Week 24: Taganga, San Gil, Chicamocha Canyon

Monday June 13

This morning, we decided to take advantage of a lazy day – so obviously, we decided to go walking across the mountains in Taganga in search of new beaches. We went for a while watching fisherman, looking for a good beach for snorkeling, and seeking something relaxing. We hung out on an abandoned property, grabbed some snacks, and read a book overlooking the ocean for a while before we headed back to a potential beach.
We emerged onto a beach that had a nice restaurant and we shared some freshly caught fish. We decided to stay there and hang out. Luke went swimming and I was reading all afternoon before we decided to head back before dark. We caught the sunset on the way back and then got ready to leave that night. We reserved that hostel for the day since our bus was that night at 9:00pm in Santa Marta.

Tuesday June 14
We took the night bus to San Gil, a town of around 100k people located in the lower elevation mountains about 6 hours west of Bogota.  It was beautiful there with perfect climate and tons of adventure sports. We found a hostel with a nice hammock area in the back yard.  It rained all afternoon so we sat in the hammocks and read. It was perfect.

Wednesday June 15

We went to the local nature park in the morning.  It was well maintained and beautiful. Then we took a bus to Barichara, a beautiful colonial town only an hour or two away.  After visiting the church, we walked out of town and found a stone trail built in the 1800’s by a german engineer.  We walked for a few hours to a smaller town called Guane.  It was also very old, and we were told camping was allowed on the soccer field on the edge of town.  We built a great campsite, and then bought a few things for dinner.  We mixed cheese, ham, and green apple, all diced, and hollowed out the loaf of bread with a stick. Then we stuffed the bread and cooked it over the fire.  It was delicious. After some beer and s’mores we went to sleep in our hammocks.

Thursday June 16

The next morning we woke up and enjoyed breakfast in our campsite.  We hiked onward to Villanueva, a slightly larger and more modern town.  The morning hike was steep and hot, but we made it to town, relaxed, and ate lunch. We bought more supplies and then pressed onward.  The next town was far away so we were looking for a campsite. Unfortunately, the road/path we walked on was lined with barbed wire fences protecting the farm.  We saw few good options and almost settled for bad campsites when we finally found an amazing spot. On the ridge of a mountain there were a few trees, a firepit, no fences, and spectacular views from both sides.  We loved this spot and enjoyed the sunset on both sides of the mountain.  We made a nice dinner of little smokies, onions, peppers, and cheese, both skewered and cooked in aluminum foil.  It was delicious again and we were soon asleep. It rained in the night but we quickly covered our hammocks with tarps/ponchos and stayed mostly dry.

Friday June 17

Last tortuous day of canyon hiking. We woke up to an amazing sunrise, ate as much of our remaining food as we could, dried our equipment in the sun, and then began walking.  It was easy for the first hour until we reached the edge of the canyon.  It was a great view, but we knew we were in trouble. We hiked three thousand feet down into the canyon until we reached the small ghost town of Jordan next to the river.  We were very hot, thirsty, and exhausted by the time we reached the town. We met some reporters who interviewed us and took thousands of pictures.  We may be famous in Colombia by now.  we ate a very simple lunch for about $1.50 per person at the only restaurant in town.  Then we rested and rehydrated before starting back up the steep canyon wall.  The path was cobblestoned for much of the way, but it was still the most miserable afternoon of my life.  It was hot, and we were exhausted.  We stopped every hundred yards or ten minutes for a break.  There is no transportation out of Jordan, so our only way out was to hike to the town on top of the cliffs.  After what felt like eternity, we reached the top and were happy to rest.  We took a series of busses back to San Gil, and immediately fell asleep in the busses.  It was however, one of the best hikes of my life.  We followed some instructions from wikipedia and only lost the trail a few times.  The views of old colonial towns, as well as mountains, valleys, and canyons, made for an awesome adventure.

Saturday June 18

Today, we decided to look around for some pricing for all the activities that there are in San Gil after going to breakfast. We looked around for a while before we found a great deal of $30,000 (10 USD) to raft down the river that afternoon!  It was my first time white water rafting and it really was a good time though a little scary! We went back to the hostel to get ready for our trip and then we were off! There were only about two or three level rapids, but that was a great introduction to me! After that we watched a few of the funny videos and pictures and headed back to the hostel.

Sunday June 19

This morning we had signed up to go paragliding and so we met up at the agency at 9:00. It took us about 40 minutes to get there, but once we got to Chicamocha Canyon it was a beautiful as I remember it from the camping before.

They gave us a quick walk-through on what we were supposed to do and then we waited! My guide was pretty amazing. He took me as high as he could and then did tricks for me. Luke saw the biggest smile on my face because I was just sooo excited and full of adrenaline! The ride home was nice but it made me realize how much I was going to miss Colombia. We spoke to our driver about eating a traditional meal before we left the area and he actually invited us to go with him and his family to this little restaurant that was packed. We had the traditional goat dish and it was sooo delicious! We were stuffed and sleepy by the time we got back to the hostel.