanges on other destinations!
I would like to do this excursion in December 2023. I would like to contact the famous Aurelie Le mail. aurelie@aventurecolombia.com is unknown. would you have another contact thank you
Hello,
I have no other contact. On the other hand, you can directly ask the travel agency for which she worked: https://aventurecolombia.com/
Have a good future trip, you will enjoy yourself!
YES, tempting !!!
We (my wife and I) should be there in early March 2020, at the exit of Tayrona Park. I wanted to do this excursion, but I had not found the way to do it on my own, finding a fisherman to go with him ...
Doing it with this agency does indeed have a cost, but it's so beautiful, that we are going to be tempted, I just sent an email to Aurélie (who turned into Tristan as a result). Thank you Coco for having found this agency and have kindly shared your info. Well done for your blog.
Gerard Pierre
Hello,
THANK YOU THANK YOU for your travel reports, I am preparing our trip to Colombia on the Caribbean coast for 10 days ~
What a wealth of information 🙂, I saw a report on the Cienaga Grande and your story convinced me to go.
We are going to call on Aurélie to find out if she can organize this trip for us 🙂
Very good day
Tayrona Park
Cienaga large
Coin
cartagena
the boquilla
mucura
And THANK YOU THANKS to you for your nice comment! Your program is ideal for ten days. You will see that going to the Cienaga Grande gives meaning to the trip. The people who live there are very endearing as soon as you take the first step to engage in dialogue. It's weird, but we want to protect them and also protect the fragile ecosystem of this mangrove. Have a good trip !
Hello,
A big thank you for all the information you give us and which allows us to prepare our trip. We plan to go in December and I wanted to include this walk. How much does it take for a day with a guide to make this excursion. Thank you in advance and look forward to hearing from you
Hello Martine,
It is an excursion which is rare and therefore can seem quite expensive. But if we assess the quality of the services, the authenticity of the site visited and the emotions it provides, we can say that it is not expensive at all! The agency took us 435 cop per person or about 500 Euros / person. Everything was included: private round-trip transport, the service of a private Spanish-speaking local guide, the boat to reach the village of Nueva Venecia and to walk around the Cienaga and lunch.
We will be in the SantaMarta area at the beginning of March and we are interested in this excursion to Cienaga Grande. Question: Are there mosquitoes with all these bodies of water? If so, we will prepare accordingly! 4 children from 6 to 15 years old accompany us.
Hello Pierrette,
No we didn't have mosquitoes but it was in August. I don't know for the month of March ...
In any case, it's good to introduce this region to your children. The people of Cienaga are real people who are happy to welcome tourists who are interested in them. They are a little closed at the beginning. Do not hesitate to ask lots of questions about the horrible events they suffered and the ecological disaster from which they are emerging… They really appreciated that we are interested as much in them as in the sublime landscape which surround them.