December 2, 2009, Villa de Leyva

After breakfast Kathleen and I teamed-up once again with Trip and Peter for another hike. This time we were heading to Santa Sofia as the jump off to some falls near the confluence of the Rio Guztogue and Rio Moniquirz. At the terminal in Villa de Leyva, we hired a taxi which whisked us off down the road to Santa Sofia. We’ve noticed drivers here are far more patient than those in Bogota. The horn is not used nearly as much, and drivers actually slow down and allow people to cross the street or permit another driver to proceed through an intersection without a blast. We took a country road northeast through farm land and by huge plastic-covered green houses. Some of the green houses were in disrepair which we learned was a sign of Colombia’ struggling economy. Arriving in Santa Sofia, a huge gaudy church dominated the sky-line of the small town – maybe 3,000 people. The taxi driver dropped us off at the town square and we proceeded to walk for a couple miles down a paved road before turning down a dirt road at the pink house – as per instructions on a map. Well, a lotta houses here are pink. We did turn at the correct one. We continued walking down towards a valley and we concluded that we would have to walk up these roads in the afternoon. For the next 2.5, maybe 3, miles we walked and periodically stopped to reconnoiter with a hand drawn map provided at Colombian Highlands Hostel. We’re looking for two palm trees. We’re to turn on the road near the two palm trees.

Down, down, down, we hiked and eventually found the final route to the falls. We walked a narrow ridge which at one point was only about 10-inches wide – Paso del Angel. We continued to descend until the falls. We snacked and explored about. Trip brought out his trumpet and serenaded us with a number of tunes. He also worked on alternative ways to croon. About an hour later we trudged back up and connected with the dirt road. We decided to hike to another falls, however, after examining the map, we determined that we didn’t like the idea of hiking down even further to see a less spectacular falls. We hiked out back to Santa Sofia. At Santa Sofia we bought some something to drink.




The Gatorades and one-liter bags of water Kathleen and I bought were actually cold! You’re more likely to find beverages in the cold vending units; however, they’re just to display the beverage. They’re not cold. The Gatorades were surprisingly sweet. Much more sugar than in the U.S. As the mini-bus to Villa de Leyva didn’t leave for another 45-minutes we all wandered about Santa Sofia. The gaudy church needed investigation. None of us could determine the denomination. However, with the sun going down, the structure made for some good photographs. Our mini-bus ride back to Villa de Leyva was one of those “how many people can you stuff into a Volkswagen Beetle” events. We departed Santa Sofia and along the way picked up and dropped off people resulting in people standing, stooped, squatting, or sharing laps inside the van. Then, the driver would stop, seemingly out in nowhere, and the bus would be nearly purged of passengers only to be packed again by a group of people walking along the road further along. Kathleen and I concluded the mini-bus company made money off those of us that started out at Santa Sofia, now, the driver was making a little extra picking up and dropping off folks along the way to Villa de Leyva. Back in Villa de Leyva, Trip and Peter went back to the hostel while Kathleen and I found a restaurant – not hard to do at all. Again, for about $22 U.S. we ate more than we should have of the slabs of beef and pork, French fries, and a bowl of soup. We meandered back to the hostel beneath the lights strung across the streets.