Introduction
Santander is where the eastern Andes break open. A canyon roughly two kilometres deep runs through the middle of the department, and almost everything visitors come for follows from it — the whitewater on the rivers that carved it, the paragliding off its rim, and a countryside so broken that the old road between two villages had to be laid in stone and is now walked for pleasure.
Overview
The Chicamocha canyon is the department's defining feature and among the larger canyons anywhere, a vast arid gash of ochre and grey rock with a river far below and the main road switchbacking down one side and up the other. A cable car crosses it — descending from one rim, over the river, and climbing to the far side — which is the easiest way to feel the scale and one of the longest such crossings built. The town of San Gil, a couple of hours south, has become Colombia's adventure centre because of what the same terrain provides: rivers with reliable whitewater at several grades, cliffs and thermals for paragliding, and extensive cave systems in the limestone. Half an hour from it, Barichara is the town people describe as the most beautiful in Colombia and is difficult to argue with — built in rammed earth and stone, with pale gold walls, stone-paved streets and a heavy stone church, and almost no modern intrusion. From its edge, an old stone-laid road drops through dry hills to a tiny village below, and walking it takes a couple of easy downhill hours. And the department eats large fried ants, in season, with complete seriousness. The combination — geology, sport, architecture and one very strange delicacy — makes this the most varied few days in the eastern Andes.
Discover Santander
The scale is difficult to register from the rim because there is nothing familiar in it to give the eye a reference — the river at the bottom looks like a thread and the far side looks close until you start driving to it. It is arid, ochre and grey, cut into folded rock, with the vegetation thinning as the walls drop. The cable car is the efficient answer: it leaves one rim, descends steadily to cross the river, and climbs to the opposite side, taking long enough that the sense of depth arrives properly on the way down rather than at either end. There is a park at the top rim with the usual attractions built around it, which is agreeable enough and not the reason to come. Driving the road that traverses the canyon is the alternative and is spectacular in a more nerve-testing way — a long descent in switchbacks, a bridge at the bottom, and an equally long climb out.
Ways to Experience This Destination
An arid gorge around two kilometres deep, crossed by one of the longest cable cars built — the descent is when the scale finally registers.
Whitewater across several grades on year-round rivers, paragliding off the canyon rim, caving in the limestone beneath — all arranged cheaply from one small town square.
Rammed-earth walls in pale gold, cut-stone streets and a plain heavy church, protected from development for decades and extremely quiet.
Large ants toasted in salt and eaten whole in a short season after the rains — an old regional habit, genuinely expensive, and given as a wedding gift.
Frequently asked questions
Visaja keeps this page's contact details and visa guidance under continuous review — still, requirements can change at short notice, so confirm the essentials with the mission or the official government portal before you travel.