0121 Aguachica to San Gil

Sun 19^th Oct

Woke early in our little hotel yard, and packed up. As I went round to the toilet, I found a little humming bird lying on the path below a window, and he was still moving a little, so I presumed he had crashed into the window while chasing his reflection.  Anyway, Janet picked him up, and he started fluttering a little, although his eyes still seemed to be closed.  After a few moments he manage to flutter off – Straight into the window again !   So Janet picked him up again, and took him round to the side away from the windows, and after 5 minutes or so he fluttered up into a mango tree that was overhead, and then shortly after took off out of sight.  Lovely moment to actually hold a wild humming bird with his long beak.   

There were some amazingly colourful little birds around us despite being in a truck yard in a town.  Bright red ones, yellow ones, and several others I couldn’t get photos of.  There were also macaws making a lot of noise in the trees across the yard, but we never spotted them.  We left and got back on the main road, but would recommend this little spot to anyone. There is very little decent accommodation in this particular area, so I noted the coordinates etc. N 08.19.175  W 073.35.703  As you come down the steep hill into  Aguachica, it is on your left, and I include a photo of the sign saying “Hotel” that is right beside the road.  It is a brand new hotel, lovely owner lives in a house next door,

and they will even give you delicious local Columbian coffee in the morning for free. Best $5 value anywhere, and you can get a nice clean room for about $15 if you prefer.  Hotel El Descanso, the address is listed on their card as CRA.40#5-130, Aguachica.  Cel 311 389 2994, or 317 716 0509.  And the lovely lady there is Seno Faidid, and it is open 24 hours, with someone on the desk all night. 

Back on the busy road south, we are back into interesting animal signs almost straight away.  First a sloth (I presume), followed by a couple of “bridges” over the road to enable such animals (and maybe also the monkeys from yesterday ?) to cross the road safely, above the traffic.  Then shortly afterwards, one or the big guinea pigs that are becoming more common as we head south.  And then some funny one – I think it was meant to be an armadillo !  As usual though, when they put road signs up, you never see any of the animals they warn you about !!

This is more cattle country down here – long straight roads, big open fields beside the road – Completely different yet again.  It really is interesting on a long trip like this, watching the scenery and vegetation continually changing during the day as you travel.  And it is why I try to take quite a few photos along the way – Not only so you can see what we can see, but also because if I didn’t take frequent photos, the days would all merge into a blur, and, IMHO, part of the trip would be wasted if I then spent the rest of my life wondering where I had seen this, or where that had happened.  This is truly a once in a life time trip that very few people are willing or able to make, and I want to make sure I remember it.  That’s my excuse anyway !!

As we moved into the mountains, we continue to see fun overtaking manoeuvres, and as we start to climb, it begins to rain, and the clouds come down.  We pass incredible sights of whole villages tucked in valleys below us, and always the dominant tower or spire of the local church clearly visible.  It gets busier as we head towards Bucaramanga and Floridablanca, and it takes us a while to get through and around these fairly big towns. Quite a lot of favelas or shanty towns along the road, but always the people smile and wave, especially when we are stuck in traffic.  And the lichen that grows on the electricity and phone wires is amazing to see – in some places it is really thick.

Once through the towns we are bombing along in the hills when we suddenly see one of the BBQ type big open restaurants with the meat roasting over a fire, and we decide to stop for lunch.  These are increasingly common as we head south, and we hadn’t tried one yet.  Not many people there when we stopped, but by the time we left it was really busy, especially since it was

Sunday so lots of families out for the day.  Basically they cook the meat over big open fires and when you order it, they slice it and bring it to you, along with sauces and taro, and soups and all sorts of extras.  A bit like a Brazilian Churrosco, except they carve the meat first, not directly onto your plate.  No good for a vegetarian either !  We weren’t quite sure what we were ordering as they had no English and lots of the items on the menu were new to us, so we waited expectantly to see what arrived !  Turned out to be delicious soup first (usually the case) and then a plate of boiled potatoes and taro with sauces for dipping, and then a big plate of roast meat and salad etc.  We think we got veal, but he also brought us some other meat on a side plate, and both were really good.  Next time I think we will just go up to the bbq pit and point at what we want !! As we were leaving, the owner Diego Columbia came up to us and introduced himself, and he told us all about the restaurant, and that he was from Medellin and had been here for a year and loved it.   Very pleasant lunch, and once again, not expensive for what you get.  About $15 for the two of us, with drinks.

From there it was up, up, up into the mountains – Over 3000 metres eventually, along some of the most amazing roads.  I include photos off my Garmin to show you how windy the roads were. Through gorges, over rushing rivers, and ever upwards, now in sunshine and, when in the sun, very hot.  The valley / gorge we are now climbing  we later find out is supposedly the second largest in the world, presumably

after the Grand Canyon, and just takes your breath away everywhere you look.  Suddenly, at the top of this mountain, we find this massive facility – It’s the Parque Nacional del Chicamocha – And the immensity of it takes our breath away even further – As if we had any breath left at 3000 metres !!  There is a massive cable car right across the valley, an enormous water park and slides set into the side of the mountain, several zip

lines over increasingly steep gorges, and restaurants and ice cream stands everywhere – and over it all, and enormous and amazing statue.  We parked and climbed up wards, stopping frequently to catch our breath, until we reached this amazing statue, or perhaps more correctly, sculpture.  I will write about it from the brochure. “1781 was a decisive year in the history of Columbia and Latin America. The “Monument to

the Santandereanidad”, also called “The Tobacco Leaf” is a tribute to this era. The leaf that holds this monument points toward the town of Socorro, where the Revolution against the Spaniards began, and brings together the sculptures of 35 characters representative of the rebellion.  In the centre of the monument you find the sculpture of the heroic Manuela Beltran, a brave citizen who headed the movement by opposing more taxes. On one end there is Father Ciriaco de Archila, a Dominican monk who supported the Revolutionists by delivering their requests to their opponents. On the other end you find Archbishop Antonio Caballero y Gongora, who is holding a guillotine on one hand and a “mask of lies” on the other, to portray his betrayal to the rebels who he had previously promised to support.   Luis Guillermo Vallejo is the well known artist who created this incredible work of art. “

We climbed to the top of the mountain for 360 degree views (although we took a ride in a little jeep for the last section !)   The pictures tell of the view far better than any of my words ever can.  Just a stunning afternoon, and once again, all the more amazing because before we actually arrived there, we didn’t have a clue about the gorge or the mountain.  Or the amazing road !  Where was my Lotus when I needed her ?!

We then continued on through the mountains on the amazing road, and got into San Gil just before sunset.  We went to the first camping place on our map, which was OK but very full of a lot of locals enjoying the swimming pool and facilities on a Sunday afternoon, so we decided to drive on a bit to a second location that, according to the internet, was superb. After getting lost in San Gil, then 40 minutes driving, we finally found the entrance gate, signs up and all, but

firmly padlocked.  We walked up the path but soon realised no vehicle had been this way in some time.  Bugger.  By now it was dark, and I do NOT enjoy driving at night here, but we had to get back through San Gil to the other site.  Long story short, but we did make it OK despite me spitting the dummy a couple of times, and by the time we arrived the crowds were starting to thin out.  We set up camp and while getting supper were soon surrounded by hordes of kids all asking questions about our car in rapid fire Spanish !  So we spoke English back to them, gave them a geography lesson using the maps and town names on the car, gave them all boiled sweets, and then took photos of them before they went home.  Half an hour of that and I needed a beer !!

Eventually everyone left and we had the park to ourselves. Only trouble was there didn’t seem to be any water up in the toilets / showers !   It poured with rain most of the night, but we were fine and warm, and slept like logs.  

Pics are here :- https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/0118AguachicaToSanGil?authkey=Gv1sRgCNbd7K6RnsfDew#