This brand new year arrived bearing a great gift: my friend Isabelle arrived to join me so we could travel together for one month through northeast Colombia. During these “holidays,” I am still going ahead a little with my project by visiting a few hotels along the way (see articles on Palomino and Barichara/San Gil). However this week is to be a total disconnect, and a different kind of challenge awaits us … We reach the Cocuy National Park and off we go on a four-day hike at a height of over 4,000 m above sea-level, including a snowy peak reaching up to 5,150 m ! This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I am not about to forget.
At 2,800 m, trying to find a guide in Guican village
To reach the villages closest to Cocuy National Park, it is necessary to spend a night in a bus (9 to 10 hours going from Duitama to the village of El Cocuy or Guican. But it is thanks to this bus trip that we find our great guide, and are able to quickly rent the necessary equipment. Indeed, we make friends with three nice Colombians, also on their way to the park, and follow their recommendations. And it is thanks to the bus ride that we get to meet Armando and his company (www.guaicani.com) the moment we arrive. And before you know it, we are standing at the park entrance, with a great plan in hand for our four-day hike, the compulsory insurance in our pockets, and all the proper hiking and camping equipment … on our way up a snowy climb!
Staking a tent and adapting to the altitude at 4,300 m.
Next morning, 5:30 am, our backpacks unpacked and repacked, we are ready for a super getaway in the heart of Colombia’s highest mountains … but oh-oh … today the “lechero” (a truck that makes the rounds each day to collect milk from the local farms) left earlier than usual and we missed it! Fortunately Armando is full of resources, so we hop on a mini-bus and catch up with the famous “lechero” at the next village, El Cocuy. To reach the different access points to the park, you either have to start out early on the “lechero” (for less than 3 €) or hire the services of speedy and private transportation (10 times more expensive).
Up, up we go … it feels really nippy, but we forget the cold because of the stupendous view of the mountain-side. We are really excited and happy as anything to be living this little adventure which is the highlight of our trip we had been looking forward to ever since we arrived in Colombia. We finally arrive (2 hours later) at “La Esperanza”, a charming refuge from where we start walking again. It is a long climb to reach the camp at 4,300 m., at the edge of a beautiful lake surrounded by snow-capped peaks. I thought I was athletic and fit … but when you arrive at this altitude, thighs and calves burn up fast and breathing becomes more difficult … ouch, ouch, ouch, this first day of mountain-climbing is not a walk in the park! I just can’t imagine what the climb up to the top of the “Concavo” will be like tomorrow! So we reach the camping area; with the tent set up, I figure I can now rest peacefully … but that’s not counting on an altitude sickness that just doesn’t forgive: a terrible headache, icy cold sensations, bouts of nausea (that wrack my body no end… !) … We are certainly in the most untouched and beautiful spot of the whole trip, the ideal place to spend a night under the stars like never before … but it’s not this night that I will be able to take advantage of it! So we decide to change our plans and take a day of “rest” the next day so as to better acclimatize ourselves to the altitude before going for the summit.
Reaching the snowy summit of Concavo at 5,150 m.
After a day of rest spent reading a book and walking around (well … for me anyway… it was somewhat less relaxing for Isa who closely followed Armando to find the right path up … and ended up walking a good while through scree without water or food … !).
Here we are, the following morning up at 4 in the “morning” (or should I say , the “night” ) to begin a loooonnnng and beautiful day climbing up the Concavo, a very snowy peak that rises up to 5,150 m. (the last 150 m. are notable, believe me! ), that has been urging us upward ever since we arrived at the camp. After a two-hour walk in the dark, the sun decides to slowly peek above the horizon and give us a fantastic show … however it will play hide-and-seek with us for a good while before moving to the other side of the mountains, and finally come out to warm our small frosty extremities! After walking for about three hours (uphill of course), finally we arrive at the glacier. With crampons, harnesses, ice axes, and all three roped together, we keep on climbing but the going gets increasingly steep.
And so, roped up atop a glacier, with the big blue sky and brilliant sun in my line of sight, I have the impression of being in a movie, or rather in a documentary … a mountain-high documentary! The feeling is wonderful … well, at the beginning anyway … because soon “wonderful” turns to “ow, ow, ouch! It’s too hard, I’ll never make it!” And Armando who says: “Come on–we’re almost there!” Ha-ha! Oh yeah … sure, of course … hmmmm! My mood goes from bright to bleak, ending by my falling in tears into Isa’s arms once we finally reach the summit. Oh-la-la! So many emotions! But we made it, my sweet Isa!
The descent will be much easier (except for the short passageway over potential crevasses … no, no, rest assured I will not jump over Armando with crampons, lol … ) and by 1:00pm, we are (at long last!) back at camp.
If I had to do it over again I would; it was an experience rich in emotions, but it is by feeling such strong emotions that one feels so alive. Moreover, there is the satisfaction of having “done it” coupled with beautiful pictures that I keep in the back of my mind and my heart, all of which made it really worth the effort! Without Isa, I think I would have never thrown myself into such an adventure; my Isa, a big “thank you”!
At 2,800 m., a village festival and hot springs
The next day, we begin the descent to Guican. We planned to sleep at La Esperanza and take the “lechero” the next morning, but—bad luck—the shelter is full (taken up by a class of college students). Do we continue to walk towards Guican (4 hours away)? We finally opt to spend the night in the “Chapel,” another refuge a little further on (where we are happy to find a scrumptious lunch and not-so-hot showers!). The way back down to the village the next day on the “lechero” is just as beautiful as it was going up. If you go through this area one day, at least take a ride on the “lechero,” even if you decide not to go hiking: the view along the way is really magnificent!
We decide to spend two more nights in the village of Guican so that we can slowly get over our excitement, dip in the hot springs, and have fun at the traditional festivals. By chance we discover a super little hotel (5 bedrooms!), really too cute for words, sitting on the village heights, and managed by the sweetest family (Hotel El Eden: we recommend it!) Their son Javier, becomes our best friend and takes us everywhere.
On our last night–party night–we learn the local dances with Javier (long live the carangero!) and get to see 
everyone once again (i.e. the lechero himself, people who almost gave us rides, Armando’s cousin, the guy who showed Isa how to make masks … etc.). It is just that we cannot help but be known around the village. It would seem that two lovely French young ladies (ha-ha, no-no, I am not the one who said that, just the local grandpas), and who are especially … so … tall (!!!) cannot go unnoticed! So many emotions … it is with a heavy heart that we take the bus again, this time on our way to Bogota; Isa is leaving in four days … but first, a short stop in Tunja and then Villa de Leyba, the famous and beautiful “colonial” village two hours away from the capital.
Translated by my friend Hélène Masson
A few photos:
- Region of Boyaca: Guican, Cocuy Park, Tunja
A few videos: