Parque Iguaque

Under recommendation by Robin, I left the hostel at 7am and made my way to Parque Iguaque, located about 45 mins by bus.

Upon arrival, it was about another 30 mins walk from the bus stop to the main entrance of the National Park.  Parque Iguaque is supposed to have a very significant historical meaning for Colombia, as according to some tribal beliefs, it is at the lagoon at the top of Iguaque which was where humans first came about.




So after paying for my entrance fee (exorbitantly expensive for foreigners in my opinion!), I started my 3 hour trek to the top.  Just barely after I started my trek, I met a couple (Orlando from Colombia and Sharka from Czech Republic) who were also trekking upwards and we decided to trek together.  The trek up was a nightmare as the first half was filled with numerous paths which were extremely muddy, that I had a couple of near full-face falls which were only prevented due to quick hands!

View half way on trek

Hands covered with mud

The 2nd half of the trek was extremely steep, where we had to use on many occasions our hands to climb up the rocky path, that for some moments we felt like we were rock climbing!

It was with great relief that we finally reached the lagoon, and got a well-deserved rest as we set next to the lagoon and had our lunch, while I also took the opportunity to dry my slightly wet and muddy shoes and socks in the sun!

Lagoon

Doing an unglam act of drying my shoes & socks!

Orlando & Sharka taking a rest at top

Finally after a hard day´s work!

Making our way back down was an even bigger nightmare.  At the end, I wasn´t sure if I preferred the uphill steep climb while trying to catch my breath at high altitudes (from 2,900m to 3,600m), or going down the extremely slippery muddy path, or climbing down the extremely big rocky steps.

By the end of the trek, my lower half of my pants and shoes were totally covered with mud.  I was extremely glad that Orlando and Sharka was able to give me a lift back to Villa de Leyva, as I don´t think I could have survived walking back down to the bus stop and catching a bus back to Villa de Leyva.

What a great day to be out!