We left the luxury of our hotel and began the journey South through Colombia. We had spent all of our time so far on the Caribbean coast and whilst this had been lovely-it felt time to move on. We drove about 260 miles and stopped for the night at a truckers` rest stop in Aguachica, having our tea and breakfast with the truckers. The next day we drove to San Gil where we camped for 2 nights. On day 1, about a dozen workmen who were working on the road outside the campsite came huddling around Ruby whilst I gave a guided tour in my limited Spanish. They were so interested and came back for the same tour the following day! San Gil is in the Santander region of Colombia and is known for its adventure sports. We had had enough adventure for the moment on the trek, so we opted for more sedate activities such as short walks to Park El Gallineral and to the Juan Curi waterfalls, which are 180 metres high.
The female owner of the campsite was so friendly and talked for ages with us on both nights. She also did our laundry on the first day, with the promise of returning it later that afternoon. We were so tired that we went to bed for an hour or so mid afternoon and were just dropping off to sleep when we heard her outside the rooftent whispering " Senor Gavin...Senor Gavin". Gav poked his head out of the tent and asked her to pop the clean laundry on the chair outside. He then decided to quickly pop down and put it in the landy, as it had the tendency to rain a bit late afternoon. He neglected, however, to put his trousers on. Picture the scene. Gav in his pants, with his farmer`s tan and little belly. You can guess what happened next. The lovely lady returned with some more laundry whilst Gavin was at the bottom of the ladder! I started to giggle and so did she whilst Gav just took it all in his stride. I am sure she took a shine to him however, as she kept making coffee for Senor Gavin for the rest of our stay!
We left San Gill for the short drive into the hills to Barichara, one of the best preserved and most beautiful colonial villages in Colombia, with white buildings, red roofs and cobble stone streets. Many Spanish speaking films have been shot here and we could see why, it was so picturesque. We wild camped for 2 nights on some red clay cliffs overlooking the valley-it was stunning. On both nights, we had torrential rain, thunder and lightning storms, resulting in us sitting inside Ruby, quaking with each clap of thunder and bolt of lightning! We got covered in the wet red clay when we got out to put up the roof tent and we are still finding it in our stuff! It was completely worth it, however, when the sun rose each morning and we were treated to the most amazing views across the valley. We spent some time soaking up the atmosphere in Barichara`s main square, and we walked the historic el Camino Real to the tiny hamlet of Guane. This ancient stone-paved road was built by the indigenous Guane people and was rebuilt continuously over the centuries. It was declared a national monument in 1988. From Barichara, the 9km hike took about two hours to complete. We began the hike by climbing down the rim of a canyon and then traversing a valley filled with cacti and trees. Guane was a tiny little hamlet, with a small square and very pretty buildings. Here we met Pat and Rick from Florida and we chatted to them whilst we waited for the bus back to Barichara. They were so interesting and had travelled a lot. This trip they were travelling around Latin America and they had many more ideas and plans. We ended up being treated to lunch by them in Barichara and spent a lovely few hours chatting away about travels etc.
We wanted to leave Barichara early on the Sunday morning as we had a long drive ahead to Sogamosa, including a drive across the mountains. We were thwarted however, as the road out was closed for a few hours because of a local cycle race (cycling is huge in Colombia). We relaxed for a couple of hours back on our cliff. A lovely young Colombian couple came tearing up on a quad bike and stopped to take a look at the views and Ruby! We were delighted when the young man called Ruby a " bad ass car". I am sure that Ruby shook her little landy tush with pride at hearing this! By the time the roads had opened, it was not worth us attempting the drive we had planned so we camped up again at another spot in San Gill.
The female owner of the campsite was so friendly and talked for ages with us on both nights. She also did our laundry on the first day, with the promise of returning it later that afternoon. We were so tired that we went to bed for an hour or so mid afternoon and were just dropping off to sleep when we heard her outside the rooftent whispering " Senor Gavin...Senor Gavin". Gav poked his head out of the tent and asked her to pop the clean laundry on the chair outside. He then decided to quickly pop down and put it in the landy, as it had the tendency to rain a bit late afternoon. He neglected, however, to put his trousers on. Picture the scene. Gav in his pants, with his farmer`s tan and little belly. You can guess what happened next. The lovely lady returned with some more laundry whilst Gavin was at the bottom of the ladder! I started to giggle and so did she whilst Gav just took it all in his stride. I am sure she took a shine to him however, as she kept making coffee for Senor Gavin for the rest of our stay!
We left San Gill for the short drive into the hills to Barichara, one of the best preserved and most beautiful colonial villages in Colombia, with white buildings, red roofs and cobble stone streets. Many Spanish speaking films have been shot here and we could see why, it was so picturesque. We wild camped for 2 nights on some red clay cliffs overlooking the valley-it was stunning. On both nights, we had torrential rain, thunder and lightning storms, resulting in us sitting inside Ruby, quaking with each clap of thunder and bolt of lightning! We got covered in the wet red clay when we got out to put up the roof tent and we are still finding it in our stuff! It was completely worth it, however, when the sun rose each morning and we were treated to the most amazing views across the valley. We spent some time soaking up the atmosphere in Barichara`s main square, and we walked the historic el Camino Real to the tiny hamlet of Guane. This ancient stone-paved road was built by the indigenous Guane people and was rebuilt continuously over the centuries. It was declared a national monument in 1988. From Barichara, the 9km hike took about two hours to complete. We began the hike by climbing down the rim of a canyon and then traversing a valley filled with cacti and trees. Guane was a tiny little hamlet, with a small square and very pretty buildings. Here we met Pat and Rick from Florida and we chatted to them whilst we waited for the bus back to Barichara. They were so interesting and had travelled a lot. This trip they were travelling around Latin America and they had many more ideas and plans. We ended up being treated to lunch by them in Barichara and spent a lovely few hours chatting away about travels etc.
We wanted to leave Barichara early on the Sunday morning as we had a long drive ahead to Sogamosa, including a drive across the mountains. We were thwarted however, as the road out was closed for a few hours because of a local cycle race (cycling is huge in Colombia). We relaxed for a couple of hours back on our cliff. A lovely young Colombian couple came tearing up on a quad bike and stopped to take a look at the views and Ruby! We were delighted when the young man called Ruby a " bad ass car". I am sure that Ruby shook her little landy tush with pride at hearing this! By the time the roads had opened, it was not worth us attempting the drive we had planned so we camped up again at another spot in San Gill.
The next morning, we set off early for the drive to Sogamoso. This was the best drive of the trip so far. The road ran out after about 50 miles, and we then used tracks through the mountains and villages. The views were brilliant and the track was exciting, with sheer drops when we climbed. As we climbed high and dropped over a mountain, the terrain changed dramatically as we drove though paramo. The area’s páramo ecosystem is a rare glacier-formed tropical ecosystem exists between 3000m and 5000m in the mountains. It is characterized by lakes and plains rich with peat bogs and wet grasslands mashed with shrub lands and forest patches and it only exists in a few countries in the world, with a large portion in Colombia. We eventually reached Sogamosa after about 6 hours (120 miles) and headed to Finca San Pedro where we camped in their beautiful gardens. This place was stunning and an oasis of calm when outside, the hustle and bustle of the town continued.
We really loved camping here and stayed for 4 nights. We met some lovely people and felt really relaxed. This was my birthday and our first wedding anniversary spot and we had a great day. The owner of the finca bought a cake with a candle to breakfast and I got a rendition of happy birthday in English and Danish! I loved it! This was after a great skype call with my Mum and Dad, who had a couple of great congratulations signs! I gave them a skype tour of the finca gardens, animals included!
We had a lovely drive to Mongui and Nobsa-spending some time in each. Both were picture postcard villages with a super village square. Ruby continued to get photographed by various local people on their mobile phones. One even broke out of a funeral procession in Nobsa to get a few pics!
We went out for our tea and the restaurant had decorated our table with "Feliz Cumpleanos" balloons, a rose, and table decorations. We were really touched and a little giddy! The food was great and very cheap.
After saying goodbye to the lovely people at the Finca, we headed towards Lago de Tota, Colombia's highest and largest natural lake, at an altitude of 3,015 m. We drove around it and planned to camp on the shores of Play Blanca, and an out-of-the-blue white-sand Andean beach on the shore of the lake! However, it rained all afternoon so we returned to our lovely Finca San Pedro! Poor guys, they thought they had seen the last of us!
We really loved camping here and stayed for 4 nights. We met some lovely people and felt really relaxed. This was my birthday and our first wedding anniversary spot and we had a great day. The owner of the finca bought a cake with a candle to breakfast and I got a rendition of happy birthday in English and Danish! I loved it! This was after a great skype call with my Mum and Dad, who had a couple of great congratulations signs! I gave them a skype tour of the finca gardens, animals included!
We had a lovely drive to Mongui and Nobsa-spending some time in each. Both were picture postcard villages with a super village square. Ruby continued to get photographed by various local people on their mobile phones. One even broke out of a funeral procession in Nobsa to get a few pics!
We went out for our tea and the restaurant had decorated our table with "Feliz Cumpleanos" balloons, a rose, and table decorations. We were really touched and a little giddy! The food was great and very cheap.
After saying goodbye to the lovely people at the Finca, we headed towards Lago de Tota, Colombia's highest and largest natural lake, at an altitude of 3,015 m. We drove around it and planned to camp on the shores of Play Blanca, and an out-of-the-blue white-sand Andean beach on the shore of the lake! However, it rained all afternoon so we returned to our lovely Finca San Pedro! Poor guys, they thought they had seen the last of us!
the We then set off for Villa De Leyva where we were attending the national meeting of the Legion Land rover club of Colombia. We reached Villa and had a wander around it`s lovely plaza and cobbled streets. We started to see lots of other land rovers so we asked one of them where the event was located and followed them there. The event was based on a big camp site and so we parked up and met the organisers who were delighted and astonished that we were attending their show from England! We had such a great weekend and want to pay tribute to the lovely people of Colombia and the land rover club who gave us such a tremendous welcome! They were so interested in Ruby, in us and in our trip and we did not stop talking all weekend! On the Friday afternoon, we had crowds of people looking at Ruby. One older man was enthralled! He looked everywhere -in the tent, inside the landrover and then, when we were talking to someone else and turned around, all we could see were his feet sticking out from underneath Ruby as he checked everything out! As we put up our roof tent and got our chairs and tables out-a group of people would watch in awe and take photos of us doing each different thing!
We met so many lovely and interesting people-one man had driven the Dakar rally 5 times and one man worked for national geographic and was about to drive a landrover from Mexico to Antartica.
The following day-all of the 200 or so land rovers in attendance drove in convoy through the streets of Villa De Leyva and then we all went off road and ended up on the top of a big hill! It was quite a spectacle and a lot of them had flags attached. It was a little chaotic at times-and people kept getting lost, there were a few breakdowns and a few doors and windows fell out, but it was so much fun!
There was a huge party in the evening, with a local band. This show was one of our highlights so far in Colombia, in particular because of the people and we feel really lucky to have been part of it.
Next-we head to the Capital City-Bogota!
We met so many lovely and interesting people-one man had driven the Dakar rally 5 times and one man worked for national geographic and was about to drive a landrover from Mexico to Antartica.
The following day-all of the 200 or so land rovers in attendance drove in convoy through the streets of Villa De Leyva and then we all went off road and ended up on the top of a big hill! It was quite a spectacle and a lot of them had flags attached. It was a little chaotic at times-and people kept getting lost, there were a few breakdowns and a few doors and windows fell out, but it was so much fun!
There was a huge party in the evening, with a local band. This show was one of our highlights so far in Colombia, in particular because of the people and we feel really lucky to have been part of it.
Next-we head to the Capital City-Bogota!
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