Well, it seems the Bogota weather curse has returned with a vengeance! After what seemed like months of pretty respectable weather by the Colombian capital’s standards, the rain is falling in buckets again. I’d almost forgotten what it was like walking down the hill for a coffee and coming back with the bottom of my jeans soaked through…good times! However, as luck would have it, this bad weather spell has come right next to a holiday weekend in Colombia, and there are many options for those who want to escape to the sun, most of them just an hour or two away on a bus. So here are the Colombia Travel Blog Top 5 sunny escapes from Bogota:
1. Melgar
Located in Tolima department, about 100km southwest of Bogota, Melgar is known as the ‘City of Swimming Pools’ on account of the 5,000 odd pools in the town. Probably (along with Giradot) the most popular spot for a weekend getaway from Bogota, book in advance if you’re planning a visit to Melgar, and leave yourself plenty of time to travel: traffic can be murder on a holiday weekend! Otherwise just grab some swimming shorts and the sun block and get ready to relax…
2. Giradot
Much bigger that Melgar (90,000 people vs. about 30,000), Giradot is Cundinamarca’s second most important city, and enjoys a strong tourist reputation due to it’s proximity to the capital, and it’s tropical weather, with average temperature highs of over 30°C. It’s tropical, so in the wet season there’s a good chance of high rainfall, but it’s that fancy tropical rain than goes crazy for 2 hours then the sun comes out…none of that ‘walking through a cloud, all day’ rain that Bogota has to offer. Plus, there’s a nightclub with a pool on the roof. You heard me…POOL ON THE ROOF. Sold.
3. La Vega
Also in Cundinamarca, La Vega is only about 1 hour on the bus from Bogota, and offers much of the same: hot weather, swimming pools and…actually, that’s the main bit. I’d love to be able to say loads more about La Vega, but the main draw for tourists is that big orange ball that you can see in the sky (don’t look directly at it…I vaguely remember that from school)…it’s so rare in Bogota these days that it’s a wonder we don’t all start bowing and chanting when the sun actually comes out!
4. Villeta
Located, along with La Vega, on the Bogota-Honda highway (the name of a town on the Magdalena River, not a canny bit of corporate sponsorship), Villeta has a few more exciting tourism options that others on this list, with lots of nearby waterfalls, swimming holes and ecological paths to keep you entertained once the novelty of the sun wears off, as it inevitably does (particularly to a British man whose skin has the ability to spontaneously combust).
5. Villavicencio
A bit further afield this one, but worth the 3-odd hours on the bus from Bogota. Villavicencio is known as the ‘Gateway to the Llanos’ (or plains) and is the capital of Meta department. The climate is hot by day and, on account of the Andean breezes, cool at night, making the city a perfect holiday spot. It’s proximity to Colombia’s great plains make it a great ecotourism destination, with lots of opportunities to go wildlife spotting and hiking.
So, there you have it: a great list of options to escape from Bogota when the rain just gets too much. You can thank me when you get back…
Chris
