ChiChiFly to Bucaramanga, a visit to La Mesa de los Santos

Colombia is roughly the size of  California and Texas put together, a large area encompassing a variety of terrain, including three ranges of the northern Andes. As such, travel by car or bus can be very slow. So for my first weekend foray into another part of Colombia, I chose to fly one of the small and quite affordable local airlines, EasyFly, an hour’s flight versus a 14 hour bus ride. 

The gals of Mar Adentro (my apartment building) decided to go to the city of Bucaramanga, in the mountainous area west of the Venezualen border, for a weekend getaway.  Christy lived and taught there for three years. She is from Colorado and was anxious to share the beauty of Colombian mountains and see her boyfriend, Hernando. 

View of Bucaramanga from the airport mesa

Reminiscent of Hawaii, people in Colombia welcome friends of friends as they would family, offering places to stay and fresh coffee. I went to Hernando’s sister’s home with Christy and we dropped Leah and Jackie off with Catalina, a delightful older woman who is the madre of Hernando’s brother-in-law. She was thrilled that we flew on ChiChiFly. I never did figure out if she just couldn’t quite wrap her tongue around the English word ‘easy’ or if some people just call it that, but she is well-traveled and was very sweet. 

Irish pubs are everywhere, including
Buca's trendy downtown

We drove up the mountains the next morning (riding in a car was wonderful) and the main thing I noticed were the road cyclists climbing the narrow highway up to the mesa. It was incredibly steep and there was little shoulder. Upon reaching the top, mountain bikers appeared as well, on the pavement but muddy from hidden trails.

I was envious and will be looking into a cycling excursion at some future point. We stopped for some local specialty arepas (a Colombian empanada, deep fried, made with sweet corn and queso) but I was distracted by a tienda (store) with the most amazing rustic furniture and stained glass, though no one was around to ask about prices, probably a good thing.

It wasn’t until I looked at the pictures later that I noticed the nod to Finding Nemo in the stained glass! The artist has a sense of humor, or young kids, maybe both.

 

In less than an hour of traveling outside the city, we reached the beautiful countryside and the much appreciated wide open spaces of La Mesa de los Santos. We visited a market where we sampled the local treat, deep-fried ants, and yes I tried one, crunchy and oily-tasting.

We spent the equivalent of about $7 on an array of produce to get us through the weekend. 

Driving through forests cultivated with coffee, we arrived at a house on a small reservoir at Casa de Campo, an area full of weekend homes and rentals for those escaping city life. It was lovely and the view from my balcony was sublime; the only noise, birdsong.  Friends of Christy and Hernando came over and we enjoyed dinner and wine, card games and music, with no distraction from TV or internet. The area offered hiking and I kayaked on the lake, which made me a very happy non-camper.

The big draw of the mesa is Chicamocha National Park, a viewpoint around what is known as Colombia’s great canyon. The gorges are 2 km deep in places, and the views impressive. We accessed the park via a gondola ride that traveled nearly four miles, though here it is called a teleferico (the irony of riding a gondola just like the Silver Bullet is not lost on me). The park itself is more like an amusement park with ziplines, canyon swings and the like. It is well-tended with the most brilliant bougainvillea I’ve ever seen. We were lucky in that crowds were thin the Saturday we visited; Sundays here are family days and attractions are always packed then.

The best of the man-made attractions is a massive sculpture that honors a 1781 uprising of the commoners against unfair taxation and oppression of the Spanish church and overlords. Over loudspeakers, a recording tells the story, in Spanish and English, of the bravery of the Santander people, and the whole thing is on a curved platform to represent a tobacco leaf, the dominant crop at the time. 

Now the area is known for its coffee and chocolate, with Santander chocolate bars going for hefty prices at Starbucks in the United States, apparently. I can get them here for about $2.50 and it is the most delicious chocolate I’ve ever tasted.

With the first weekend trip under my belt such a success, I look forward to a week-long break in October, another in November, and a little jaunt at Xmas time before I head to California. You’ll hear all about it soon, as well as a post coming up on my school and the city of Cartagena. 

Love to all, besos! (Scroll down for more pix)

View from the lake house

Chicamocha Canyon from the lake area

Christy & Hernando

Jackie & Leah

View from the top of the park

Night hiking