Off the Beaten Path: River Adventures in San Luis, Colombia

Clara and her friend Abigail adventuring on the Rio Dormilón

Life in Medellin is pretty nice, but in the spring time the smog tends to hang heavy in the valley, and you curse the lack of natural escapes. My biggest gripe about life in Medellin is the lack of green space for a city of its size. The pollution is something that is not often discussed when people talk of Colombia, and much of the country does not have this problem, but this is Medellin. It is built in a valley, and when the wind stops blowing in the spring, there is no moving the smog, and pico y placa (the rotating prohibitive driving scheme based on licence plate numbers aimed to reduce the number of cars on the road) makes only marginal difference to the air quality. The drowned town of Peñol, which lies submerged under the lake adjacent to the town of Guatapé, is a popular spot an hour and half or so down the road, but if you seek a bit more adventure, natural beauty, and less tourists, then the small town of San Luis and the river Dormilón, is place worth your time!

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Booking Cost and Logistics

I have now been twice to this place, (my eldest daughter Aurora blogged about her experiences with the river back in August) and each time we enlisted the help and guidance of Ecocagui, a local tour group dedicated to preserving San Luis and the river for the locals and keeping it out of the hands of industrial interests like mining (the area is rich in marble), and hydro-electricity (you can ask the drowned town of Peñol about how that conversation can go!). ​
Gold Star for Safety!
Safety in Colombia (or, South America in general), is often an after-thought by North-American, or European standards, but these guys were top notch, and even wouldn't let us do things we were prepared to do because of safety concerns.​
The Cost: Our day cost $55000/40000cop (adults/kids) ($23/17CAD-15/11EU ) for the day, and included guides, lifejackets safety gear, lunch, and a well documented photocapture of the session. It included brief history of the regionincluding its not to distant struggles with guerillas, and the afore mentioned fight to preserve the ecosystem. For first-timers, or those attempting this trip with children, a guided tour is reccomended. The difference in our first and second experience, described below, covers  that in more detail. 
What to bring: not much, a dry set of clothes, water shoes and advantage, but otherwise shoes/sandals that can handles a bit of rugged rock scrambling, and being completely submerged in water, (this is not flip-flop country!) light snacks and drinks, money to spend at the tienda if you want a beer or anything they offer. We found it best to come dressed more or less ready to go, but there is a place in the hotel (included) to change.  Tip money for Ernesto and his guides (optional).
Who should go? Just about anyone, younger children would not be able to do soem of the more extreme aspects of this excursion, but our five year old managed fine. As long as your child is comfortable with a bit of hiking, and water, go for it!

You can check out Ecocagui's Instagram page, their website linked above, or the classic Colombian Whatsapp message to Ernesto for further info including other tours in the area they offer.
Instagram: @sanluisecoventura   Whatsapp: +57 3136296270
You can also check out the cheesy mashup of Aurora's River trip I made on Youtube, and/or read more about our experience by continuing below.

 

Adventures on the Dormilón River in San Luis

Dormilón trees in bloom somewhere else in the world

The Dormilón river, is named for the sleeping trees that adorn its banks (they are definitely sleeping this time of year, and do not look anything like this picture, devoid of their yellow buds). The river ventures south from the town until it eventually connects with the larger Rio Samana. Along the way there are many natural charcos (pools) and natural waterslides to adventure in.  
A word of warning: this river fluctuates dramatically in high rainfall, and on our second tour, our guides took us back up the hill and over the bridge rather than risk a dangerous crossing through strong currents with little children (yes this is a safe trip for kids, my youngest was five at the time of our second trip). You could navigate this river quite easily from the townsite on your own, all of the locals do, but I am glad we enlisted the services of Ecocagui, they know the river and are stewards of the land, our girls would not have done half of the tour without the comfort of the provided life jackets, they even stepped in wisely and said that certain sections were two dangerous for our Brynn, and her friend Abigail (who it should be noted were both way more keen than their respective older sisters to try the natural rock slide) when the parents were more of the opinion that: "meh, they'll be fine, if they want to try it let them."  I had personally witnessed Aurora complete the natural rock waterslide on the first trip, and she was fine, but the river was stronger this time around. And after seeing Aurora's friend Sophie nearly get launched out of the slide (due to light body weight, we were thankful for the sage wisdom of our guides. Lesson learned: Always trust the locals!

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​The Day on the River: 
Starting this time from the top of the hill and working our way downward (we had previously, in the autumn, started at the bottom and worked up) we get to the grand highlight first. A natural rock waterslide, which has two drops and ends in a whirlpool, which you have to paddle to get out of. Do not attempt this one if you have been drinking, panic easily, or are on your own. We saw with  Sophie what difference the strength of the river can make here, but if you are sensible, it is an amazing experience!
From here we carried on down the hill to another hidden pool, that I would not have ventured into alone, but with locals it proved a fun two meter jump into a chasm. We had skipped this on the first tour, but I remember being shocked to see a young  local boy jumping into it freely.

Sophie testing out the chasm

Somewhere between this place and where we stopped for lunch at Charco El Balsiadero, (which has a little tienda and barbeque areas) is charco Las Piedras where there is a nice plateau again about 2m elevation, where you can jump into a nice refreshing, and safe from all currents pool. It was here that my eldest conquered her general aversion to water sports. This was largely because of the confidence she had gained in the inner tube powered natural rock slide that would have been the next stop on the tour, but was left off the itenerary this time around. (It was never made clear, but I feel that the presence of five minors on this tour slowed the progress and there simply was not enough time) This second slide (first if you are going up-river) is more tame than the more extreme one at the top, (see the Youtube clip for what it is like) but equally fun as it runs a longer stretch, and you don't have to remember to not suck in water so much as enjoy the ride. I think the ride is less forgiving hence the need of inner-tubes, it may be also that the stronger current this time around also made this part of the trip too dangerous.

Aurora conquering the natural tube slide!

 The trip concludes, or begins depending on which way you went, with a visit to Antioquia's biggest natural pool, La Planta, named for the hydro-electric plant that used to run here. The area is one of the more beautiful spots on the river, and just 15 minutes walk from the town, an easy access point to beat a hot summer's day!
In the proper weather you can cliff jump from the town site side of the pool into the pool below at your own risk, the rocks are slippery, and failing to jump far enough out can have disasterous consequences. I managed just fine on the first trip, but was advised against it this time around. It is here that the biggest difference in the river can be seen. Where I had jumped previously from 4m up, was now only about 2-2.5m up, and the casual water trickling out of the exit of the pool was a cascading torrent that forced us to retrace our way back up the hill. In this pool, you can cosy right up to one of the more spectacular waterfalls in Antioquia, (we took too long with pictures and water levels rose making it too dangerous). This was a nice end to the day on this tour, and there was a boulder to jump off on the far side of the river, safe, even in non-ideal conditions.  

Flashback to Aug. 2018, when it was safe to cliff jump

My girls enjoying the final stop!

The smaller boulder jump at La Planta

 

Friends Abigail, and Sophie also had a great day!

Chris taking on natural rock slide!

Getting There

To get to San Luis from Medellin, by public bus you need to leave from Terminal Norte, and find the kiosk for Flota Granada, they are at wicket 17 on the ground floor of the terminal. A ticket each way costs 20000cop ($8.64CAD/5.56EU), but these prices change frequently, when I went the first time in August of 2018 it was only 17000cop. You will need to be on the 6am bus (they leave hourly) or if you want to spend the night in the hotel Verde Mar (where they let us get changed before and after free of charge) it will run you $30000cop ($12.60CAD/8.34EU) for a basic room. The bus ride is about three hours on an interesting public bus, which will get crowded, so be sure to get your seats ahead of time. You can't, I learned in rather frustrating fashion, book passage on the bus any further than one day in advance, and tickets can only be purchased, with cash, from the ticket office in terminal del norte in Medellin. As soon as you arrive you will want to book your return passage (if that is your plan) for the 5pm bus, which is the last of the day.to ensure you are not standing the whole ride back to Medellin,  This of course can only be done in San Luis, and again only cash, no further than a day in advance.

Safer times, when you could get closer to the waterfall