COLOMBIA: BUCARAMANGA TO BOGOTA

Posted February 26, 2010 by Rahul Aggarwal

For a change, I slept in until 7:30 and then it was off again to explore some of Bucaramanga’s other sites. Colombia has been setting up Jack Nicholas approved golf courses around the country, and we visited a stunning one in Bucaramanga. High up in the hills, it seemed a world away from the buzz of the city centre. It was no doubt impressive, but what I was waiting for was the paragliding. The vultures started to glide with effortless ease, which was a sign that the wind had started to pick up, as well as an ominous sign too!

We arrived at our take-off point where professional paragliders were taking off and landing. Jenny and I were the guinea pigs, as we were the lightest in the group, so we had to test the wind! Jenny went first and then me… ‘corrrrrriente!’ was the scream in my ear, meaning ‘keep running!’, so I did, and in a somewhat ungainly manner I took to the air. Wow! I felt the immediate lift as my ‘pilot’ settled me in for the ‘flight’. The view of the mountains was superb and it was great to live like a bird albeit for 10-15 minutes. We manoeuvred around some trees and then approached the ‘runway’ for landing, which was perfect.

After the thrill of being up in the air, we went for a sumptuous lunch in the centre of Bucaramanga, where I had the best veggie food of the trip so far. We also visited the hustle and bustle of Bucaramanga’s vegetable and fruit market, and sampled some of the fruits native only to Colombia, including its famous guanabana. A fruit with a green spiky skin, but white on the inside with a rubbery texture. We also enjoyed banter with the local vendors who were intrigued to see foreigners here.

En-route to the airport was the quaint colonial town of Giron which was well worth the stop. Giron was a more vibrant version of Barichara. Kids returning from school were nattering away as they poured into the narrow cobbled streets. There was an impressive church in the plaza and little bars and eateries dotted around the centre. From there, we left for the airport to catch the flight to Bogota. Our Santander adventure had come to an end.

We waved goodbye to our loud American/Colombian friend, Spencer, who was great entertainment on the trip, who will always be remembered as the loud American/Colombian guy with a thirst for milk, or in his words, a ‘bad ass milk drinker’!

This blog is part of an Off-The-Beaten-Track Travel Diary. Click on the links below to navigate through this journey.