Today we headed north from Villa de Leyva starting the last leg of our South American travels. By this time next week we will be in Cartagena and starting the paper work to ship the Tiger to Panama.
We spent the day winding along a two lane mountain road accompanied by a lot of heavy trucks. The country was lush and steep. Mid afternoon we passed through the town of San Gil and a little while later climbed up onto a mountain range among steep, spectacular, green valleys and the entrance to Parque Nacional Chicamucha. As the park was closed we continued north, making the spectacularly steep descent into the valley of the Rio Chicamucha where we eventually found a gas station where we could spend the night.
Camping
We spent the night at a gas station just north of where the highway crosses the Rio Chicamucha. We initially tried Chicamucha National Parque only to find out that the park is closed on Mondays. The police at the gate were still prepared to ask the park admin if we could stay, but the administration office did not answer their phone.
Next we tried a restaurant/balnerio in the valley north of the park and just north of the crossing of the Rio Chicamucha. This was a nice place, but unfortunately they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays (except when there are holidays - that's why they were open today but would be closed tomorrow and we wouldn't be able to exit). They suggested the gas station about 1 km up the road.
