San Gil

San Gil is a town 5 to 7 hours car ride away north of Bogotá. In kilometers it's actually just around 300, but in Colombia you have at least to double, maybe even triple the time needed for the distance we would count for it under normal (read: European) circumstances.

San Gil is located near Bucaramanga and it has been nicknamed as the outdoor adventure capital of the region for the various extreme activities it offers. Needless to say, it was also the place where our two adrenaline junkies wanted to go to test their survival insticts.

It would not be a proper road trip without getting once lost a little bit. We have two excuses for getting lost:
1) we were driving without navigation system, just with some maps that the guys downloaded an hour before departure. The road map we had with us was useless after the first crossing, which we missed. Oops.
2) Colombia is quite scabby when using road signs. I think the first road sign pointing to San Gil was spotted after 6 hours of driving.

So we got to see the city of Tunja on the way to San Gil. In the midst of the tiny colonial roads we saw no way out of the city so the local police escorted us out.

The last minute travellers as we are, we started to search for accommodation on the way there. This time we slept in hostels to add up the backpacker lifestyle.

In San Gil you can try paragliding, mountain biking, kayaking, rafting, caving, rappelling, canyoning, bungee jumping, horseback riding...
Luckily San Gil has a warm (yet humid) climate so when the guys were paragliding one afternoon, I could be relaxing at the pool, reading a good book.

Deciding on the next adventure...

Kayaking it is! Confidently the guys went for their quest, picking out the kayaks, eager to learn. Although I love water, I preferred to stay dry. Soon you will see why. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be more challenging than first expected...

First the organisers wanted the guys to see a 30 minute video tutorial of the basics of kayaking. The rehearsal began from a natural pool. Kayaking is more a technical sport so it is crucial to get the technique right.

The rolling knee or the eskimo turn is very important skill to know because once you are in the wild river and the water knocks you over, you have to know how to turn back up again. In theory it sounds simple to do but in practice... Well, let's just say that don't take example from the pictures that follow.

Here Andreas is learning to turn.

And then Lukas.

Easy it ain't! Still, it was time to try the real thing, and so, to the river we drove.

Meanwhile, I was waiting for the guys at the "goal" and observing other things, like this mule carrying sand from the beach.

... And half an hour later...

At the last stretch, Lukas lost his kayak. Somehow it reminded me of the Meryl Streep movie The River Wild - has anyone seen it?

Nevertheless... They did it!