August 19, 2022

Yesterday was the day from hell. We were up very early, and after a delicious breakfast at the Lodge, we took our last boat ride into town and arrived at the small HOT airport by 8am…to start a waiting game that lasted ALL day. Have you ever spend the entire day in a steam sauna? Well, if so, you know how miserable we were…and if not, I’ll leave it to your imagination as to how we smelled by the time we arrived in Bucaramanga around 9 pm. Per our itinerary, our transfer to a hotel would take about 45 minutes. We see the little guy with our name on the sign, and feel relieved. We are so ready to get a shower and lay down. But NO…. We get inside the private van and our English speaking guide says, “It will take us approximately 4 hours to arrive in Barichara at your hotel. 4 HOURS I repeat LOUDLY….then I laugh, what a bad prank I think…and he laughs. We continue for another half hour and I ask how much longer…he replies, 3-1/2 hours. Now Lezlie and I both shout…WHAT???? He hadn’t been joking. I’m pissed now (which is a total waste of energy that I really don’t have at the moment). So we reluctantly settle back to try to rest. We finally arrive shortly after midnight to a desolate tiny village with cobblestone roads dating back to the 1600s. As we climb out of the van… we see an “angel” standing at an open door and an overwhelming fragrance of fresh flowers greeting us. The “angel” had prepared a delicious sandwich for us with fresh fruit. Our room was perfect and we even had our own little private pool on our balcony. It was dark, so we had no idea of the view that would greet us at sunrise. We crashed!

August 19, 2022

Breakfast on the terrace was the beginning of a great day. The food was the best we’d had the entire trip and the view from the top of the hill was spectacular….overlooking the small village of Barichara.

After breakfast, we rode down in a Tuk Tuk (motorcycle with a cabin behind it) thru Barichara to a the ancient town of Guane. It was like stepping back in time to the early 1600s. The town overlooks the river Suarez 10, 000 ft below, which is rated class 5 rafting due to enormously challenging rapids. We were treated to the local fruit ….Granadilla, a sweet taste but hard to believe they swallow the seeds….A little more challenging than Lez and I cared to try.

The sad news is …this countryside was lush with Tabacco plants, but now with the wealthier folks moving from big cities to the countryside ….and the population increasing, the water supply is being depleted. What used to be abundant with foliage and now it is dry and in desperate need of water. Sound familiar to those of us living in the Texas Hill Country??? Just saying.

The houses here are more than 200 years old due to architecture techniques that move with the daily fault tremors. But this town, as well as Barichara (referred to as The Beauty Town) are absolutely safe. There are
no homeless or drunks on the streets…and no violence of any type. If you “act up”, you are escorted out of town by the locals, not the police.

We visited a fossil museum off the square. You need to remember this country was underwater (Pacific Ocean) 150 million years ago. When the waters receded over time, voila… the Andes Mountains and Colombia appeared. It is against the law to remove the ancient fossils found in this area from Colombia. But, some of these are HUGE! Very impressive.

We had lunch on a restaurant terrace overlooking the river and canyon and ironically when Lezlie went inside to use the Bano, there hung a large picture of Willie Nelson. Our Texas hero was famous even in this ancient city.

We then visited the local cemetery and church which is always a treat in these small towns …and topped the day off with a “learning experience” on how the locals make their own paper from all the local plants. Lezlie made her own sheet of paper. Pretty cool!

FACTS:
When the Spanish arrived, the diseases they brought with them killed 92% of the indigenous people they were living in Colombia.

It’s ColOmbia (NOT ColUmbia as most Americans say)

If I haven’t mentioned it yet….Bathrooms have been clean throughout the country….but you do NOT throw toilet paper in the toilets. And, that’s a hard habit to break, I assure you.😜

We had our best meal of the trip in a local restaurant that evening, Elvia. And, the cost was $12 for an huge melt-in-your mouth steak. We even tried the “ant” butter which is their delicacy. Not our favorite.

Love this part of ColOmbia and highly recommend you include it in your itinerary.