Rio Claro

On our way from Medellin to Bogota we decided to make a brief stop at El Rufugio Rio Claro. We were hoping to see some of Colombia's coffee zone, but unfortunately it was further south than we had time for this trip. While Rio Claro didn't have much in the way of coffee plantations, the refugio was in a killer location in the middle of the rainforest. To top it all off, our room had a close-up view of the jungle...well, I guess it was more like the jungle came right into our room.

Our first day there, we walked the river trail passing a cave called El Templo del Tiempo (The Temple of Time) and a couple different beaches. We played around a bit floating in the river's currents, but didn't attempt to cross it because there was a streak of umph in this river.

That night, there was a consistent downpour. Beside sleeping to the sound of rain in the rainforest, we were stoked because the second morning we were hoping to do a little river rafting. Get this...$10 US for two hours! When we awoke the river was moving much faster than the day before. While the rapids weren't crazy (probably only a level 2 at most), our driver was. Instead of steering the boat away from low-hanging trees, we would head straight for them. There were at least two times that my helmet came in handy preventing brain damage.

Unfortunately, we weren't aware that the first weekend in May is a national Colombian holiday. The refugio was booked full and our hopes for a second night there were quickly shot down. We hit the road to Bogota, but were pleasantly pleased with our experience in the Colombian jungle.