Colombia (Lonely Planet, 5th Edition) - Jens Porup [39]
Those wanting a taste of the jungle have several options on the Pacific coast, including a recommended walk from El Valle to Lachunga at the northern end of the Ensenada de Utría, where you can visit and stay the night in the national park. In Capurganá Click here you can walk across the frontier to visit beautiful La Miel, a beach just north of the Panamanian border.
In the south of the country, Tierradentro boasts a spectacular one-day walk that traverses a triangular ridgeline and visits all of the nearby tombs. Weather permitting, Volcán Puracé Click here near Popayán can be summitted in one day, and the Farallones de Cali outside that city have several day walks, and longer walks.
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MOUNTAIN BIKING
There’s something about mountains that makes bicyclists want to conquer them. Bicycling is very popular in Colombia, although most of it is road cycling. Mountain biking per se is most popular in San Gil and Villa de Leyva where several bike rental shops can facilitate your adrenaline fix. A local group in Bogotá also organizes mountain-biking trips in the outskirts of the city Click here. Prices for bike rental vary from region to region, depending on the quality of the bike – expect to pay anywhere from COP$10,000 to COP$50,000 per half-day bike rental.
For a longer, more challenging mountain-bike ride, Kumanday Expeditions in Manizales offers four-day bike trips through the high-mountain páramo of Parque Nacional Natural (PNN) Los Nevados. Because of the remoteness and altitude (over 4000m), a guide and support vehicle are mandatory. This tour doesn’t run often, and isn’t cheap. You’ll need to contact Kumanday for its latest prices, which will also vary depending on the size of your group.
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To encourage adventure tourism, the Colombian government has deployed the army to many of the most popular outdoor spots to make them safe for foreign tourists.
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WHITE-WATER RAFTING, CANOEING & KAYAKING
The rafting capital of Colombia is San Gil. The rapids are spectacular Class IV and V; you’re in for some serious thrills (and spills). San Agustín is a close second. Here you can go white-water rafting on the Río Magdalena, one of Colombia’s most important rivers. There are easy Class II and III trips, and longer, more difficult trips for the experienced rafter. For a quiet paddle through the jungle, Río Claro, roughly halfway between Medellín and Bogotá, offers smooth Class I trips along the nearby river. It’s a fine spot to admire the flora and fauna instead of obsessing about falling out of the raft.
Canoeing and kayaking aren’t especially popular in Colombia, but you can rent kayaks in both San Gil and San Agustín. You can also rent sea kayaks in Ladrilleros for a paddle around Bahía Malaga.
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Bogotá
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HISTORY
CLIMATE
ORIENTATION
INFORMATION
DANGERS & ANNOYANCES
SIGHTS
ACTIVITIES
COURSES
BOGOTá FOR CHILDREN
TOURS
FESTIVALS & EVENTS
SLEEPING
EATING
DRINKING
ENTERTAINMENT
SHOPPING
GETTING THERE & AWAY
GETTING AROUND
AROUND BOGOTÁ
NORTH OF BOGOTÁ
WEST OF BOGOTÁ
SOUTH OF BOGOTÁ
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Cradled by cool Andean peaks and named after a nearby ancient site, Colombia’s engaging capital is a city of 1000 neighborhoods – each adding a different take on a lively metropolis. On one hand, Bogotá is still slowly recovering from an enduring perception as a dangerous hot bed of drugs and street crime; at the same time it’s a surprising leader in forward-thinking progressive projects. On Sundays 122km of roads are closed to cars and left for more than a million locals to enjoy on bikes, while the recently built TransMilenio bus system purposely connects posh ‘fantasy land’ neighborhoods in the north with