Not Guatavita

We left Bogota with a plan to visit Lake Guatavita, chasing the El Dorado tale, and were looking forward to a mini hike to the lake.

Trip:

• 30 mins bus ride from centre of Bogota to Portal de Norte
• 2-3 hr bus ride to Guatavita town
• 30 mins taxi ride to Lake Guatavita

Challenges:

• There wasn’t a private taxi ride, it required a min of 6 people – we waited over an hour for another couple to join us but then ended up paying a surcharge. Had they told us about the surcharge from minute one, we would had been willing to pay the surcharge, and skip the long wait.
• Strictly tour-only – 3km hike to be done in 2 hour – the guide stops for 10 mins after 10 metres of walking
• No transport back. The returned ride we paid for would only return at the end of the 2 hour tour

Mission aborted – 6 hours of traveling and we did not see Lake Guatavita nor have better understanding of the El Dorado tale.

We did pay and survived about 10 minutes of the tour before walking out, hitchhiked a ride back to town with thunderstorm lashing in the lake area 5 minutes after we left – everything happens for a reason.

We did enjoy a nice lunch and beautiful walk around Embalse del Tolmine (Reservoir) so not all is lost.