Fighting Rapids

Our 10am bus from Merida, Venezuela was followed by a long taxi ride across the border, a few more busses to get to San Gil, Colombia, and then one last taxi to our hotel. We arrived at 4am.... 18 awesome hours of travel!

WELCOME TO COLOMBIA!

We met Garrett in the bus from Merida, and continued with him to San Gil, Colombia.

Along the way we met Garrett from Texas. He's halfway through a 10-month solo trek through the continent. The three of us shared a hotel room, and spent the next day walking around the little mountain town.

 

The all too occasional ice cream... so hard to pass up in these hot climates!

The town was very reminiscent of Merida, nestled in the heights of the Andes, and similarly, the main things to do were all adrenaline sports. We chose river rafting. It came down to a choice between the rambling Rio Fonce and more intense Rio Suarez. We chose the Class 4 and 5 rapids of Rio Suarez.

On our way to the river.

After an hour drive out of the city, we  finally came to the place where we'd be launching the boat. We set up, got a few basic instructions and jumped in. Garrett had never rafted before, though he assured them he had. Our guides didn't speak English, so our lives would be dependent on our quick deciphering of "Izquierda Adelante." We had 2 kayaks following us for safety. Our guides assured us we would be tossed from the boat, but that the kayaks were good at scooping us back up out of the water. He proceeded to show us how we'd hold on to the short stubby kayak.

The first bit was awesome. Abra fell out of the boat on a puny little rapid, after the guide kept yelling "Todos a la derecha!" (all to the right!) on deaf ears. Guess his commands were pretty valid...

After that we stopped on the shore for a lunch of fresh fruit: guayaba and cheese, cantaloupe, apple, and granadilla, which is DELICIOUS by the way!

Guayaba and cheese on the far right. The granadilla are the round things in the center, between the cantaloupes.

Then we were back on the boat for the second half of our trip. It was more of the same, but this time it was Garrett who couldn't hold on. In the front of the boat, he was taking most of the beating, and had the weakest hold to the boat. He went on a class 5 rapid.

The last bunch of rapids were where most people usually fall out. It was a long stretch of continual battering. We got stuck on a rock, and almost tipped over. Garrett was holding on for his life, with just one foot holding him in the boat. The rock we hit was directly behind him, so if he had fallen, it wouldn't have been a soft landing! Luckily, he managed to pull himself back in. The video doesn't quite do it justice. It was way more intense than it looks!

After a short float down the river, our rafting day was over. Fun was had all around.

That night we caught a 10-hour overnight bus to Santa Marta after a final dinner with Garrett. We arrived, exhausted, in the early morning hours, and paid little attention to the hotel we chose.

Our hotel room was hardly larger than the double bed that filled it, and to close the door to the bathroom you had to step inside the shower. Even then, the sink got in the way of opening the door more than half way. The hot water we were promised at check-in turned out to be nonexistant, with only a trickle coming out of the faucet. Sorry... we didn't get any pictures. Claustrophobia was kicking in, and we just wanted to get out!

Determined not to waste a day, we walked around the uninspiring town (it wasn't bad, just wasn't much), and also visited the neighboring hippie town of Taganga.

We also checked a few tour agencies about a 5-day trek to the Cuidad Perdida. After much deliberation, we decided to go for it. We'd be leaving the next day for 5 days/4 nights of jungle hiking and hammock sleeping to reach the ancient (800AD) city of the Tairona indians.

We packed our bags (well, we packed my bag with our stuff), and laid waiting in anticipation.

Posted by Hans