After our experience in Gramalote over Christmas, Mark, Maya, and I left the department of Norte de Santander and found more touristy areas in Santander; popular destinations for Colombians. We hadn’t seen and still didn’t see gringos for weeks. This made it special for us to meet curious locals and to practice our limited Spanish. Few Colombians speak English.
We split ways with our friends Sheri and Jeff for a few days, as we looked forward to reaching a couple off-the-beaten track places. The less busy, the less fireworks! Our first objective was Chicamocha Canyon and its town along the river, Cepitá. The more you descend in the mountains, the hotter it gets, so we decided to stop for the night at an area near the top of the ravine.
(As always, hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)
A bit more on edge since the incident in Gramalote Viejo, we both needed to feel comfortable boondocking (wild camping). Being right off the road meant we were visible for passersby, so we decided to only camp here for one night. The view over the canyon was spectacular and we were visited by goats.
The following morning, we continued our descend into the canyon along a narrow, one-way road that was paved. Luckily, there wasn’t much traffic. Once we reached Cepitá, a cute town at the bottom, we quickly discarded our thought of camping near the river. The high temperature (in the nineties/thirties) and humidity kept our stopover short.
We walked through the center of town, took a breather in the park, watched a couple of scarlet macaws (wild or released?), met a friendly Colombian family, and had a cheap and filling local lunch at the most popular restaurant in town.
Right before we left, our new friends wanted to know everything about our travels in La Vaca (the cow) and insisted to pose for a photo.
Posing in front of Thirsty Bella with an entire family of visiting Colombians
Then, we drove all the way back up and out of the canyon. We felt a bit sad we couldn’t trust camping in the same, quiet spot along the cliffs anymore and moved on to a viewpoint parking lot for a terrible night with no sleep. Trucks passed by with loud engines, honking at their parked buddies, and a massive rain storm caused trouble. Mark woke up being dripped on. Not what you expect inside your home!
So, in the middle of the night and rain, he inspected the roof with a flashlight to discover a screw hole from one of the solar panels had leaked. Duct tape temporarily to the rescue. Trying to fix this, drying out the ceiling, and avoiding more leakage became our priorities the following weeks. On top of that, our sunny days seemed to be over… Wasn’t it supposed to be the dry season in Colombia?
On the second-to-last day of the year, we drove to another relatively cute town called Curiti. The Christmas decorations were still in full swing, with an animated nativity scene the highlight.
We walked around town for a bit and found a trail in nature passing a clear swimming pond for Maya. Discoveries like these are surprising, mostly because of the quiet they bring, in a bustling Latin American country.
Next, we hopped back in Thirsty Bella and located the balnearios Pescaderito, where we had hoped to spend the night in peace. The entry in our camping app iOverlander hadn’t been updated in a while, due to Covid…
Because of the holidays, this destination was super popular with both restaurants blaring music and crowds enjoying the refreshing water of the river. A balneario is a place where people come to swim and/or bath. At Pescaderito, you pay a small fee for parking (and a higher rate for “camping”/overnight parking) and you have free access to the river and the hiking trail along it.
Most folks don’t go far to settle for the day, but we hiked up quite a bit in order to find a quiet place to relax. Of course, each time we discovered a peaceful spot, it was soon buzzing with teenagers or families. When you see someone somewhere, it must be accessible and worthwhile, right? ????
We were doing relatively well with the firecrackers, only hearing the occasional one at the previous camping spots. At the balneario, we experienced a relatively quiet night, once darkness set it. Yet, at the exact minute we left the next morning, someone shot off bottle rockets. We looked forward to spending the New Year period in the mountains around Barichara and finding peace there.
Curious about a previous ten-year chapter in our nomadic lives, which includes eight years aboard a 35-foot sailboat in the tropics with dogs, check out my compelling, inspiring, and refreshingly honest travel memoir:
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March 14, 2023 at 14:27
Seems like finding places where the temperature and the noise factor was not loud was a challenge. I love the photos of the small towns you visited, especially Curiti. Hope the leak in the roof did not cause any damage and was easy to fix. Love keeping up with your journey. Thanks for sharing. Jim
March 14, 2023 at 17:15
Hi Jim,
I was just telling Mark that what we thought were cute towns in the beginning of our Colombian travels are nothing like the historic, fabulous heritage towns we have visited since. There are many of them and – together with the scenic mountain vistas and friendly people – they are our highlights of this country. So, you’ll be in for a treat in future blogs! 🙂
March 14, 2023 at 14:39
Far more mild than the last episode. It must have been a relief to have some moments of peace after your previous encounter. I hope Mark took care of the leak.
March 14, 2023 at 17:18
Hi Pete,
The hardest part regarding the leak was that we couldn’t get the roof and ceiling dry enough to put filler in. This became a battle for weeks and one night, I woke up with drips in my face as well! Eventually, we took a different approach and we think – and hope – no more leaks are present in our camper! It has rained heaps lately and we all remained dry, so we assume it all got fixed! 🙂
March 14, 2023 at 14:55
Curiti looks very cute indeed. Looks like Colombia has many cute little towns.
I am glad Mark found the source of the leakage and was able to fix it.
The balneário looks like a great place for chilling out.
March 14, 2023 at 17:19
Hi Gilda,
I think the balneario would be awesome and deserted during the week and out of the holiday season. Definitely a recommended stop for peace and cooling off! And, you are right, the historic towns in this country are plentiful and amazing!!! I really think you and Brian would enjoy a visit.
March 14, 2023 at 16:07
When you said you met a friendly family I expected about 4 people! That’s a big crowd of new friends.
March 14, 2023 at 17:20
Haha! It sure was a crowd!!! But, they were all so curious and hospitable and happy to be in the photo!
March 14, 2023 at 17:24
Some breathtaking views. Right on the edge of the cliff would make me nervous though.
Dig the Christmas decorations.
You are making a lot of friends along the way.
March 19, 2023 at 00:00
Hi Alex,
The friendliness and curiosity of the Colombians have been a nice bonus to our travels. But sometimes communicating in Spanish becomes exhausting. The positive about visiting more touristy towns right now is that they’re used to gringos and life becomes a bit more peaceful. 🙂
March 14, 2023 at 19:34
I can identify with locals wanting to get into our photos. I distinctly remember it happened in Italy when some “nice Italian guys” wanted to pose in our pictures. We didn’t object–ha!
March 19, 2023 at 00:02
Haha, Marian. It’s interesting how some cultures don’t want you to take photos of them (think indigenous tribes in Central America) and others can’t be in enough photographs (think all the Latinas taking selfies everywhere). I’ve also been in a few countries where locals want to take photos of just us and where gringos are a rarity. In parts of Colombia, this is still the case.
March 15, 2023 at 16:26
I really enjoyed this post – you covered a lot of the same ground we did on our big Santander/Boyaca road trip. We did not get to Cepitá but we did visit the Chicamocha Canyon park and rode the cable car across the canyon. Spectacular! And we also stopped in Curití. Those figurines in the main parque are a trip! Hope you two are enjoying Jerico. 🙂
– Susan
March 19, 2023 at 00:04
Hi Susan,
So I assume you also saw those massive figurines in the park!? The nativity scenes must have been seasonal. Curiti was alright, but nothing like other historic towns that we have visited since. Speaking of which, have you ever been to Filandia??
March 15, 2023 at 23:42
Great photos and details. So glad that you are all safe and sound. Wishing you pleasant temperatures, and lack of noise in your upcoming adventures. I look forward to following.
March 19, 2023 at 00:07
Hi Donna,
One problem about Colombia (and us wanting to boondock for free, since we are completely self-contained and rather spend that money on eating out) is that there are no public lands. Everything is owned and fences are everywhere. What this means is that most of our nights are spent in towns. And, I have yet to discover a town that is as quiet as nature…
But, we are taking things in stride and trying our best to sleep and drown out noises with our little roof fan. Maya does not have a problem sleeping and dreaming through everything. (Luckily, not more fireworks.)
March 16, 2023 at 16:00
Hi Liesbet, every time I see Thirsty Bella she makes me smile. 🙂 I understand how nice it must have been on your one night sleeping in beauty and serenity – and goats! Gotta’ love that. I’m sure it’s hard going from that to loud noise, but makes you enjoy the quiet so much more, right? Give Maya a hug from me and be well.
March 19, 2023 at 00:11
Hi Lea,
Welcome back! 🙂
Yes, peace and quiet are so important to us, but this is very hard to find in Colombia due to few natural places that are available for camping.
I’m glad Thirsty Bella makes you smile. It always makes us happy here in Colombia as well, when the locals point at us, show us a thumbs up or smile, or honk and yell. Although, we often wonder what the hell they’re doing with the honking or light flashing, and if there is a traffic situation we should be aware off because of all the commotion. 🙂
March 16, 2023 at 19:07
How nice that you finally found a somewhat peaceful place to sleep, although I’m sure you could have done without the indoor rain shower. I love the photo of the goats – they look so curious: “What are those odd two-legged goats doing down there?”
March 19, 2023 at 00:13
Hi Diane,
That’s exactly what they were thinking. But with one extra word in there, “What are those odd two-legged gringo goats doing down there?” 🙂 One of them was making a funny sound as well, which I filmed. They were good fun and apparently thought the same about us! Although, they were shy and stumped about why we were parked on their route to the ravine.
March 17, 2023 at 07:36
I just stumbled upon your blog. Very interesting. I will have to go back and read some of you older posts.
March 19, 2023 at 00:15
Hello Jim and Barb,
Thanks for swinging by Roaming About and leaving a comment. Are you both travelers as well?
I hope you’ll enjoy some of my other posts as well. I’ve been blogging about our adventures and lifestyle for a while… (since 2007) 🙂
March 17, 2023 at 17:04
Liesbet, I enjoyed your post and pictures. Nice mountainous scenery. Wishing you safe and pleasant conditions in your upcoming adventures.
March 19, 2023 at 00:16
Thank you for the wishes, Natalie. So far, safety hasn’t been an issue anymore and we’ve discovered some amazing historic towns and natural attractions, but the weather could be better. Loads of rain!!
March 19, 2023 at 14:38
You have so many gorgeous pics of the areas, Liesbet, it’s hard to believe there seems to be so much trouble in paradise, as you described. But you both seem pretty happy and loving your adventures.
March 19, 2023 at 15:01
Hi Terri,
Colombia has been surprisingly beautiful and special in many ways. I wouldn’t call it paradise, though, as it’s nothing like the tropical islands we used to sail. 🙂
We are happy with our lifestyle and with being in a more “challenging” country again, as it brings more adventures and interesting sights and encounters. The only real bad experience we had was the attempted armed robbery over Christmas, which I wrote about previously. Other than that, it’s been bad roads, loud boondocking spots, and lots of rain. Besides all the positive experiences, of course!
March 19, 2023 at 16:09
As you know there are bad roads, loud neighbors and bad weather everywhere! I know you love your adventures! (It’s weird that I can’t reply to your reply without having to come back to your post.)
March 23, 2023 at 10:51
True that! (And not sure why WordPress is giving you trouble just replying to my comment… Sigh.)
March 19, 2023 at 17:58
I love those mountains! And goats! How does Maya get along with goats?
I’m starting to think there are no more seasons any more. It has been raining almost every day here – sometimes rather hard. This is unusual – not the right season. The weather has just gotten weird everywhere.
March 23, 2023 at 10:54
I think you’re right about the weather and the seasons. Unusual. Everywhere. The same is happening here. Rain every day and often really hard. I think the usual wet and dry seasons are no more. They used to blame it on a multiple-year La Nina in Colombia, but I think it changed to El Nino this year and the rains did not leave…
Maya is curious about the goats, but does not chase them. Only animals that run away get chased… 🙂
March 21, 2023 at 08:13
How nice that you got visited by goats. But what a lovely view to have while having your morning tea. Spectacular, Liesbet.
I love the photo of the large columbian family in front of Bella. I expect Bella gets a lot of attention.
Such a shame about the leaky roof, but glad it was fixed.
And I held my breath about the fireworks. It was all going so well until you left that last camping place.
March 23, 2023 at 11:00
Hi Hugh,
Yes, Bella gets tremendous amount of attention, especially when we are driving. People smile, wave, honk, scream… Sometimes, we wonder if we have to be careful about something up ahead, because of all the ruckus. And, sometimes, the drivers almost run into us because they are staring so hard. Especially the motorcycle drivers.
When we are parked, Colombians want to take photos, get a tour inside (which we mostly stopped doing), or want to chat.
I’m happy to report that the fireworks have ceased all together now and we haven’t parked close to wedding or birthday celebrations anymore either. 🙂 Some of the views in Colombia have been surprisingly beautiful.