The Raging Rapids of San Lorenzo

After a decent night's sleep, I went to the reception of the hotel to make a phone call to find out if there were enough people to raft the mighty Rio Suarez. This was a Class V river with powerful rapids that were not for the feint at heart... however, you needed at least four to do it. When I went outside - there was absolutely no cell phone service or internet. The woman at the desk told me that it was because there was an earthquake in another country. I then went to have breakfast - dried beef and eggs (machacado con huevos) and it was delicious! This hotel had excellent food. Every breakfast included a type of corn cake called an arepa.. It was good as well.



While eating breakfast, I received a phone call that the trip was on! I quickly packed up my stuff, showered, and got on the 40 minute bus ride to San Gil. I decided to stay in San Gil for the night instead of returning to Barichara. This bus ride was pretty uneventful (did not get asked about Cocaine). I arrived in San Gil to meet my new friend Diego and he brought me right over to the office where we would begin our expedition.

When I arrived at the office, I met Michael - a recent college grad who began traveling to Colombia and fell in love with San Gil, so he's been living there for about a month and a half. He's training to be a rafting guide- and was helping them translate things into english and raising money so the guides can go to the international rafting championships in Costa Rica. Really nice guy.

Also on our expedition was Martin and Katya - two Dutch tourists that will be traveling for six months throughout Latin America. Also, there was Sue - an English producer who seems to travel four months a year in Latin America. It was an interesting group indeed, but we immediately hit it off. This was helped by the fact that I lived in the Netherlands, so we had a lot to talk about.

We get to the river and the girls seem very nervous. Katya was second guessing her trip as it was her first whitewater rafting adventure. Thankfully, we were with expert guides who spent 20 minutes giving us safety tips, including what to do if we fall out of the raft. Being experienced, I knew it was only precautionary and we would be fine.

We get into the river , which thankfully was a bit warmer than the Rio Fonzi. Our first few rapids were challenging - we were thrown back and forth a few times as we navigated the rocks and managed to stay afloat. It was definitely an adventure! I got some water in my nose but no big deal.. The next two hours, we rafted through many different obstacles - worked as a team as we remained in sync. In the boat, paddle left, paddle right, backwards were yelled (this time in English) as we made our way.

We arrived at our destination in one piece - and was greeted by cheese, some exotic fruits, and Doritos, a great lunch! We had another hour ride back to the office - where we all caught up and learned more about each other... Sue and I were flirting a bit - but she struck me as a bit weird. Anyway.

We got back to the office and Diego picked me up on his moped, a challenging feat as I had a backpack and a rolling suitcase. With backpack on back, suitcase on lap and hands on shoulders, we were on our way. . He found me a really nice hotel tucked into the area above the city for about $35... Yes it was $35 and it almost met my high hotel standards! The room had a winding staircase and a terrace overlooking the pool. More importantly, it had internet! Diego, Omayira and I had plans to meet later that night, so I decided it was time for R&R. Since i had internet, I opened by iPad and watched tv on my sling box while sitting on my terrace. I ordered dinner to my room and ate, relaxed, and thought about how lucky I was.

At 9:00, I decided to get dressed up and head out - I was wearing jeans and a nice shirt as I've realized in Colombia that people do get primped up when they go out. What I didn't know was that it was San Gil, not Bogota. I met Diego and Omayira at the main park - supposedly this is the meeting place for everyone and everything. It wasn't that crowded since it was a tuesday, but there were people mulling about. Michael was there with his friends- chitchatting and what not. Omayira invited her friend to come out with us, I was figuring she was trying to do some matchmaking. Her friend arrived (not that cute) and we were off to a karaoke bar (my favorite!)


We get there and knowing they make absolutely nothing, I bought a small bottle of rum for us to share. We waited a bit, then karaoke was on! I tried my best to sing songs I knew in Spanish, but that's not where I'm best, so I decided to do some numbers in English - Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, etc. Some in the crowd enjoyed it- others were like "WTF".. but whatever - my friends were enjoying it. At one point in the night I realized that we were people from completely different areas, different experiences, different social classes, and spoke different languages (we conversed all the time in Spanish). But that really didn't matter. We all enjoyed each other's time and getting to know each other better. The rest of the night was fun - we danced, we sang, we drank, and smiled.



There was definitely another bottle of rum ordered. It cost me $80,000 pesos in total (about $50), but honestly I didn't mind. It was a drop in the bucket for me - and five days work for each of them. At one point, a guy came on a moped and dragged Carolina out of the bar. I had no idea what was happening but supposedly he was her ex-boyfriend and the father of her child. Word got out that she was with a gringo so that was the end of that!! I thought it was funny because I had absolutely no interest.

1 AM came and it was closing time.. Strict rules during the week, so we had to leave. While we were inside, I started chatting with someone from the other table.. he was doing a great job singing norteño music from Mexico - so I introduced myself and we began talking about Mexican music vs. Colombian music. When we went outside after closing, we continued our conversation about politics, Colombia, whatever.. he was pretty intoxicated but I enjoyed it.

I got home around 2 AM or so and laid in bed realizing that I was a very lucky person because of these experiences I get to have. Yes the sights are very important, but what's more important when traveling is getting to know the people, to find out what they do, what they eat, what their aspirations are. It's about trying the local food, learning the songs.. because these things you take with you for a very long time and it enriches your life. Before I went to bed, I wrote on my Facebook wall that I was the luckiest guy alive. Then I passed on, with iPad in hand. :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:San Gil, Santander, Colombia