Adventuring The Planet: South to Colombia

Three days into a year long trip, my friend Travis and I were racing down our second lap of the Pozo Azul river in northern Costa Rica. Having already paddled the river the day before, we knew the lines and were able to fly down the entire river. After running the 2nd waterfall on this section, we exchanged huge smiles and high fives in the pool below. With 4 laps the previous day, we had the line down and both nailed the tricky two tier 25 ft waterfall perfectly.

Bottom half of the 2nd waterfall, Pozo Azul. photo:(C) whereisbaer.com

With only one drop left between us and the takeout, I relaxed a little bit knowing that I would easily catch the last bus to San Jose to pick up Shana at the airport later that night. Feeling more cocky than usual from our perfect descent of one of Costa Rica's best runs, we caught the eddy just above the last (and biggest) waterfall and paper rock scissored to see who went first. Travis won and immediately peeled out, but he ended up tucking too soon and went over the handlebars, landing partially upside down. I had made the same mistake the day before and had a sore neck to show for it, so as I left the eddy I was determined to avoid doing this again. I planted a right boof stroke and cranked on it right as I passed the lip. I literally went flying. Because the water level was low, the pillow at the bottom was small and not very aerated, and as I flew through the air I went past the soft, bubbling pillow altogether.

Last waterfall, pozo azul. photo:(C) riversandrainforest.com

Realizing I was off line, I had two options: to tuck up and brace for a big hit, or to try and stomp the bow down to make the landing softer. I went with the latter, but didn't have enough time and ended up landing perfectly flat on the hard green water while sitting upright. My back had no way to flex and compressed itself down into the seat of the kayak. I instantly felt massive pain shooting up my back, and it hurt so much it took all of my focus just to take a few breaths. Luckily I was still upright and didn't have to roll, so Travis ferried me over to the shore where I crawled out of my kayak and laid down on the rocks while we discussed what to do. If my back was broken, paddling out obviously wouldn't be the best option. Leaving the boats behind, with plenty of help I eventually got to the hospital for some x-rays, where the doctor said that my spine was "crooked like a comma" as a result of all of the muscle contraction, but nothing was broken. Woohoo! I was given some medicine, told not to do anything active for two weeks, and was allowed to crawl out of the hospital without having to pay or even fill out any paper work.

To add insult to injury (pardon the pun), Travis accidentally dropped my camera into the river, so the first two pics are taken off the internet.

Shana arrived and we spent the next 2 weeks touring the jungles, volcanoes, and hot springs of Costa Rica before heading across the border to Panama.

Monteverde cloud forest

Iguana, Jaco beach

White faced monkey

Watching an alligator eating a sloth in the wild - nat geo stuff in person!

Manuel Antonio National Park

Near the Pacuare River

We weren't originally planning on visiting Panama, but everyone we talked to said that Bocas Del Torro was a must do, and they were right. It was a wonderful collection of islands off the northeast coast of panama, with warm clear water and white sandy beaches. We did some sailing, snorkeling, and enjoyed a slow-paced life on the islands before ending our time in central america. We don't have many of our pictures from there at the moment, so I'll skip writing more about that area until later.

Bocas Del Toro

Sailing Almirante Bay

The aptly named Dolphin Bay

Snorkeling Almirante Reef

Wrapping up our trip to Costa Rica and Panama, Shana headed back north to the US for a friend's wedding and the holidays, while I continued south. When my old roommate Andrew suggested that I come visit him in Colombia, my first thoughts where of cocaine plantations in the jungle, people getting executed in the street, and pablo escobar with his big 1980's style mustache. This was a place I had to see. I flew into Medellin on thanksgiving day and spent 5 days living the wealthy-gringo-in-colombia lifestyle.

Medellin, CO

Andrew had a great setup overlooking the city, with an armed guard opening the door as we came and went. I really enjoyed my time here. Even mundane things like going to the market took on a new measure of fun because most of the fruit are varieties I had never seen in the US. Every day was much the same; I spent a few hours studying spanish, followed by some rehab for my back, then we all would get together for dinner and the famous Medellin nightlife until the early hours of the morning. It was a great way to experience the Colombian culture with a local, and also good to catch up with a friend I hadn't seen in a while.

Colombia jam session

One of the reasons traveling through Colombia is so interesting is a result of the history here over the past 40 years. Andrew had an older friend come by for a visit one night, and he talked for a long time about what it was like back in the Pablo Escobar period. While he was only speaking in Spanish, I caught enough to understand just how dangerous it was back in those days. Every one of his friends that got involved in the drug trade is now dead. Medellin was the base of operations for Pablo's drug cartel, and at one time was the most dangerous city in the world. Recently the government has made huge progress in reducing the amount of crime across the entire country. Walking around downtown now, it was fascinating to see things today and compare to what I had been told about the past.

Ending my time in Medellin, I said so long to Andrew and headed to San Gil, Colombia's adventure capital. It rained all night, and I awoke to find the local river was nearly flooding and a dark chocolate color. I found a raft shop where I was quickly told they had cancelled all raft trips for the day because of the high water. Luckily after talking with one of the guides he hooked me up with a kayak and kit, and soon we were heading to the put in. This was normally a mellow class III/IV section, but with the river raging and being back in a kayak for the first time in a month, I was a bit anxious. We dropped in, and I immediately realized that the paddle they gave me was a 90 degree feather, which only added to the excitement. Things went well, the run was a great warm-up to get back in the saddle, and my first Colombian river trip was a success.

The following day I joined a downhill mountain bike tour which consisted of 55 km (34 mi) of colombian backroads and some steep single track.

We visited Barichara, which is considered to be the prettiest pueblo in Colombia and is now a national monument due to its colonial architecture. The town is perched on the edge of a huge cliff overlooking the Suarez River with big mountains and canyons going off in every direction, and the architecture in town is unchanged from centuries ago. It really is a beautiful place.

Single track into Barichara

Riding into Barichara

Barichara

Downhill all the way to the river

The scenery was great, and it felt a bit like traveling back in time. People were out working in their fields by hand instead of using tractors, and we passed several sheds with tobacco leaves hanging up to dry. More than once the road was blocked by a herd of cattle or sheep being driven from one field to another. People would stop what they were doing and just stare at me as I went by some of the farms, as I was clearly one of the first gringos they had seen around their place. I found that to be one of the best features of visiting Colombia. The drug wars have been so terrible that there has been almost no interest in foreigners coming here for decades, and now that the tourists are finally starting to creep in the Colombians couldn't be more excited. Not only is tourism going to help their economy, but the outsiders prove to them that their country is once again becoming a safe place to be.

Typical Colombian scenery

Suarez Canyon

Rio Suarez at sunset

The people of rural Colombia are some of the nicest I have seen anywhere. Time after time people went out of their way to help me find a place I was looking for. I lost track of how many times it happened, but instead of giving directions they would walk with me (one time for 15 minutes) to make sure I found the place. I even had a family give me a lift from the airport to the bus station 30 minutes away, where they came in and helped me buy the correct ticket before saying farewell. At first I was sure they were feigning friendliness so they could lock me in a car trunk for ransom money, but after so many instances it became apparent that they weren't trying to kidnap or rob me. I'm sure part of this can be attributed to their fascination with any foreigners they can talk to in order to learn more about an outside world they have never seen, but much of it is sincere altruism. Aside from the friendly people and the undiluted culture, another appealing aspect of CO is just how cheap it is. Outside of the big cities, rooms in a hostel started at $5 USD, huevos rancheros and a latte was $3, and I had a five course dinner for $5.50 one night followed the next evening with a filet mignon dinner for $7. You really should visit before things change.

Swimming hole at Pescadarito

I spent a week in San Gil biking, swimming, climbing, and boating. On my last day, I ran into a group of pro kayakers that had been traveling around the country. We talked about some of the best rivers they had been on, and one that I had missed was the Rio Chicamocha. While it was clear that this wouldn't be a difficult run, they assured me that the scenery would make up for the easier grade. Seeing that I still had 8 hours left before I had to catch a bus, I quickly grabbed a kayak and guide and headed off for one last adventure.

Upper Chicamocha Canyon

Chicamocha, after the rapids

The crux of the canyon had countless pool drop rapids in quick succession, mostly III/IV. After the rapids had faded away, the walls closed in even tighter and formed an impressive sandstone canyon almost on par with those in the US southwest. I stopped paddling to try and make the scenery last as long as possible, but eventually we hit the takeout as the sun was starting to dip behind the canyon walls.