Nora and I set off on a wild goose chase to find Colombia´s largest waterfall, in part because we love adventure but mostly because we love cheaper options.

The tourist information center in Bogotá had warned that it´s difficult to reach the falls without a tour group and guide, but then explained that the journey was just a short bus and taxi ride away, so we thought the agency was purely underestimating our abilites and we set off alone.

Long story, short: It´s difficult to reach the falls without a tour group and guide.
Here´s the long story (which is much more facinating than the short one):

The story starts with the usual beginning to advenutres in Colombia — we wandered through the city´s maze of streets, bumping into locals who pointed out the way with words of caution for our safety. We eventually found the bus terminal (no signs of course) in a small office past the police station near Parque Tercer Milenio. The micro buses would take us to the town of Choachi, about an hour away.

The road to the town is through a windy picturesque valley that had the kid directly next to me puking as I, myself, tried to hold down my lunch. Gagging from the smell, I slid over and shared the small seat with Nora for the last third of the trip.

The driver failed to point out the entrance to the path for the waterfall and took us poor lost gringas all the way to the town, where we were told to hail a taxi. There were none. We were told to catch a mini bus. There were none. When I asked someone else for a third time, they explained that we had to take a bus toward Bogotá (where we had just come from) in order to reach the entrance of the waterfall. So with that, we got back on the bus and backtracked up the same road for another 15 minutes to reach the waterfall´s entrance.

The young girl who sold treats out of a minimarket shack on the side of the road next to the entrance to the waterfall sign said the walk was 4 kilometers (about 2.5 miles). Lies! We walked and walked and walked. Fortunately, the landscape was a beautiful farm countryside with cows, pigs, chickens and dogs roaming from propery to property, ducking between clothes drying on the lines.

About two hours later (again, definitely not 4 kilometers), we came across a family who claimed to have “the key” to Colombia´s largest waterfall. Still, no signs for such an attraction were anywhere in sight. For US$2.50 each, we received the key and headed down the dirt road for another 20 minutes.
I kid you not, they actually gave us a key.

We finally reached a gate and literally unlocked the entrance to “let ourselves in” to this national treasure. South America is so crazy sometimes.

The area was beautiful and peacefully quiet as Nora and I explored the grounds alone. But I´ve swam in the waterfalls of Hawaii and hiked up Dunn´s River Falls in Jamaica, so I was a bit disappointed with the (not so big) Chorrera Falls of Colombia.

But it´s about the journey, not the destination … right?

We couldn´t stay long for we had to hustle back to the main road to wave down a bus for Bogotá before 7 p.m. It was already 4:30 and the walk took 2 hours. We´d be cutting it close.

We tried hitch-hiking to the path´s entrance to no avail, as all traffic was heading the opposite direction. Everyone we passed offered words of encouragement for our trek though. We made it to the main road in an hour, caught a bus and arrived back in Bogotá, completely exhausted and with an awesome story to tell.

—JDF