This place IS the lush green Colombia that we see in the films.
Miles away from anywhere, we spent 6 hours on a bus to one town, having been delayed at three blockades by farmers' protests, then another 2 hours crammed in a jeep made for 10 people but which took 18 people, bags of rice, crates of coca cola, and all our luggage up a steep-sided dirt road to a tiny village in the mountains called San Andres.
We stayed in a little hotel (La Portada), run by a local organic farmer and his family, made in the traditional way from bamboo poles. A room with private bathroom and full board for both of us cost us only £22 per day.
The surrounding hills contain lots of buried old tombs from 600 to 900 AD, most of which were looted by grave robbers but which used to contain gold, pottery and other artifacts. We spent two days walking through humid 33 degree heat to see them, some of which still have the preserved wall paintings, carved faces, suns, moons, lizards, etc and one had a collection of stone statues to see.
Amazing green scenery, hummingbirds, and multitudes of brightly coloured butterflies were our companions, along with a dog from the village which just seemed to adopt us and walked each day with us - like a local guide making sure we kept to the right path. A fab couple of days, we really like the Columbian countryside round here.
