the real fun began, and by fun I mean
pure, muddy torture. The plan was to
ride the entire stretch from Vista Her-
mosa south to La Macarena, but re-
cent rain made that impossible. Deep
mud, bike issues, military check-
points, and various delays meant we
needed to stop around the halfway
point once the sun set behind the
trees. That put us in a little known
spot called Caño Canoas.
The next morning roosters, don-
keys, and various other animals woke
us early. The caretaker of the rustic
cabins offered to take us on a short
hike to see Caño Canoas. We hiked up
a dirt track paralleling the river for
around 20 minutes. This brought us
to a bluff overlooking three massive,
stunning waterfalls. After scrambling
down a tight path we were able to
spend time swimming and bathing
under the falls. It truly was an amaz-
ing place that felt like the land of the
lost. The dangerous history of the
area, and sheer remoteness has left
Caño Canoas a hidden gem of Colom-
bia.
After the hike, we mounted our
trusty steeds and set off on the most
insanely difficult, but amazingly fun
20km stretch of the entire trip. The
mud was indescribable. Beyond knee
deep at points, so thick your boots
would almost get sucked off when
trying to walk through… and why
walk you ask? Well, because bikes
were toppling over and getting stuck
left and right. Seriously, skill level
didn’t matter at that point. It was a to-
tal war zone. Six hours later, we were
exhausted when we finally arrived at
Cristales, but everyone had a smile
from ear to ear.
Caño Cristales is absolutely spec-
tacular. The multicolored algae
blooms give the river a surreal and
ethereal feel. There’s also the beauti-
ful waterfalls to gaze at and swim un-
der. Really the area has it all, and I rec-
ommend going now before too many
tourists trample the algae in hopes of
getting the perfect Instagram selfie.
The area known as Caño Cristales
lies between the river itself and Rio
Guayabero to the south. Five years
ago you wouldn’t dare go because
of the danger. Now you won’t go be-
cause you can’t. The Colombian gov-
ernment has made it all but impossi-
TRAVERSE
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