San Gil - Whitewater Rafting

The strenuous but beautiful journey from Villa de Leyva to San Gil by bus made me feel like I had truly arrived in Colombia, both in terms of the landscape and emotionally. Small roads through the green mountains and the jungle, passing by rivers and waterfalls. San Gil itself is not a particularly beautiful city, but the surroundings offer numerous opportunities for adventure sports: paragliding, whitewater rafting, bungee jumping, waterfall rappelling, canyoning... I started small and signed up for rafting, as a birthday present to myself. Of course, I didn't choose the boring family rafting, but the adventurous option that required some experience due to Class 5 rapids. Which I didn't have.

After the detailed safety briefing - how to behave if I fall out of the boat, etc. - I wasn't so sure anymore if it was the right decision. The explanation from our guide that the rapids at the beginning are only Class 1+ and they already looked quite wild didn't make it any better. After a few dry exercises - all paddle forward, all paddle backward, only paddle forward on the right, all sit in the boat, rescue someone else from the water, all lean to one side of the boat - we were ready to go. In my boat, there were only complete beginners. However, our guide was a member of the Colombian national rafting team. Somehow, we managed to navigate through all the rapids, even the Class 5 ones, without falling into the water. And this was despite the fact that the boat almost capsized a few times. It was a great experience that I definitely want to repeat.

The next day, I took it a bit easier and visited the small but charming colonial town of Barichara. From there, a beautiful hiking trail led to the even smaller village of Guane. Then, I hopped on the back of a jeep and raced back to Barichara 🙈

Now I have arrived in Santa Marta on the coast, after a 12-hour overnight bus ride. Santa Marta itself is not particularly beautiful, but it serves as a starting point for several excursions...