San Gil

San Gil is the self proclaimed adventure sports capital of Colombia, adventure sports that are offered are white water rafting, caving, paragliding and rappelling down waterfalls.

Getting There:San Gil is in Santander and about 7 hours from Bogota. Buses go from Bogota Terminal and various companies operate services, try Copetran. Tickets cost about 35,000COP.

Where to Stay:Most foriegn travellers stay at Macondo Guest House which is run by an Australian. The staff at the hostel are very helpful and can give suggestions and help organise trips.

Things to Do: You can visit the local villages such as Barichara and Guane. Go white water rafting. Visit Juan Curi the 180m high waterfall near the town and go swimming. Visit the impressive Parque Gallineral.

Map: The Google Earth satallite imagery isn't very good in this area, so all this file provides is the location of the villages mentioned. The file can be downloaded here. You can also see this map in Google Maps.

Map of San Gil courtesy of Hostel Macondo.

Poor But Happy Brief Travel Guide

There are a few tips here of things to do.

Macondo Hostel Website

Information on the hostel and travel guide to San Gil.

San Gil Guide at Hostel Trail

Tips of things to do and places to stay.

Getting There: You can either get a bus or cycle, we hired our bikes from a shop on Calle 7.

Once there you walk up through a meadow to the waterfall. You can swim in the plunge pools below the waterfall (its cold and you can´t see the bottom).

The Waterfall.

Getting to Barichara:You can catch a bus from the local terminal in San Gil (Calle 15).

Barichara is a very quaint colonial town with white washed buildings. Its worth visiting each of the churches and the park near Santa Bàrbara Church which has fantastic views over the surrounding mountains.

Getting to Guane:There is an old conquistador road that links Barichara and Guane, it is down hill from Barichara to Guane. It takes about 1.5 hours to walk and is very beautiful with great views. The path is signposted from Barichara near the very top of Calle 4. Follow the path down the side of the cliff and cross the main road. Where the path forks take the not too obvious right hand path. From then on the path is obvious.

Guane is a tiny village and not much happens here. It is pleasent to sit out in the main plaza though while waiting for the bus to take you home.

Getting back to San Gil:There is a bus from Guane to San Gil at 3pm and 6pm.

Typical Barichara Street

Views over surrounding mountains. The path to Guane follows this valley to the right.

Arriving in Guane.

Getting There:The entrance to the park is near the River Fonce around the bottom of Calle 7.

Possibly the premier attraction of San Gil. The park is full of trees drapped in silver bromeliads which form transparent curtains around all of the trees. The park is also bordered by the River Fonce and other smaller streams.

Tree covered in Bromeliads.

River running through the park.