Reluctantly, Kim and I farewelled Bogota, and took an 8 hour bus ride to San Gil, central Colombia. Far from the old rattlers we had imagined, the tourist buses are quite luxurious and decked out with recliners, toilets and dvd players.
Tucked into the side of a valley, surrounded by rivers and waterfalls San Gil is recound for its adventure activities. Still largely off the tourist track, it attracts many regional visitors which manage to keep prices relativey cheap for the likes of us. I say ‘the likes of us’ with tongue in cheek as anyone who knows Kim and I knows we aren’t exactly thrill seeking, fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants adrenaline junkies… the size of our first aid kit is testament to that! But in line with our ‘when in Rome’ philosophy for the trip, we decided to get envolved with a few activities.
Tucked into the side of a valley, surrounded by rivers and waterfalls San Gil is recound for its adventure activities. Still largely off the tourist track, it attracts many regional visitors which manage to keep prices relativey cheap for the likes of us. I say ‘the likes of us’ with tongue in cheek as anyone who knows Kim and I knows we aren’t exactly thrill seeking, fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants adrenaline junkies… the size of our first aid kit is testament to that! But in line with our ‘when in Rome’ philosophy for the trip, we decided to get envolved with a few activities.
The first was paragliding over the valley, which I was seriously planning on backing out of once we arrived – a decision which became more certain alter sharing a minibus ride with the instructors. Lunatics, the lot of them! The bus overheated, and the driver poured water all over the engine (located inside the bus) and then decided to open the tank, spraying hot, brown water over everyone! They then pushed the minibus downhill (yes down) to get the engine going, before jumping in and coming back to collect their very disturbed group of foreigners.
They must have sensed my fear, as I was the first to have a helmet thrown on, get strapped in and told to simply run and jump off the side of a hill! Within seconds I was having the time of my life and refusing to ever come down! We cruised about 100m in the air above coffee plantations and farms, doing circle turns and death spins (more! more!). It was absolutely breathtaking and loads of fun.
Day two was white water rafting, which much to the amusement of our guide William, was down an already overflowing river, with four novice chicas and a skinny English guy! It was no surprise that William had little faith in us and as soon as big wash appeared the order to sit inside was called. Nonetheless it was a laugh and took us through even more breathtaking scenery.
They must have sensed my fear, as I was the first to have a helmet thrown on, get strapped in and told to simply run and jump off the side of a hill! Within seconds I was having the time of my life and refusing to ever come down! We cruised about 100m in the air above coffee plantations and farms, doing circle turns and death spins (more! more!). It was absolutely breathtaking and loads of fun.
Day two was white water rafting, which much to the amusement of our guide William, was down an already overflowing river, with four novice chicas and a skinny English guy! It was no surprise that William had little faith in us and as soon as big wash appeared the order to sit inside was called. Nonetheless it was a laugh and took us through even more breathtaking scenery.
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