San Gil, Santander

Leaving for our apartment early Sunday morning for the Terminal de Transportes Bogotá, we bought our bus tickets (40,000 pesos, or about US$20) and climbed aboard a bus for the north-central department of Santander.  The 7 hour ride took us to the town of San Gil.  About 300 kilometers from Bogota, this area was inhabited by the Guane Indians in pre-Colombian times and now has a population of about 44,000 people.  Tobacco, coffee and sugarcane are commonly grown here and we saw loads of tobacco leaves drying in open-sided barns across the mountainous countryside.

This region is known for it's desportes extremos;  rafting, caving, repelling, paragliding, hiking and mountain biking.  The Rio Fonce cuts the town into northern and southern halves and we stayed in a hotel about 2km outside of town on the river.  We eased into our adventuring by going to the Juan Juri Waterfall.  For a small entrance feel, we entered the park and walked 20 minutes to the bottom of the waterfall's 180 meter drop.

 We crossed the river with the help of a rope that spanned a shallow part of the swift flowing river.  Eric and Dempsey braved the swimming hole at the bottom of the falls.

The next morning we were off on a rafting trip on the Rio Fonce.

NO HANDS!! WEEEEEEE!