La Mojarra: a climber's (and foodie's) paradise

You all know that I think climbing is amazing; the feel of the rock, the places it takes you, the views and the excitement that climbing offers! We've climbed several times on this trip but I have never climbed for more than one day in a row. So I was very excited when we stopped in La Mojarra, a climbing area a few hours away from Bogota so we could climb for four days.

My joy was indescribable and I was eagerly anticipating the days to come. Another reason why I was excited was because we were camping again. Thankfully, not in hammocks, but in our own tents. It was a small campsite which we used to shelter in the morning when the sun was too hot to climb, but was very close to the climbing area and there was a lot of space for us to run around.

Las Rocas de La Mojarra is just south of a big town called Bucaramanga in the area of Santander in Colombia, and is a part of the Chicamocha Canyon. The actual climbing crag is a national reserve and is maintained by the local climbing community. The rock was sandstone (my first time climbing on sandstone) and was hanging into the canyon. The views were stunning, overlooking a valley and looked so picturesque and unique. I really liked chilling out and looking at the valley when Dan was climbing, and I had nothing much to do. 

I  did around 10 climbs over our four days there. They were all much harder than I've ever done before but really nice climbs. The highest of them was 25 meters (my highest ever) and, at the highest parts, it felt very exposed and airy. At one part on a shelf, I got quite scared and hurt myself a bit. After that, I was a bit freaked out but I was determined and made it to the top. The last climb we did was called Machu Pichu and that was much easier. It also felt great to 'go up' Machu Pichu. A bit of a practice for the real thing?

But climbing is not the only thing we did in La Mojarra.  When we were up in the coast in Medihuaca (before visiting the Tayrona National Park), we met a German couple who recommended we get in touch with Santiago who lives in the area, is a climber himself, but most importantly is also a chef who prepares meals for people in his house (a bit like a supper club I think). Ismene and I loved helping him prepare and serve some of the dishes and learnt a few tricks from him. That inspired me to start helping out Ioanna cook (which she is very glad of) and really enjoy it now.

Santiago's food was fantastic, even for a meat lover like myself: a cold melon soup; charred cabbage with carrot sauce; smoked spaghetti; japanese dumplings with an onion, mushroom, and potato filling and, last but certainly not least, an amazing chocolate mousse! Ismene and I even got to help him make the dumplings in the kitchen! We all loved his food, and bought some of his yummy activated charcoal bread to have for sandwiches the next day.

Bogota (Colombia's capital) is our next stop for museums and fun!