COLOMBIA: BARICHARA & SAN GIL

Posted February 25, 2010 by Rahul Aggarwal

I woke up early to find the whitewashed posada beautifully lit up by the bright morning sunshine. Through the courtyard was the outdoor dining area, where I had an excellent breakfast and the best cup of coffee I’d had in a long time. Many say that Colombia exports its best beans, but this place had obviously sneaked a few bags for itself!

Barichara really was something out of a fairytale. Strolling its uniform streets with its whitewashed building, blue and green doors and terracota roofs, it was hard to think of any town I’d visited which oozed so much colonial character. The churches were extremely impressive, not for their size, but their little idiosyncracies. One in particular was tucked away at the bottom of a street and built with a huge slant. I would have liked to have spent more time wandering the streets, but we had to move on to the adventure capital of San Gil.

About 25 minutes drive from Barichara we stopped off at the meeting point for our first sport – torrenting. If rappelling (abseiling down a rock face) wasn’t enough, we were going to do this down a waterfall! We hiked for about 30 minutes through more stunning Colombian scenery to the top of the falls. One by one the others were strapped to various hooklines and then disappeared over the edge. It was my turn, and now the heart started to really race. I’d never done this before and it’s at times like this you question your sanity, but over I went...

I gingerly made my way down as the water started to cascade down battering my helmet. I took a quick peek down and just as quickly looked up again. About halfway down I heard someone bellow ‘hey how’s it going?’ into my ear… it was Adam overtaking me on the left. Eventually I reached terra firma to much relief and excitement and joined the others for a swim in the lagoon below.

Onwards it was to the next activity – rafting in the Rio Fonce. Seven of us jumped into the raft and made our way down the rapids en-route. Dan and myself volunteered to take it for the team by sitting up front. Either side of us was lush green vegetation and various colourful birds flitted across the river gracefully. When the river became a bit more calm, we jumped overboard for a swim. Once back in the raft we took a few deluges of water, but no one was washed over. After some 10km we reached our final destination, a spot close to the Parque Gallineral.

We hadn’t eaten since morning, and it was already past 4pm so we dived into our food. No one uttered a word. Colombian food has taken me by surprise. 99% of the menu is either meat or fish related, but being a vegetarian was not an issue at all. Pastas are widely served and I’ve tasted some excellent salads here. Cesar was particularly worried how I’d cope with the food, but I’m pleased to say it hasn’t been a problem. We took a short walk in the park which was lined with trees proudly displaying their silver ‘old man’s beards’ as more exotic birds danced among their branches. It was time to head back to Bucaramanga, but I could see why San Gil has been tipped as the latest exciting adventure sport hot spot.

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