Suesca Rock Climbing

We recently spent two days rock climbing at Suesca, the most developed and popular climbing area in Colombia.  We stayed in a room at our very interesting guide´s house.  Hugo has been climbing at Suesca for more than 15 years and he´s well know in the area.  Just dont get in the way of his loco dog named Chico who ran as fast a Hugo drove his motorcycle and almost completely tore apart another dog in a fight one of the days.

Our goal was to learn how to trad climb (placing equipment in crack systems in the rock to protect a fall).  The climbing at Suesca is very much oriented for trad climbing and it´s hard to find single-pitch sport route (20-30 meters) protected with bolts, the style of climbing we do at home.  The routes we climbed there were around 200-300 meters high, much longer than the ropes we climbed with.  Our guide would climb first and place the gear to protect himself and set up an anchor at the top of the pitch so we could climb up after him, removing the gear he placed.  One thing I should mention when climbing in Suesca is that it is common to run-out protection, our guide would go 60-100 feet without placing any gear, a fall would almost mean certain death.  "It`s Suesca style" he would say, we didn`t partake.  The highlight of our time in Suesca was a four pitch climb we did on our last day that was much more difficult than the climbs we did the previous day. 

An example of a multi-pitch at Suesca.  The guy on the bottom is at a belay station high off the ground.

San Gil, Outdoor Adventure Capital of Colombia

So, we went rafting a few days ago in San Gil... oh gees. We had heard all these stories of tourists DYING on class 4 and 5 rapids, so we decided to play it safe and only go up to a class 3. We felt like babies, so to make it a little more extreme we got a tahiti instead of a huge raft...again I say, oh gees. We drove down El Rio Fonse where we met our man-child guide named Diego. Nice kid, no english, not the best guide in the world. Within 5 minutes we were flying overboard, it all happened so fast! It was funny, the first thing that came to my mind as I was tumbling beneath the water was not worry about smashing my head against a rock or how long it would be until my next breathe, but instead I was thinking how stupid it was that I never asked Diego if there were crocodiles or piranhas in the river! He was yelling in spanish something about staying in the center of the river and I was doing my best to translate between huge waves crashing into my face. So we swallowed about a gallon of water, bobbed along, got back in the tahiti and continued on. A little further downstream we saw two dead horses half submerged in the water... after that we had bugars all over our faces from blowing out of our noses so hard while trying to keep the water out! Hey, we`re not sick yet! It was awesome.

So many adventures in Colombia! The last few days we have been in Suesca getting a crash-course (literally CRASH, as in crazy pendulum-swing crashing into the wall UPSIDE-DOWN) in traditional climbing! This means there were no bolts in the wall, you just use the cracks to wedge your own equipment in and hope it holds!

Tomorrow we are going to the Amazon to sleep in a treehouse in the jungle for New Years!

PS. NEVER take for granted public restrooms, TP, toilet seats, hot showers, bug repellent, drinking water, peanut butter, traffic laws or good directions.

When in Baricharra....

Comiendo Hormigas from Julia Scheri on Vimeo.

Jose Reyes Gonzales

81 years old, he has lived in the village of Guane since 1935.

I will never forget...

Salto El Duende Waterfall













This is the view from Edgar"s kitchen at the bottom of the valley.

Our beautiful dirt floor bedroom. You can see our bed on bottom, and a wooden ladder going up to a second bed that Edgar made. The hammock of course is for my siesta! The tin roof makes the rain sound so amazing.








This is Edgar. If you look very closely at the background, his house is at about elbow height and to the right. We hiked in and out of this canyon everyday!








While hiking to some caves in the canyon, we crossed these waterfalls! There is flooding all over Colombia right now and Edgar said this is the strongest he has seen the falls in as long as he can remember.













Edgar and I hiking above the clouds...













Edgar is putting together this little outdoor bedroom in his backyard! All this swinging bed needs is a mattress and a bug net and BOOM, paradise.












At the edge of La Mojarra. Edgar"s house is below.










Merry Christmas! It was so much fun! This was our little crew; Emilia, me, Chris, Edgar, Iliana, Chavi, Simon (the pup), Mimi and Cesar! We climbed all day, and then cooked all evening. We danced until 4am... Cumbia, Salsa and Meringue! It was the best Christmas in our little dirt hut!

Images to remember from the Mojarra

After eight days in the valley of La Mojarra we packed our bags today and hiked up the steep trail to the top of the mesa.  The time spent there was amazing, lots of new friends, hiking, exploring, and rock climbing in one of the most scenic places I´ve been high above the valley.  It was hard to leave this amazing place and the simple way of life we experienced with lots of physical activity.  A few pictures.....

The kitchen



                          





Edgars house      






    






Steep overhanging route, 5.11a Gullish

                                                                                 











The ancient map


                                                                                                                                                                      

La Mojarra, (Mesa De Los Santos) Colombia

This morning Edgar woke us up and we had agua de panella  and colombian coffee that was grown minutes away from his house.  We slowly rise from bed as the time here is at a much slower pace.  A breakfast consisting of eggs, arepas, and bread is prepared and we sit in his warm and comfortable custom made kitchen detached from the house.  We get ready and prepare for a trek into the hillside, Edgar will take us to see a peice of his roots and history of the valley of the Mojarra.  A long trek sidehilling the mountain side on a narrow trail we climb and jump from rocks in the path to keep our feet out of the mud.  Lower in the valley the trail is very wet but as we climb in elevation it becomes dry and the vegetation changes into small shrubs.  We go to a small hole located at the base of the cliffband at the top of the ridge, we can see Edgar´s house far in the distance at the bottom of the valley.  With our headlamps turned on we venture into the hole and work our way deep into a cave.  Here Edgar sits us down an talks about the history of his culture (the Guane indians).  Inside the cave we walk past human remains and he doesn´t take us into a tomb further down because he doesn´t like the vibes from it.  We venture out of the cave on the other side of the cliff band, the raging waterfall that has more water than anyone has seen in many years is very close.  In the cliffband, a map from around 2000 years ago shows the layout of the valley and the Mesa De Los Santos.  Its amazing to see this and hear Edgar depict what he thinks the map represents after studying it for more than 15 years.  The sight is amazing and the clouds part exposing the ridges, valleys, and cliffbands that have been capped in a mistic like fog for the morning.  Words cant describe the view and the experience, I think we´ll stay here for a little longer...

The Magic of La Mojarra

Words cannot describe where we are right now. We drove by ¨Mesa de Los Santos¨ on our drive from Bogota to Bucaramanga and the energy was crazy. I woke up on the bus as the sun was rising to see these rolling hills and clouds clinging to the mountainside. t was so beautiful, we had to come. We arrived to the Mesa with our packs ready and met a rugged crew of local climbing bums at the entrance to¨La Mojarra¨. There is an amazing (mostly overhung) sandstone cliffband around the top of La Mojarra with over 120 sport climbing routes. This is part of the Chicamocho Canyon, but La Mojarra in particular is spiritual land of the Guane Indians.

The climbers took us in right away and invited us to see the magic of the valley. It is a crazy steep pre-hispanic path made of stones placed by the Guane. After climbing this path, you are pretty much the definition of sweaty. This is where we met Edgar; a third generation, fairly eccentric, Guane Indian who lives almost completely off the land. He invited us to use his home as our own and cooked us the most amazing meal! We were pretty much hooked at that point. Edgar built his house himself and everything is eco friendly. The house has dirt floors with ladders and totems all over the place made with hand-carved wood. Edgar is very spiritual and his house is decorated with Native art focusing on air, earth, fire and water.

We wake up every morning to the sounds of the birds in the valley, then Edgar brings us agua de panela, hot chocolate, or colombian coffee to start our day with good energy. The valley is incredibly green with fruits, tobacco and marijuana plants growing abundantly. The shower is outside and you can see the mesa and the mountains all around you as you bathe. It is seriously unreal. As you stand on the cliffs, the breeze smells like watermelon and tropical flowers! We lounge in hammocks, watch the butterflies, play with the animals, and go hiking or climbing all day. We have learned so much from Edgar, he is also a healer in his community and focuses on therapeutic massage.
We were supposed to leave today but there has been flooding all over Colombia and I believe the roads are still closed on both sides of the Mesa. We don´t want to leave! We decided to spend Christmas here with Edgar,
and as he calls us, ¨his family of vagabonds¨. There are a few other climbers that came and never left, we are all going to celebrate the holidays together! Edgar, Mimi, Chavi, Amelia, Cesar, Iliana and the pup Simon. We will stay a few more days...

Soaring Over Bucaramanga

PARAPENTE!!! It was so amazing! The birds were flying all around us, it felt so free! It was the perfect weather conditions and the view was spectacular! The best part was the smile on Chris´face when he landed. We may have to go again before we come home!

In The Wind from Julia Scheri on Vimeo.

Bucaramanga Colombia

We have been in Bucaramanga for the past two days and have managed to see a lot during our time here. Orginally we didn´t plan on coming here but decided last minute to take an overnight bus to get out of Bogota and ditch the crazy big-city atmosphere.  While Bucaramanga is a very large modern city, it´s fairly easy to get out of town and do some outdoor activities.  Today we went on a hike into the mountains looming over the city and experienced people living very different lifestyles than those in the urban areas.  The end point for the hike was a restruant called ´´La Niebla´´, and we were given very conflicted information about it´s location.  After making it to the restruant and having the best meal we´ve had on the trip we made it back into town via an old janky van called a ¨¨collectivo¨¨; a packed shared ride van with the floor about to fall out.  Vicious barking dogs nipping at our heels, walking along small undeveloped roads on the mountain side, and drinking water out of plastic bags were a few highllights from today.

Halfway up taking a break and enjoying the view.

The path to the first village.

Lunch, much better than expected

At the high point of the hike, 3 hours up through cattle trails, jungle, and small villages.

La Candelaria/ Historic Center

This is the street we are staying on! Our eco hostel is called "Musicology" and has slogans such as "We love the Planet!" "This is a happy hostel" and "Nobody's ugly after 2am".
The streets are very crowded with police and military every block. A storm blew through this evening and we watched the streets transform into flowing rivers while everyone hudled together beneath the shelter of the buildings. Thunder and lighting! Everything feels so magical!

And here we are..

 Pigeons dominate the plaza

Bogota. Plaza Bolivar

The streets of Bogota are crazy, the roads are narrow and under construction.  Driving is a whole other story, watch out.

Here we go..

My Life in a Backpack...

Yes, my stuff weighs more than Chris'.

Adventure Is Out There!

“The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” -St. Augustine

The Beginnings of a Trip