After the detour north with our now friends Eric and Karen (www.trans-americas.com), it was time to part ways.  We had to make our way down to Bogota for some visa business, so San Gil was the perfect stop over.

 

The drive from the north into San Gil takes you through a beautiful canyon and past Parque Nacional del Chicamocha.

 

Rolling into San Gil after dark, we caught up with Team Mercedes camping at a cute little hotel a little ways out of town. We made a conscious decision the following day to do nothing (coffee – movie – repeat) after 3 straights days of driving. Although, we did spend some time chatting with the locals.

 

San Gil is known as a sporting meca with great rafting and hiking in the area.  The town seems to be quickly turning into a city, but it does have it’s charms including a welcoming central square and Parque El Gallineral in the middle of the city which feels like a world away form the traffic outside the park boundaries.

 

Nearby Barichara is a wonderful little colonial offering visitors stunning views of the surrounding countryside.

 

The night before we were set to leave for the drive into Bogota, we had a little set back (although a big hit for morale). Our tent Taj decided to break. The G managed to wiggle his long frame into the half open tent, using his body to hold it up. He then reinforced it for the night with one of our ropes. It would be tent camping for us until we could get the spare parts needed shipped from the states. Why we didn’t think to bring spare parts for the tent is a mystery. Working tent or not, we needed to head for the big B.