Two weeks in San Gil, the adventure capital of Colombia
- Cecilia Markley
- 21 minutes ago
- 9 min read
The vast Chicamocha canyon, the quaint nearby town of Barichara, rappelling down waterfalls, bungee jumping, paragliding, I could go on and on. San Gil, in northeastern Colombia, has so much to do that we had to spend two weeks here to enjoy as much as possible.
San Gil, Colombia
After spending a week on the Caribbean Coast, starting in Cartagena and then heading over to Santa Marta, it was time to head to San Gil in northeastern Colombia. This would be my first time in the Andes Mountains.
To get from Santa Marta to San Gil, we went through Bucaramanga. San Gil is a large town with around 50,000 residents. It has two bus stations and is known for its adventure tourism, due to its proximity to Chicamocha Canyon, one of the world’s largest canyons.
The town was very walkable but also had a lot of motorcycles, which can be seen all over Colombia, and just general car traffic. Our hostel was right in front of the park in the center of town, and we could walk to the bustling mall, the smaller bus station, several grocery stores, and El Gallineral Natural Park. We walked to the top of very steep steps behind the church and got a breathtaking view of the city with the mountains in the background.
Volunteering while backpacking
Volunteering is a common practice among backpackers, and is done for many reasons, like lowering travel costs, learning new skills, learning more about the local culture or language, or meeting new people.
Two of the largest apps used to find volunteering opportunities are Worldpackers and Workaway. While I am not subscribed to either, they both offer pros and cons, and I have heard from fellow backpackers that they have made it easier to find volunteering opportunities, typically starting around $50 for a one-year subscription.
Marijn and I knew we wanted to do some volunteering while backpacking. The first leg of our trip in South America is five months, then we will stay with Marijn’s family in the Netherlands for a while before continuing our travels. Since we knew before we left in February that we would have about five months until going to the Netherlands, we decided we aren’t in a rush.
Additionally, volunteering is a good way to save money as, while you are of course not paid, you are typically given free accommodation and sometimes free food, discounts on excursions or other free or discounted items.
Sam’s VIP Hostel
Since we aren’t subscribed to any volunteering apps, we decided our best bet was to message hostels directly. We decided we wanted to volunteer in San Gil because there is so much to do there and it seemed like a nice city. So, we looked into several hostels that seemed nice and sent them messages asking if they needed volunteers. Sam’s VIP Hostel responded, and we worked out a great arrangement.
We didn’t end up having a traditional volunteering experience. We went into it expecting to clean or work the front desk, as is typical for hostel volunteers. Instead, the owner, Sam, asked for us to work on social media for him and ask around when doing excursions and tours to find out what other tourists like about San Gil, why they are staying in their respective hostels, and other information.
What we ended up doing was taking lots of pictures and videos anytime we did anything and sending them to Sam, asking others on the tours we did why they chose to stay in San Gil or another town and what hostel they stayed in and why, and most importantly, creating TikTok-style videos for Sam at the end of our stay in both Spanish and English promoting San Gil and everything that can be done there, which we sent him.
Marijn and I left San Gil two weeks ago, and I can genuinely say that I enjoyed the volunteering experience and that Sam’s VIP Hostel itself was the nicest hostel I have ever stayed in.*
El Gallineral Natural Park
One of the coolest things San Gil has is a beautiful natural park, El Gallineral Natural Park. The park was a ten-minute walk from our hostel, and entry cost COP18,000 (approx. $4.50).
There was even a pool visitors can use, although we didn’t know this beforehand, so we didn’t come prepared with swimsuits. But we dipped our feet in the pool to cool off. The park has restaurants and snack stands if you want, but we were mainly interested in the nature.
Not only were there so many different kinds of trees and plants, there were also butterflies, birds, red squirrels, and we even encountered a macaw being rehabilitated after being held in captivity.
Even though the park isn’t that big, we wanted to explore the whole place, so we ended up spending about three hours there walking down every path. We walked on bridges over streams leading to the Fonce River, and even walked down to the river where we saw rafters go by.
Paragliding over Chicamocha Canyon
Of course, no trip to San Gil is complete without doing some adventure sports. We did paragliding and white-water rafting while here. I went into detail about our rafting experience in San Gil in my last article, so be sure to check that out. But we also paraglided while in San Gil, which was both of our first time.
The paragliding cost COP200,000 (approx. $55), but we received a discount from Sam and each paid COP 150,000 (approx. $40). We both also decided to pay COP50,000 (approx. $15) extra for GoPro footage and Marijn paid extra for the “adrenaline,” where his pilot took him up higher in the air and did extra spins.
I definitely recommend paragliding here. The views were incredible as we were directly over the canyon itself. Also, from what I have seen, San Gil seems to be one of the cheaper places in the world to go paragliding. Be mindful that if you get motion sick, this may affect you. About ten minutes in, I felt nauseous. I’m still glad I went, but I would have taken some anti-nausea medicine had I known before that I would feel sick.
As for the specifics of the experience, it was about an hour drive outside of San Gil, and we were given a briefing upon arrival. We then went two at a time and each person got to choose whether they wanted to pay extra for the GoPro footage and also if they wanted to do the adrenaline. When it was your turn, you were strapped in front of your pilot, and when given the go-ahead, ran until your feet were off the ground. Before you knew it, you were floating above the canyon.
The whole experience lasts on average 20 minutes, although mine was a bit shorter and Marijn’s was longer. It depends some on the wind and when the pilots feel they can land. I wouldn’t say it was that thrilling, other than the takeoff. It was more tranquil and awe-inspiring. I am so happy I chose to paraglide for the first time over Chicamocha.
Visiting Barichara
Barichara is a small town of 13,000, just a 30-minute, COP8,000 (approx. $2) bus ride from San Gil, making it perfect for a day trip, which is what we did. Some backpackers we met chose to stay in Barichara instead, but I was happy with our decision to stay in San Gil, primarily because it has the conveniences of being a larger town — direct buses to the transportation hub Bucaramanga, more grocery options, tours picked us up right from our hostel — while still providing small town charms like walkability and a town center.
Barichara is famous for its beauty, with cobblestone streets, colonial buildings, and a nice town center with a cathedral. From the town center in Barichara, we walked to the Mirador Salto del Minco for a stunning view of the Chicamocha Canyon.
Another favorite of the tourists who flock to Barichara is the Camino Real, a 3.7-mile (6 kilometer) trail from Barichara to the nearby town of Guane. Unfortunately, due to the injuries we sustained from rafting, we decided not to do it. But from what we heard from others, it is an easy to moderate trail that offers nice views of the canyon and surrounding areas.
Curití and Balneario Pescaderito
Another small town near San Gil is Curití, with around 15,000 residents. Also a 30-minute, COP 8,000 (approx. $2) bus from San Gil, we went to Curití primarily due to Balneario Pescaderito, the natural water feature nearby the town with free entry.
We arrived in the center of town, which had a gorgeous church, and also the most unique park filled with plastic statues holding objects and striking strange poses. Examples included a woman about to slaughter a chicken and what, if I had to guess, appeared to be the Grim Reaper pouring something into a man’s cup while the man stuck out his tongue.
After spending some time exploring the town, we hopped in a tuk tuk, which cost COP14,000 (approx. $3.50), and he drove us the three kilometers to Balneario Pescaderito.
Balneario Pescaderito is made up of several pools of water all connected by waterfalls flowing over beautiful, smooth, red rocks. You can choose to walk along the trail overlooking the rocks or climb over the rocks themselves.
We went on a Friday, so it wasn’t too busy, and we walked up far enough that we even got a pool all to ourselves. The water was absolutely freezing, but with how hot it was out, it felt refreshing after hiking up there. You can swim for a bit, dive into the deeper pools, and we saw people renting water tubes to float on as well.
After enjoying about an hour in our own pool, I asked Marijn to climb up and get a photo of me in the pool, and he hit his head very hard on a rock, drawing blood. We didn’t think it was a concussion, but to be safe, we decided to go to the hospital. So, we walked back to the entrance and crossed the street to the only restaurant/snack stand at Balneario.
I asked the owner to call a tuk tuk for us, and the driver took us to the hospital. We must be accident prone, as this was now our second hospital visit that week. It was a small hospital, and we were taken back immediately without even having to give information. Marijn’s wound was cleaned by a nurse and then a doctor came in, and I asked her to check to make sure it wasn’t anything serious. She did a more thorough exam, ensured us it was just superficial, and cleared him to leave.
The nurse re-entered the room to administer pain medicine and then told us the total was COP10,000 (approx. $2.50). We expected to go to a front desk somewhere to pay this, but he told us to just give him that in cash. We decided not to argue since it was such a small amount, even though we’re both fairly certain that was not a legitimate payment.
From here, we walked back to the town center, got some ice cream, and headed back to San Gil. Luckily, Marijn is okay and just had a headache for the rest of the day but feels better now.
I definitely recommend Curití and Balneario Pescaderito if staying in San Gil – just be sure to watch out for rocks.
Playing the Colombian sport of tejo
On our last night in San Gil, we tried the famous Colombian sport of tejo. Held every Tuesday night and arranged by Macondo Hostel, it cost COP10,000 (approx. $2.50) for entry**, plus COP4,000 (approx. $1) for a round-trip taxi, plus tip for the hosts of the tournament. We met at Macondo Hostel and were taken to the tejo arena across town, where we were split into teams of four, and the rules were explained.
We were each given a metal disc, called a tejo, to throw at a clay-filled box. In the middle are targets filled with gunpowder. The goal is to get as close to the metal ring in the center as possible, and ideally to hit the gunpowder target, which causes a minor explosion. The tejo that lands closest to the center gets the point that round, with extra points for hitting the targets.
I could compare it to the sport of cornhole, but the tejo is much heavier and thrown from much farther than the beanbags in cornhole. I had a brace on my left arm, so I couldn’t exactly give it my all, but I still don’t think I was too bad for it being my first time. But, the most important thing was that it was very fun, and I’m glad we did it.
Despite a few hiccups — having to go to the hospital twice — I would still rank San Gil and everything we did there very high on my list of places I’ve visited backpacking. If you go to Colombia, please make sure to go to San Gil so you can paraglide over Chicamocha canyon, see the weird statues in Curití and play some tejo.
*I was not asked by Sam’s VIP Hostel to say this nor was I provided any compensation for this statement.
**Marijn and I were reimbursed for our entry by Sam.
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