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Published: October 19th 2008
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The trip to San Gil took 14 hours on the bus. This included a change of bus in a city called Bucaramanga. The bus trip in itself is an adventure and you need nerves of steel. We checked in at a hostel called Macondo, owned by a very friendly and helpful Australian named Shaun. This was to be our home for the next 10 days.
San Gil is located in the Santander province of Colombia (The heart of Colombia, as the inhabitants of Santander like to say) and is situated right on the edge of the Andes. There are many parks with huge old trees draped with Spanish moss, giving the town and surrounds a fairy-tale feel. The town is reasonably famous for all the adventure activities it has to offer the traveller. These include everything from river rafting, abseiling, quad biking, caving, paragliding, bungee jumping, kayaking and aquaplaning.
River Rafting
We went river rafting the first day we were in San Gil, despite protests and illness-feigning from LM. This was within reason, though, as the river rafting trip on the Rio Suarez is supposed to be quite tough - level 4 and 5 rapids. We were lucky
(or unlucky, dependent on the person) that the river was very high and the rapids were mostly up to level 4.
The day started at 10:00 with a pick-up by the adventure company. The trip to the river took about 1 hour. Arriving there, we were instructed on how to handle a multitude of possibilities that might befall us whilst on the river. These include getting stuck under the boat after falling off, getting stuck next to a rock in a rapid, etc. At this point, LM was looking positively pale, with a pee.
We practised the commands and technique in a calm part of the river before setting off. The rapids begin immediately and are quite scary at first. After the first two, it became amazing fun. This was definitely the most fun we have had in a long time. Bernhard thinks he might seriously start doing this quite regularly whenever possible (we will see about that!). To get back to the rafting, we went through a lot of rapids, some with 2-3 meter high waves. The boat and everyone inside was completely submerged a few times. In the middle of the trip, we stopped for a
San Gil
Town square small lunch consisting of snacks and fruit.
The rafting after lunch was more serious stuff, but also serious fun. The last rapid was confusing for everyone on the boat, as a lot of people just tried to hold on and did not row at all. We almost capsized after hitting a huge wave and LM, being such a nerd, got a nose-full of water. Again, serious fun, highly recommended. Cusco (some of the best rapids in SA), here we come!
Caving
LM chickened out on this one, as a result of claustrophobia and the possibility of big spiders. Bernhard went with some friends we met at Macondo and decided to do Vaca cave.
This was also lots of fun, but not adrenaline pumping. We entered the cave and immediately found ourselves in cold, waist-high water. We had hard hats with torches, for which I was very thankful, as I regularly struck the ceiling of the cave with the helmet. We walked through some tunnels in the water, then reached a point were we needed to swim below the water for about 5 meters. The ceiling of the cave dipped below the water at this point. This
sounds more difficult than it really is, as the guide ties a rope to the other side of the dip and basically pulls you through the water.
We remained in water for a while, followed many tunnels and large caverns. At one point we had to leopard crawl through a low overhang for about 20 meters. There were beautiful stalagmites and stalactites everywhere. We had fun sliding down a muddy bank inside one cavern, then struggling to get back up the slide. After about an hours walking, we reached an underground river with a small waterfall. We stayed there for a moment, then turned around to exit the cave the same way we entered it. It was very enjoyable. We didn´t see any spiders!
Paragliding
We went paragliding after being lazy for a few days. LM once again feigned nausea and headache, which was futile. Nothing works as well as some emotional blackmail from Bernhard.
We drove into the countryside, up a high hill to where the paragliding is done. It was quite a cold and windy day, so all the heavy people went first. We went last and they had to tie extra weights onto
us, because of the amount of wind that day.
LM went first and actually enjoyed it a lot. She was not scared once her feet left the ground. After a couple of minutes, LM asked the pilot to spin and swing for a while, but got car sick after this. Once again, serious nerd! LM had quite a rough landing, rolling down the hill.
Bernhard went next, had a uneventful flight with many swings and twirls. Good view, good fun, bloody cold.
That wraps up our adventure activities in San Gil.
San Gil and Barichara
When not risking our lives in the water, air or earth, we lay around a lot, reading and even cooking (some good veggie curry). Bernhard finished Shantaram, which he found amazingly enjoyable and recommends it to everyone. We walked around San Gil and went to the town gardens. A group of us went to Barichara, a beautiful small colonial town. This town is one of the most beautiful and clean places we have ever seen. The town has been preserved exactly like it was originally built and is now a national heritage site. From Barichara we took a walk through
Rio Suarez rafting
what is that paddle doing in the air? the countryside to an even smaller town called Guane. We are both in love with the Colombian countryside. We passed many fincas (small farms growing coffee or tobacco) and friendly farmers on horses along the way. Unfortunately, it started pouring just as we arrived in Guane, so we had some beer and hot chocolate, then left with a taxi back to San Gil.
Monday, the 13th of October was a banking holiday in Colombia, and there was a huge festival held in the region. We went to Barichara on Sunday afternoon, watched floats and traditional processions in the village square. It was quite festive.
We made some good friends in San Gil and had a few good evenings, cooking Mexican food and drinking lots of wine. We will miss hanging out with them.
Overall, San Gil was an awesome place - both of us did not really want to leave. We stayed there for 10 days in total, but had to start moving, as our visas for Colombia expire soon and we want to see more places.
Please remember to click on the "next" button to see the rest of the pictures.
¡Hasta luego!
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Ciska
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Junkies
Never knew you were such adrenaline junkies! Looks amazing keep the pics and editorials coming!