Bogotá is surrounded by mostly mountains, and we decided to explore a close by National Park, Chingaza. It is the location of some of the most sacred destinations of the indigenous people of Colombia, the Muiscas, and also where El Dorado, the golden city legend, is.
We started the tour with a small pit stop in a mountain town, where we met our guide, as well as fueling up on a local favorite, arepas (corn bread).
Our destination for the hike, were the sacred lakes of Siecha. They are three glacier lakes, located at 3590 height meters. In one of the lakes, the indigenous people, Muisca, sacrificed gold, and lots of it. The Spanish conquerors emptied the lake of all the gold. The Muisca are nowadays back to sacrificing gold, emeralds and other gifts to the gods in lake Siecha.
Obviously there are restrictions to who can hike the mountains, which is monitored closely. The day that we were there, it was windy, foggy, rainy and quite cold. However, this seems to be normal here. There were no other hikers on the mountain that day, though.
We are so fortunate that we have friends living right outside of Bogotá, in a town called Cajica. It is Carine’s college friend from her studies in Boston, Mayra, who lives there. She is originally from Argentina, and married a Colombian man, Camilo, and they settled down here about 10 years ago.
Mayra and Camilo have a lovely ranch where they live with their two daughters and work with horses that are used for playing polo. We were lucky enough to stay with them for a few days, and got to hang with their family and friends, see several polo matches and also discover the nearby area.
We also got to explore some of the local neighborhood places in the area, as Mayra and Camilo lent us their bikes.
Mayra has been great with sharing a lot of tips for us about what to do in Bogotá, as well as other places we might go in Colombia. She has also shared lots of cool restaurants, shopping advices, etc. One particular restaurant she asked us to wait with visiting before we were together, and that was Andres Carne de Res. It was a very cool experience, and we got to visit the original one, which is located close to their home. It can take as much as 4,000 guests at the same time!
The famous Salt Cathedral is located just a 30 minute drive from Mayra and Camilo’s house. It is located in a salt mine, which still operative in some areas. The area open to tourists has been repurposed to become a cathedral 25 years ago. It also hosts a major art exhibition where sculptors have interpreted religious moments throughout history.
It was a truly impressive experience, and something different from what we had ever witnessed. Talk about sustainability in repurposing such a space!
We left Mayra and Camilo feeling so incredibly fortunate to be invited to take part of their life in this way. They have shown us tremendous hospitality, and they have introduced us to Colombia in such an awesome way. We are absolutely taken by what this great country has to offer. With two coast lines on the Pacific and Caribbean sides, lots of mountains with great altitudes, fantastic fauna and unique ecosystems, we look forward to explore this country even further.
Thank you so much, Mayra and Camilo – it would never have been the same without you 🤩❤️