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Rio Fonce in the downtown park El Gallineral

San Gil is a city with a population of 50,000 in the Santander region in Colombia. It is known as Colombia's adventure sport capital.

[edit] Get in

• The bus terminal to major Colombian cities is located two kilometers west of the city center. A taxi between there and the town center costs 3,000 COP or take one of the frequent busetas. San Gil is on the road between Bucaramanga and Bogotá, hence there are frequent buses to towns along this axis. For other destinations, you'll most likely have to change buses in Bucaramanga.

* From Bogotá : 30,000 COP / 7 hours

* From Cartagena : 70,000 COP / 14 hours

* From Cúcuta : 40,000 COP / 9-10 hours

* From Medellín : 60,000 COP / 11 hours

* From Santa Marta : 60,000 COP / 12 hours

* From Tunja : 20,000 COP / 4 hours / 200 km

• Buses to Bucaramanga leave from the corner of carrera 11 with calle 8 on the river front (20,000 COP / 2.5 hours / 90 km). Consider stopping at the Chicamocha Canyon National Park on the way.
• Local buses to surrounding towns like Barichara, Charalá or Curiti leave from the corner of carrera 11 with calle 15 (Near the bridge).

[edit][add listing] See

Juan Curi Waterfall

• Parque El Gallineral, Malecón at calle 6. Everyday : 8 am to 6 pm / Pool : 9 am to 5 pm. Pleasant park for a stroll. Also has a swimming pool or you can dip in the Rio Fonce. Entrance : 4,000 COP.  edit
• Cascadas de Juan Curi. Beautiful 180 meters high waterfalls outside of town. To get there, get a bus to Charalá from the local terminal and ask to be dropped off at Las Cascadas (3,000 COP / 40 min). There are two entrance on the right handside of the road, the second one (blue and yellow sign) offers a more scenic walk along the river and you'll get to see more waterfalls (Entrance : 5,000 COP). It's a nice 20 minutes walk to the bottom of the Juan Curi waterfall where you can swim. Your shoes will get wet crossing the water several times and there are ladders and ropes to help you climb. From there take the wooden stairs on the right, follow the track and turn left to go up 60 meters to the middle of the waterfall. Rappelling is possible from there.  edit

[edit][add listing] Do

Tour companies generally offer similar activities and are clustered around the entrance of park El Gallineral. If you plan to go rafting or kayaking on rapids of class 3 and over, check that the guides are certified by the International Rafting Federation (IRF).

• Colombia Rafting Expeditions, Carrera 10 No.7-83, ☎ (57 7)724 5800 / 311 283 8647 (info@colombiarafting.com), [1]. Organizes all adventure activities as well as being the experts at big rapids and kayaking.  edit
• Planeta Azul, (At the parque El Gallineral), ☎ 7-724-0000 / 310-771-7586 (info@planetaazulcolombia.com, fax: 7-724-7679), [2].  edit

[edit] Rafting

San Gil is the pioneering place for rafting in Colombia :

• Rio Fonce, This is the river going through San Gil, it offers an 11 km trip lasting 1h15 min on class 2-3 rapids depending on the season. It suits all kind of public. 25,000 COP.

• Rio Chicamocha, An 1h30 rafting trip with rapids from level 2 to 4. More adrenaline and amazing scenery going through the canyon. Possible to organize expeditions up to 3 days long.
• Rio Suarez, Considered the best, this is a 3 hours and 20 km trip of non-stop class 4-5 rapids. Experienced rafters.

[edit] Caving

[edit] Swimming

There are lots of places around San Gil to go for a swim :

• Pozo Azul : Close to San Gil and accessible by taxi, it is popular with locals. 300 meters down river is la Milagrosa where you can jump from rocks.
• Pescaderito : Close to the town of Curiti, it has swimming holes and water slides. Camping possible.

Other activities are caving, parapente, paintballing, kayaking, hydrospeed and rapelling.

[edit] Trekking

There are numerous trekking opportunities in the countryside surrounding San Gil. The following itinerary goes through 3 colonial towns before going down in the Chicamocha canyon and up on the other side. Doing the whole trek in 2 days is possible if you leave San Gil really early on the first morning but it will probably be more enjoyable do it in 3 days and take your time checking out the towns in details. You can also do only parts as there are buses going back to San Gil in every town except Jordan. You don't need to carry food and camping equipment as there are restaurants and hotels in every town. Carry a lot of water and be careful of the midday heat.

[edit] Cabrera - Barichara

Get a local bus from San Gil to Cabrera (4,000 COP), it will drop you on the main plaza of the town. Here check out the church. At the upper left corner of the plaza, take the steepest street up (Calle 7) and turn left at the top. Follow the path along the stations of the cross (14 of them). From the top keep on going straight, the path is fairly flat and you'll soon see Barichara in the distance. When you get close to town, you'll encounter the local swimming pool on your right handside (1,500 COP) right before a football pitch. Look out for iguanas taking the sun up on the tree branches. A bit further there is a stone bridge that you have to cross. After a final small climb you're in the town of Barichara.

[edit] Barichara - Guane

To exit Barichara, take Carrera 10 towards the ridge. A stone marks the start of the trail, it is an old paved path that was restored 180 years ago by a German Geo Van Leguerke. The path crosses the paved road twice, just cross it. Refreshments are sold at the farm at midway.

[edit] Guane - Villanueva

Going down the Chicamocha canyon towards Jordan

To exit Guane, take Calle 6 from the main plaza towards the hill and soon you'll be back on the camino real. At some point there are farms on both sides of the path and right after you get to a crossing with a bigger road, taking that road to the right would bring you back to Barichara, you need to go straight and keep going uphill (the track is not exactly but a bit to the right). Keep on going up through the fields and tobacco farms. Soon after passing a finca named La Ceiba on the left hand-side, you get to a fork with a cross in the middle and a basketball court on the left, take a right there. Less than 5 minutes after, you encounter a needle head turn, take a left towards the house with a white flag. This is a mirador with great views of the canyon and all the ascent you've accomplished. Keep on going up. At some stage there will be two farms on the right and what looks like a road going uphill, do not turn and keep going straight, the road goes down a bit towards bare land for 5 minutes and after that is the final part of the climb. Once you reach the hilltop, you can see the next valley with Villanueva on the left but hidden by a hill. On your right is the road used by cars to reach town but it does a lot of turn. The shorter option is to take a left and look for the path going directly to town. You have to follow the barbwire, it will start dropping towards the valley and what looks more like a ditch will turn in a footpath. After a while you'll exit a field through a door and reach jeep track, take left towards the red and white antenna. From there it's straight to town. You can stay at Hotel Victoria on the main plaza just next to the police station for 10,000 COP per person.

[edit] Villanueva - Jordan

[edit] Jordan - Los Santos

The last part consists of a 900m difference climb to get out of the canyon. Cross the bridge over the Chicamocha river. The stone path starts just after, you can't miss it. The path goes up continuously but is never too steep and getting to Los Santos should take around 2 hours. Avoid doing this in the midday heat. There´s a house selling refreshments halway up. Los Santos is a decent size town compared to Jordan. Buses leave from the main square. To get back to San Gil, you first need to take a Piedecuesta bound bus that will drop you at on the San Gil - Bucaramanga road at a place called Los Curros (5,000 COP). Flota Cachira goes there but Transporte Mesa de Los Santos takes a different route to Piedecuesta, check with your driver to be sure. From there flag down a bus to San Gil (12,000 COP).

[edit][add listing] Buy

Artesanías

[edit][add listing] Eat

• Arepa Santandereana
• Cabrito con pepitoria
• Chorizos del Valle
• Arroz de Peñaflor

Restaurants El Mana en Calle 10 near the corner of 9 is one of the best and is open at night. For the best Goat in town try Las Esteras.

[edit][add listing] Drink

[edit][add listing] Sleep

Prices in most San Gil hotels double on long weekends and places are heavily booked. Book in advance for Easter, Christmas and all long weekends.

• Hotel Alcantuz, Carrera 11 No 10-15, (reservas@hotelalcantuz.com, fax: (097) 7243159), [3]. Friendly local hotel with nice, clean rooms starting at 25,000 COP per night. Cable TV, Wi-Fi, large windows.  edit

• Hotel Capri, Calle 10 No 9-31, ☎ 724-3767 (hotelcaprisangil@yahoo.com). Very nice spotless hotel with a range of rooms and prices. Rooms with balconies are recommended. Cable TV, hot water, Wi-Fi.  edit

• Hotel San Carlos, Carrera 11 No 11-25, ☎ 7-724-2542. Cheap but clean. A single room costs 10,000 COP.  edit
• Hotel El Viajero, Carrera 11 No 11-07, ☎ 7-724-1956. A room with private bathroom costs 25,000 COP.  edit

• Macondo Hostel (Macondo Guesthouse), Calle 12 #7-26, ☎ 724 4463 - 311 8282 905 (info@macondohostel.com). Backpackers hostel run by an Australian. Includes kitchen use, book exchange and hammocks. Laundry service, drinks & internet available. Tours can be booked through the hostel. Free high speed wi-fi. The owner/manager is particularly friendly and organizes inexpensive tours. Dorm : 13,000 COP / private double 30,000 COP / 36,000 COP with balcony and town view..  edit

• Hostal Casa Monkora, Calle 9 No. 8-65, ☎ 7-723-7917 (hostalcasamonkora@hotmail.com), [4]. The hostel offers both dormitory and private room accommodation. It features all the usual amenities : hammocks, kitchen, laundry, TV & DVD, free coffee, internet & wi-fi, classes, local information, outdoor activities, etc. Dorm bed : 14,000 COP / Private single : 22,000 COP / Private double : 28,000 CIO / Camping : 6,000 COP (own tent) and 10,000 COP (renting)..  edit

[edit] Get out

• The little colonial village of Barichara makes a good day trip. There are buses going every hour and leave from the corner of Carrera 11 and Calle 15. From Barichara it is a lovely 2 hour walk along an historic Spanish road to Guane. Buses return to Barichara several times a day. It is recommended to walk Barichara to Guane and not the other direction, since that would be entirely uphill.
• Chicamocha National Park (Panachi). Opened in december 2006, the park offers great views of the canyon and a 6.3 km length cable car system among the longest of the world that crosses the canyon. Park entrance : 10,000 COP / Teleférico : 10,000 COP one way, 20,000 return.  edit