SAN GIL – THE ADVENTURE SPORTS CAPITAL

We decided to spend the last 3 days of our stay in Colombia in San Gil, which is a useful stopover a bit more than halfway between Bogota and Santa Marta. It also happens to be the unofficial adventure sports capital of the country, so it was just the place to get our adrenalin pumping before the extra-long flights back to Europe, and then eventually to Asia.

We were a bit disappointed with the night bus that we took from Santa Marta (with Expreso Brazilia); not only was it more expensive than the ones we had taken in Peru or Bolivia, but it was also quite a bit less comfortable and very chilly too, due to the AC that only had one temperature level at a seemingly freezing point! So, arriving in San Gil after a bit restless night, we explored the city a bit, particularly the Gallinera Park on an island in the middle of the city with 300-year-old trees, but mostly just relaxed. We decided to go rafting on the Suarez river the next day, with its level 4/5 rapids (although our hostel assured Renata that because of the dry season it wouldn’t be as difficult). Luckily it was very exciting as we went down rapid after rapid in a rubber boat with our guide (who was doing the steering and most of the work) and us 5 passengers (who were helping with the rowing as per his instructions).

Finally, on the last day, we went on a 2-hour hike between Barrichara and Guane. Barrichara was awarded the title of the most picturesque village in Colombia with a good reason, and is often the setting for local movies. The village managed to preserve its traditional look with colourful facades over the last centuries. As it is only 45 minutes from San Gil by public bus that runs every half an hour, it's an easily accessibly destination for a day. The walk to Guane was also very picturesque, but at the same time it was incredibly hot and we could really see the impact of the particularly severe dry season with all the brown trees everywhere – or maybe it just felt that way because we didn’t bring enough water..?!

After all these adventures, we rewarded ourselves with a well-deserved blue-cheese burger (or in Renata’s case a smoked salmon, lettuce and lemon salad) at Gringo Mike’s Restaurant; which was so good, that we ended up going back there both remaining nights (although we did agree that we found Brunch in Salento which has a similar character, to be better and cheaper)! This is the ultimate place where gringos end up meeting and trying the enourmous dishes! They even have a hamburger that weights one kilo, it has 3 burger patties in it, double bacon, double cheese etc. - luckily we didn`t witness anyone trying to finish one of those... The place has a nice atmosphere especially at dinner time when the inner yard is decorated with many candles.

Thus fortified for our upcoming long trips, we stood ready to embark on the very last leg of our journey in South America, a 7-hour bus trip back to Bogota, and then the flight back to Europe (via Amsterdam and Milan), where we would meet our families for 4 days in Istanbul before continuing on to Asia! This time the overall travel time from San Gil to Milan reached 30 hours - this part of the trip is not recommended for the faint-hearted!