After my family left from an amazing visit, I had about 36
hours to prepare for my next trip (I’ve only got a month of “summer” vacation
from my school in Bogotá, so I have to make the most of it!). On July 17, I took a night bus to Güicán,
Boyacá where my trip in the Sierra Nevada of El Cocuy would begin. I’m now a huge fan of the night
bus! It’s comfortable, safe (ok,
my friends tell me that our bus hit a few things aka cars along the way…but I
was sleeping, so it’s as if it never happened), and it prevents you from losing
a day due to travel. AWESOME.
The trip was only 6 nights/7 days but I’m finding it
overwhelming to write a blog on all that we did. So here’s my best attempt at covering the basics. Obviously, if you want more details you
can always e-mail me.
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| Pacho at Kanwara |
My travel buddies:
Francisco aka
Pacho, Princessa, Old Man Fran, Franny
Pacho and I are friends from work. I’ve written about him in
another post – he’s a great friend
and planned this entire trip.
Thank goodness for him.
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| Mafe in her element |
María Fernanda aka
Mafe, Mountain Mama
Mafe is a friend of Pacho’s and was a great travel
buddy. She is a biologist but her
focus is on plants – still she knew SO much about the plants and animals of the
area and her love for nature is inspiring. I call her Mountain Mama because she seemed to naturally
belong in the mountains.
Accommodations:
Nights 1 – 3: Kanwara Kabañas
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| View from the Kanwara Kabañas |
Great place!
The owner and all the folks that work here were so friendly and so
accommodating. The food was
DELICIOUS and the service was excellent.
Huge breakfasts: papaya, caldo, eggs, bread, cheese, jam, hot chocolate
and coffee (if you ask). Side
note: I loathe papaya. It is one of maybe 3 foods that I have
a hard time actually swallowing – I mean I can’t even fake it. EVERY day, however, in Kanwara we were
served papaya or papaya juice.
I’ve learned that the juice can be delicious. The fruit?
Still not a fan. Yuck.
Dinner was always large as well – which is needed after a long hike –
and always began with a delicious soup.
The cabañas have several rooms.
Pacho, Mafe, and I shared one.
There is one bathroom in each cabaña with “hot” water. The heating system is electric and so
the water pressure must remain verrrrry low in order to heat the water. Still, it was better than nothing, I
suppose. Each cabaña also has a
fireplace that we had going in the afternoons and after dinner until we went to
bed. This was important as the
temperatures were very low at night…well, always, but more so at night. Costs: $35,000 COP/night/person; breakfast: $10,000 COP; dinner:
$15,000 COP; guide: $45,000 COP; horse: $45,000 COP
Nights 4 – 6: El Hostal
Mirador el Cocuy
I liked the rooms here more than those at Kanwara but the
bathroom/shower situation was less convenient. The shower was outside…on the top of a mountain. I tried to shower once and thought I
would pass out from the cold. The
breakfast was the same as at Kanwara and dinner was good – maybe too many carbs
but after a long hike that didn’t seem so bad. Also, this place was less expensive. $30,000 COP/ night/ person; breakast:
$8,000 COP dinner: $10,000 COP;
guide: $70,000 COP; horse: $40,000 COP
Hikes:
1. Laguna de San Pablino (4 hours)
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| Hike to one of the San Pablino lakes |
When we arrived to Kanwara, we settled into
our room and then headed out to see our new surroundings. It was cloudy but still gorgeous. This walk took us through the farms of
some of the locals – sheep, cows, horses, and lot of barking (but harmless)
dogs. Was the perfect hike to get
acclimated to the altitude.
2. Rita K’wa Blanco (7 hours)
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| Frailejones along the river |
This hike is not for the faint of
heart. Our goal was simply to
reach the snowline – we did not have the gear to actually summit the
mountain…maybe another trip. We had a guide and a horse (good thing because Pacho
hurt his knee and couldn’t hike).
The guides are incredible – having grown up in the area, they know the
trails well and could run up the mountain if they didn’t have us weak folk
holding them back. From Kanwara we
crossed over a river, Rio de las Playitas, where there were tons of frailejones. Gorgeous. From there we were climbing for a good 3 hours. It is steep. I had to take my time.
Because of the altitude, we reached nearly 15,000 feet, breathing is
difficult and so all physical activity is more strenuous. We had great weather going up the
mountain. As we reached the
snowline, however, the skies opened up.
The first 30 minutes we were descending in snow and then after that
pouring rain…all the way home. I
think the descent would have been a bit faster but because the rocks were wet
we had to be a bit more careful. I
fell – hard – 3 times. Eventually,
the guide started holding my hand down the steep parts. How embarrassing. But we went really fast because he was
so sure of his footing and because I had his support I could go quickly too,
knowing he wasn’t going to let me fall.
Thank goodness for Don Miguel!
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| The snow was the goal |
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| Success!! |
3. Morning walk before leaving Kanwara (1.5
hours)
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| Dawn in the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy |
We took a day off because of
Pacho’s knee and because I think Mafe and I were both exhausted after the hike
up Rita K’wa Blanca. The morning
of the day we were going to leave, however, we got up early to enjoy the fresh
air and to have one last look.
This time of day is absolutely stunning and the clouds usually haven’t
moved in yet, so you can see the mountain range for miles and miles.
4. Bosque de los Frailejones (3 hours)
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| Neverending frailejones! |
After settling in at our new
accommodations, we set of for an easy hike with Don Gilberto, who would be our
guide for the three days we were there.
He was excellent. He took
us for a walk through forests of frailejones. These plants are special to the area and I think only grow
in the mountains of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru…but this might now be quite
right. There are many different
species but they are very unique.
Some of the frailejones in these forests were HUGE! Our return home, we saw the sun
set. Lovely.
5. Las Lagunillas (8 hours)
This hike also is usually quite easy. The walk is long but there is not a
whole lot of climbing. I think
this was probably my favorite hike.
We had great weather. Well,
we had sun. The challenging
component of the hike was the wind.
It was soooooo strong, that at some points I thought I was going to be
blown off the trail. The hike
takes you along a river that runs from the four lakes that you reach at the end
of the trail. The plants and
flowers with the sun and water made for a heavenly combination. Additionally, on this hike there are
great views of several of the snowcapped mountains. Pure paradise.
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| River de las lagunillas |
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| La Laguna Pintada |
6. La Laguna Grande de la Sierra (11 hours)
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| View from my horse |
I almost elected to skip this hike after
hearing it would take us 12 hours.
The hike from the previous day was excellent but the distance and the
wind left my body sore and tired and was not sure I’d survive 12 hours of a hike
that the guide told us would be very challenging. Solution: Rent a horse. As most of you know, I can be rather competitive –so I felt
like a bit of a weakling riding a horse for about half the hike but in the end
I still got to see the lake and didn’t kill myself. This hike because my descending along the road for about an
hour to La Esperanza, a hotel/hostel inside the park. From there you are climbing for about 5 hours. It is beautiful but it is definitely
not easy. It is steep and it is
long. Oh, it’s also cold. It was windy and snowing – yes SNOWING
– hard – for at least the last hour of the ascent. It was because of this that I had to walk at certain
times. Riding a horse is easy but
when you aren’t doing any work it is also FREEZING. About 30 minutes before reaching the lake there is a large
rock that has somewhat of a cave that provided the perfect refuge. We stopped, refueled and then continued
to the lake. The weather was not
in our favor this day and so it was quiet cloudy but still the lake was
beautiful. Super clear and is overlooked
by the Pan de Azucar and the Púlpito del Diablo – snowy mountains that help to
define the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy.
Mafe and Pacho wanted to see if they could wait out the clouds to get
some better pictures. Since, it
seemed like we were in the middle of a blizzard, standing alongside the lake, I
decided to head back to the cave and wait for them. I don’t know if they have a greater tolerance for cold,
better gear, a love for pain, or what but I just couldn’t imagine standing
there another minute. I ate my
lunch and rested a bit in the cave until they finally gave up after about an
hour and joined me. The descent is
much easier but still long – maybe 4 hours. The worst part is that the hike ends with one final
ascent….that is a good hour to hour and a half. I tried to take the horse but after being in snow and rain,
I needed to move again in order to not go numb from the cold. Not sure I’d want to do this hike
again. Maybe in better weather
conditions…but I don’t know.
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| La Laguna Grande del La Sierra |
Lessons Learned
for my next trip to El Cocuy…because there WILL be a next time
1.
Bring less toiletries. It’s cold – I will not be bathing
often, I certainly won’t shave, and I do not need to worry about my nighttime
rituals of exfoliating and moisturizing properly. My wrinkles are not going to develop too dramatically in
just one week!
2.
An extra jacket. When my jacket was drying out by the fire after being caught
in a downpour, I was really wishing I had another jacket.
3.
More clothes. As the title of this post indicates, as do my numerous
comments throughout the most, I was COLD pretty much the entire time. My sleeping bag is great so I slept
well at night but when it was snowing at the top of the mountains or when I was
eating breakfast/dinner at the cabañas, I was cold. Next time: Water proof, insulate gloves; 1 or 2 of those
fancy neck warmers that can transform into hats and headbands as well; thicker
long-sleeve Techwick shirt preferably with a hood; cold weather running pants
to put under my pants
4.
Small daypack. I was trying to pack light – and that I did - but for the
hikes I was emptying out my large travel backpack and bringing along only the
essentials. Still the pack was too
big - also, in town it would have
been nice to have a smaller bag.
5.
Better sunglasses. I’ve never spent a lot of money on sunglasses because I tend
to lose them or break them every few months. For these mountains though – where there are lots of lakes
and lots of snow – quality sunglasses with UV protection for the eyes is a
must. After every hike my eyes
were hurting and exhausted.
