San Gil & Barichara

Colombia's adventure-sports capital, with whitewater rafting, paragliding and caving, plus nearby Barichara, hailed as the country's most beautiful colonial town.

San Gil and Barichara lie in Santander Department in northeastern Colombia, in canyon country on the western slopes of the Eastern Andes, at around 1,100–1,300 m, and are warm year-round. San Gil is a small transport and trading town in the south of the department; the surrounding Fonce and Suárez rivers and the Chicamocha Canyon make it a base for rafting, paragliding, caving, bungee jumping and more, earning it the title "Colombia's adventure-sports capital". About 20 km northwest, Barichara is a beautifully preserved Spanish colonial town whose ochre flagstone streets, whitewashed walls, red-tiled roofs and sandstone churches have repeatedly seen it named the most beautiful town in the country.

There are three ways to enjoy the area: use San Gil as a base for day trips to raft, cave and visit waterfalls (the Fonce suits beginners, while the Suárez has Class IV–V rapids); spend a night or two in Barichara, strolling the old town, watching the sunset and hiking the 18th-century Camino Real for about 2 hours down to the village of Guane; and, about 40 km northeast, visit Chicamocha National Park, where a cable car crosses the great canyon and the area around Aratoca and Curití is good for paragliding. To the south, Páramo has the Juan Curí Waterfall and the Cueva del Indio, and to the southwest, Guadalupe has Las Gachas, a creek with a red riverbed.

Getting there: direct buses run from Bogotá's Terminal Norte to San Gil in about 7–8 hours; Bucaramanga is about 3 hours away, so you can also fly to Bucaramanga and continue by bus. Minibuses run between San Gil and Barichara roughly every half hour, taking about 40 minutes; most sights are reached by local tour-operator transfers or minibus.

Plan on 3–5 days. For rafting and paragliding, choose licensed, insured operators; when rivers swell in the rainy season, follow any suspension of trips. Barichara is hilly and its stones are slippery, so wear shoes with good grip. The local specialty snack is roasted big-bottomed ants (hormiga culona), in season every April–May.

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