Colombia Wrap Up

So, my vacation to Colombia is over and I feel the need to recap, or sum up, or write something to put it all in perspective.  I am home and already looking forward to my next vacation.

Positives (general)

The country is beautiful.  It has mountains, beaches, old cities, new cities, public artworks, churches, cafes, bars, murals, trees, and anything else you can imagine.  It is beautiful to look at and be enveloped in.

The people are friendly and funny.  My interactions always left a smile on my face.  The service level is not up to Japan standards–but few places are.  Despite warnings, I was never charged “tourist prices” and nobody tried to cheat me.  There were a lot of touts and aggressive sales people in major tourist areas, but there were also helpful people.  The overall English level is not like Costa Rica, but the onus is on the traveler to learn a little Spanish before they go.

The prices are still wonderful and make traveling there very very affordable.  Even taking a cab ride (when you feel the need for safety or don’t want to walk) is incredibly cheap.

There is a lot to see that is worth seeing, from museums, to natural sights.

There are lots of available activities including; rafting, surfing, zip-lining, tubing, kayaking, hiking, paragliding, climbing, off-roading, and others.

My day rafting was quite fun and reminds me yet again that I should do more rafting trips.  I should probably do the Grand Canyon.

The food options exist for vegetarians–though this is not always as clear as it should be.

The second tour, or add-on to my tour (the Lost City Trek) was well organized and well run.  I am not sure it redeemed the first part or not, but it gave me something to think about.

Positives (personal)

The activities that I chose rather than the group ones were awesome.  This included meeting my students, taking a city bike tour, visiting bookshops, paragliding, and museums.  I should always trust my instincts.

Thanks to illness and the physical nature of the trip, I lost ten pounds.  This might be an “every cloud has a silver lining” kind of thing, but I will take it.

It was great to choose a place that was outside my comfort zone.  It was also good, despite my complaining and worry, to take on a tough physical challenge.  I am not sure I will ever do an intense hike again, but never say never.

Negatives (general)

The first part of the tour was billed as multi-sport, but really only included one unimpressive hike and one day rafting.  I don’t really consider this multi-sport and felt kind of let down.  This tour is obviously new and really needs some refinement.  The country is vast and there are lots of things that could be done instead of the things that were chosen for us.

The tour was also badly run because there were no contingencies in place and our guide was not given any power to affect the decisions.

The guide gave many city tours that focused on places to eat and drink.  I know that the guide eats for free if they bring a group of people.  That’s an acceptable way to do business, but it starts to feel old after some time.

Managing a group takes skill and organization.  This trip lacked that kind of leadership and as a result really amped up the pressure and bad feelings.  Half way through the trip, I was convinced that I would never take another G Adventure.  I envisioned getting home and throwing out the brochure that I just got.

Negatives (personal)

I am pretty sure it is time to stop traveling the world with a group of strangers and travel with the people who are important to me.

After conflicts with my roommate (some of which were caused by the odd arrangement of the room (in one hotel the bathroom lit up the entire room, making it hard for him to ignore my bathroom needs during my illness), I think having my own room is a must.

Other Things

They seem to be building more camps, or enlarging the camps on the Lost City trek.  This might mean better comfort, or it might mean more people on the trek.  The greater commercialization of the route is also bound to happen.  If this is something you want to see, do it before it becomes crowded like Machu Picchu.

Colombia is good value for money now.  It isn’t going to shoot up overnight, but they are doing a lot to increase tourism.  This is a destination you should plan on visiting in the near future.

The food was generally good.  I would say they prepare chicken better than beef, but this is only a generalization and you should make up your own mind.

Take the Bogota Bike Tour.  It was awesome.  It was more than a bike tour.  It was food, coffee, culture, history and politics.  I wish I could do it again.

Visit the Botero museum.  If you don’t know what I am talking about, do some Googling and you might discover something quirky and interesting.

The craft or artisanal beer market has broken wide open there and there are some good brews on offer.

Mules, Motorbikes and Malodorous People

So, there I was the morning of the trek. I had my daypack packed and my other stuff stored at the hotel.  I was excited but second-guessing everything.  I second guessed what I packed, and I second guessed my choices for coming on the trip.  Everyone else showed no signs of these things.  They were excited.

I had been told that we were walking 3 days to the Lost City, and on the fourth day in the morning we would see the city, and then head back for two presumably longer days of hiking.  I had been told that we would be tired and we would stink, but that’s about it.

We split up into two groups and got on board two rugged trucks. We did an hour on the highway before switching to a less hospitable road until we got to a checkpoint.  At the checkpoint we went to the washrooms and got our official bracelets to say we were on the tour.  Apparently, you can’t do this yourself and you need to book with a tour agency.

We stopped for lunch and to park the trucks. From this point onward, we would be on foot.  There was excitement in the air.

We set out after lunch. I had my walking poles, two water bottles strapped to the sides of my pack, and at least some determination.  The trek started out okay, except that the people coming back from the trek looked absolutely worn out and you could hear them grumbling about drinking a very cold beer.  They also reeked something terrible, but it was their hangdog faces and near physical exhaustion that struck me.

So, we walked onward and upward. The trail alternated between stones, packed dirt, and loose dirt.  None of it was easy.  In the first section we had to contend with motorbikes and mules ferrying goods and people up and down the trail.  That was quite surreal.

Most of the group seemed fitter and more determined than I.  The guide, who hung at the back with me, reminded me that this was not a race.  I tried to take solace in those words, but struggling to keep up, whether on foot or by bicycle, is never a great feeling.  It isn’t about winning or losing, but nobody feels great being the slowest.

As it turns out, some people love to race and see hiking or trekking as a competition. I didn’t see that the first day, but it became clear by the end.  There were three groups on the trip:  The competitive ones, the social and talkative ones, and the quiet one.  Yeah, I know, you probably can’t see me as a quiet one, but climbing that mountain, that is who I was.

The highlights of that first four-hour hike were of course the scenery, and the juice we had at one of the stops. It was freshly squeezed and for 2 dollars was one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted.  It was so good that I looked forward to stopping there on the return part of the trek five days later.

It was hard work and hot. I was slathered in sunblock and mosquito repellent.  If it had not been overcast, I don’t know how much worse I would have felt.  By the time we reached the camp, I was a sweat drenched mess and already tired.

Day two was much the same as day one.

The camps that we stayed at were basically solid roof structures with no walls. Their functions were to house the bunkbeds we would sleep on under mosquito nets.  They had washrooms with flush toilets, and showers–well, cold water pipes that ran upwards so you could get water splashed on you.  There were no showerheads.  I am not sure why.

The camps sold cold drinks at slightly inflated prices.  When I say that, it should be noted that a beer in the jungles of Colombia costs less than a beer at any bar in Canada.  It was never more than three dollars and since it had to trucked there by mule, I really don’t begrudge them the price.  In fact, it seemed quite reasonable.  I saved my drinking for the completion, but I did buy a few sports drinks after we finished the day’s hike.

The best thing about the tour was that we had our own chef who prepared breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This chef would prepare our breakfast, and then hike faster than us to the next camp to start preparing our lunch.  Then at night, he would prepare our dinner.  His name was Diego and he really treated us well.

On the morning of our third day, the guide told us that he was going to adjust our plan. Instead of waiting until the fourth day in the morning to climb the precarious stone steps to the lost city, we would arrive at the third camp, eat lunch, leave anything we didn’t want to carry and head for the lost city that night.  The idea was that we would make our fourth day a little easier, and that we would also arrive at the lost city without the crowd.

One of the group worried that this wouldn’t give us enough time at the city, but many of the others thought it was a good idea. This one group member has a “strong personality”, but we finally managed to shut her down.

The climb was rather hard. The stone steps were steep and irregular.  At least a few times, I had to grab some rocks with my bare hands to steady myself or pull myself up.

Besides our CEO, we had to guides from the Wiwa tribe–descendents of the Tayrona. They climbed up this trail with incredible ease.  I struggled.

On that third night, we arrived at the lost city. I heard other members of the group pump themselves up by saying that they “earned it” and it was so much more rewarding than taking the train to Machu Pichu.  I don’t know about all of that, but I was quite pleased with myself that I made it.  I never thought of quitting and turning back.  I never thought of paying for a ride on a mule back to the first camp.  I had wished it wasn’t hard, but other than needed to rest and do a better job of regulating my breathing, I didn’t give up.

The lost city is definitely a beautiful place. I hope my pictures can give you an idea of what I experienced.  How it was built in such a remote place is quite incredible.

The walk back was quite arduous. We had to walk the same distance we did in three days, in two.  My walking poles bent and no longer telescoped.  They were fundamentally useless and I abandoned then at an army camp.  I wanted to bring them back for a refund, but there was no way they would ever fit into my luggage again.  Making the descent without poles was quite hard and I asked the Wiwa guide to machete me off a walking stick, which he did.  It made the last day all the better.

The last day was hot and we had to walk from camp two to the start in one go. Of course we stopped for a snack, but lunch was waiting at start finish line.  Arriving there felt like finishing a marathon.  I was sore.  One foot had blisters and sore nails.  My knees were good, but my muscles were tightening up.  And yes, that victory beer tasted pretty good.

On the whole, the trek part of the trip was much better organized and executed than the first part.  I will document this and give a summation in my next blog.