Hospital Universitario Julio Méndez Barreneche – Emergency Department
E.S.E. Hospital Universitario Julio Méndez Barreneche
- 24/7 emergency
- Stages 1, 2, 3, 4
Calle 23 con Carrera 14, Santa Marta, Magdalena
Lost City Trek · Checked October 2026
Lost City Trek emergency & health guide: hospitals, rescue, 123 and park rules
How help works on a trail with no phone signal, the nearest hospital for each of the 4 stages, and the rules: licensed operators, the park ticket, the annual closure, yellow fever and the indigenous reserve.
Tell your guide at once: every group walks with a guide, and the guide is the first responder. After the first part of the trail there is no phone signal, so the guide reaches the operator, who sends mules, a stretcher team or, for serious cases and if your insurance pays, a helicopter. From any phone with signal, call 123, Colombia's national emergency line for police, ambulance and fire. Say that you are on the Ciudad Perdida trail, give the nearest camp and, if you can, your GPS coordinates.
Emergency numbers
| Number | What it is |
|---|---|
| 123 | National emergency line: police, ambulance and fire, free from any phone, 24/7. It needs mobile signal, which you will not have on most of the trail. |
| 132 | Colombian Red Cross (Cruz Roja) |
| 144 | Defensa Civil: civil defence, search and rescue, floods |
| 119 | Fire brigade (Bomberos) |
| +57 605 4365007 | Hospital Universitario Julio Méndez Barreneche, Santa Marta: public hospital with a 24-hour emergency department |
There is no phone signal after the first part of the trail and no mountain rescue service in the Sierra Nevada. Your guide is your link to help: save your operator's 24-hour number before you leave Santa Marta, and give your insurer's emergency number to the operator. Buy travel insurance that covers helicopter evacuation from a roadless area. Tell someone at home your dates, and follow your guide's decisions at river crossings.
Rules to know
- Licensed operators only: ICANH, which runs the Teyuna – Ciudad Perdida Archaeological Park, sells tickets only to tour operators with a valid National Tourism Registry (RNT) and its own authorisation (Resolution 1703 of 2025). You cannot walk independently; every group has a guide.
- Park ticket from 1 January 2026: COP 75,000 per person, normally included in the trek price. The site is open 7 am to 3 pm.
- Annual closure: the park and trail close every year so the indigenous authorities can rest the land and hold ceremonies. It was 15–30 September in 2024, all of October in 2025 and 1–15 October in 2026. Check the next dates with ICANH or your operator before you book.
- Access can be suspended at short notice for security, public order, weather or conservation. ICANH asks visitors to check its channels and local authority alerts before travelling.
- Indigenous reserve: the trail crosses the Kogi-Malayo-Arhuaco reserve. Do not enter homes or sacred sites, ask before you photograph people, stay on the trail and carry out all your rubbish.
- Yellow fever: get vaccinated at least 10 days before you go and carry the certificate with your passport; it may be asked for at national parks in the region.
- Rivers: you wade across the Buritaca and its side streams several times. After rain the water can be knee to thigh deep; wait when your guide says so, and use the cable car where it runs.
- Insurance: many operators require travel insurance that covers emergency evacuation; some set a minimum age of 12 with an adult.
- Do not fly a drone over the terraces or villages without written permission from ICANH and the indigenous authorities.
Nearest hospital for each stage
| # | Stage | Hospital (24/7 emergency) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | El Mamey → Adán | Hospital Universitario Julio Méndez Barreneche – Emergency Department |
| 2 | Adán → Mumake | Hospital Universitario Julio Méndez Barreneche – Emergency Department |
| 3 | Mumake → Paraíso | Hospital Universitario Julio Méndez Barreneche – Emergency Department |
| 4 | Paraíso → Ciudad Perdida | Hospital Universitario Julio Méndez Barreneche – Emergency Department |
Hospitals
Clínica Avidanti Santa Marta – Emergency Department
Clínica Avidanti
- 24/7 emergency
- Stages 1, 2, 3, 4
Carrera 4 No. 26A-71, Barrio El Prado, Santa Marta
Clínica Mar Caribe – Emergency Department
Clínica Mar Caribe
- 24/7 emergency
- Stages 1, 2, 3, 4
Calle 22 con Carrera 19, Santa Marta
Health posts and first aid
There is no doctor on the trail. A small rural health post is mapped at El Mamey (Machete Pelao), but its hours could not be confirmed, so go to Santa Marta for anything serious. Guides carry a basic first aid kit.
Machete Pelao health post
Puesto de Salud de Machete Pelao
- Opening hours only
- Stages 1
Machete Pelao (El Mamey), corregimiento de Guachaca, Santa Marta
Pharmacies, cash and supplies
- Pharmacies:
- ATMs:
- Shops: El Mamey
- Transport:
There is no pharmacy on the trek or in El Mamey; the camps sell only drinks, snacks and a few basics. Buy medicines, rehydration salts, blister plasters, strong insect repellent and sun cream in Santa Marta, where pharmacies (droguerías) are easy to find. Camps have power only in the evening: carry a power bank.
Pharmacies, ATMs, shops and stops: © OpenStreetMap contributors. Hospitals and health centres checked online.
Have the nearest help on your map, offline
Outest shows these hospitals, pharmacies, ATMs and stops on the Lost City Trek map, offline, together with the route, water and places to sleep.