Unbelievable that in less than a week we will actually alreay be in El Cocuy....
The past weeks we were busy with getting the equipment together and doing some long training hikes.
The first tour on a Sunday afternoon we had to abandon after 3 hours: it was raining too much and we weren't dressed properly. Then a walk home after work with a detour over Gempen (an elevation close to the town we live): approx 20km, 4h15m on the road... it was cold, and I wasn't convinced of repeating this by myself... so the next hike alone was "just" home from the office, along the tram tracks... 12km, 2h15m. And believe me, this strenghtened my psyche a lot more, as anytime I could have hopped on the tram...
Now, 5 days before departure, most of the hiking gear is complete and set to be packed:
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Our diving gear will go into a separate suitcase, and we will hopefully be able to leave it in the hotel in Bogota for the first 10 days.
Next Friday 10.30am: Basel - Frankfurt - Bogota, ETA 7.45pm local time (5 hours time difference to Switzerland). The next day we will leave on bus to Guican, in the department of Boyacá, the starting point of our trek.
The following 9 days we will trek around the El Cocuy National Park, with our ultimate goal just in front of us most of the time: Ritacuba Blanco, 5410m. Christmas and Dominik's birthday in the quietness and beauty of the Andes.... And if all goes well, we will stand on the peak on the last day of the year, fingers crossed!
Some more info here. And in case you missed WHY we are doing this, read on here.
January we will start off in Bogota, followed by 8 days in the colombian caribbean, on Providencia Island.....also a place that will definitely not be crowded like other caribbean islands. The island we are staying on is about 5km long and 3km wide, large enough to find nice diving spots and beaches, but small enough to not attract international crowds.
We are very much looking forward to the next 4 weeks, but will hardly post anything during that time, as being connected to the world is not necessarily something we are pursuing with our trip. Although, for sure, will post a detailed report and images once back in Basel in January.