6 days itinerary
private tailor-made horseback-riding holiday
For adult intermediate and advanced Riders
day 0ne: CAR DRIVE TO THE HOTEL IN VILLA DE LEYVA AND VISIT THE TOWN
We pick you up in your hotel in the morning and we will travel by car for around 4 hours to a hotel outside of Villa de Leyva town where we will sleep all the nights. Before to go to the hotel will have lunch in a restaurant in Villa de Leyva. After the lunch we can visit Villa de Leyva o we can hike for 1 or 2 hours.
Villa de Leyva is a small town that better preserves memories of old colonial times and expresses the best of Spanish influence. It was founded in 1572 and built according to Spanish architectural norms. Even the location of the city (in a valley) seems to be an emotional encounter of the New World with places from Spain.
Every day we will leave the hotel in the morning and do different activities during the day. We will come back to the hotel after 5:00 p.m (sunset starts at 6:00 pm).
day TWO: horseback-RIDing TO SAN MIGUEL DE SEMA TOWN
After a good breakfast and a 30 minutes ride by car, we get the place where the ride will begin.
We are going to explore the mountainous area of the Raquira Region, located at 2300 meters above sea level, with temperatures between 18 and 24 centigrade during the day, normally dry weather, with rainy weather on some days.
We will do a horseback-riding on many small and adventure trail going up to the top of those mountains. We will pass through oak forest and brooks. We will visit a typical rural small town (San Miguel de Sema). We can visit the church (if it is open) and the typical construction and we can eat some goodies.
The horseback-riding will take around 4-5 hours and during it, we will see beautiful landscapes of the mountain range and the valleys of Villa de Leyva, and Tinjacá. After the arrival, we will have a tardy and succulent lunch (between 2 and 3 pm).
Around 3-4 pm we can take and optional workshop (fique workshop). It has an additional price and have to be sign in advance. The fique workshop is about how to work with Fique. It will take around one hour. Fique is a natural fiber that grows in the leaves of the fique plant, (Furcraea andina), a native plant from Andean regions of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. From there, it was extended to Venezuela and the east coast of Brazil. Common names of Fique are Cabuya, Pita, Penca, Penco, Maguey, Cabui, Chuchao or Coquiza. It can be used to make rope, bags, basic shoes (alpargatas), etc. The fique plant is often confused with the agave plant. The differences are that the Agave leaves are yellowish and stiff, with a strong spike in the tips, while the Fique plant leaves are droopy and greenish without a spike.
day thREE: horseback-RIDing TO THE WATERFALL “LA CHORRERA”
We will do a ride on unpaved small rural road and some trails, in order to arrive to a clean waterfall called “La Chorrera” there, we will relax and eat a snack. In the middle of the ride, if it is possible, we are going to visit a local people who are going to show us how they make handicraft similar to the handicraft that you will see during our visit to Ráquira Town.
The ride will take around 4-5 hours and during it, we will see beautiful landscapes of the mountain range and the valley of Raquira, which will visit at the next days.
After the arrival, we will have a tardy and succulent lunch (around 3 pm).
Before to go to the hotel to rest, we will visit a store where can show us, how the make a miniature figures of tagua (palm tree seed), which resembles elephant ivory.
day four: HIKE TO PERIQUERA WATERFALL, CANDELARIA MONASTERY AND RAQUIRA TOWN
The ride are in the mountains going up and down and you can canter a lot in the flat parts of the trail. So, after two days of riding the horses, they will be tired and they need to rest for one day.
The plans for this day are:
in the morning, you will visit a beautiful waterfall called “La Periquera”. The hike to Periquera waterfall take between 1-2 hours. We will stay in the morning on this area.
After lunch, we will visit the Candelaria convent. The convent was built in 1604 by the Agustinos religious organization called “recoletos”. It is a museum for the tourist but it maintains its operation as a monastery. After visit the Candelaria convent, we will visit Ráquira town. Due to a vast ceramics tradition dating back to pre-Hispanic times, Ráquira is the handicrafts capital of Colombia. In addition to pots, pitchers, coffee cups, and kitchen utensils, there are anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines, pieces for Nativity scenes, piggy banks, etc. Perhaps for this ability of Ráquira inhabitants, the name of the town in the “Chibcha” language is “City of Pots”. These indigenous peoples used them to prepare chicha (a fermented corn drink), store their food, and prepare their meals. Artisans work with black, white, yellow, and red cla
day FIVE: horseback-RIDing TO FUQUENE LAKE LANDSCAPE
After a good breakfast and a 30 minutes ride by car, we get to the place where the ride will begin.
Today we will ride up to the mountains range, taking different dirty roads or trails- We will horse ride through oak forest and brooks. Close to the top of the mountains we can see behind and watch beautiful landscapes. After we cross the mountain range, a new valley is open to our view to observe from the top of the mountain the Fúquene Lake. Until the 1970’s Laguna de Fúquene was Colombia’s largest lake. Today only 3,000 hectares are left from the originally 10,000 hectares because the flat lagoon was dried or filled with land to gain acreage for agriculture and stock farming. We will stop here to enjoy the landscapes, to let the horses rest, eat snacks, and rest a little bid. After the arrival, we will have a tardy and succulent lunch.
After lunch, if you are tired, we can go back to the hotel or we can do a short visit to Villa de Leyva. Villa de Leyva is a small town that better preserves memories of old colonial times and expresses the best of Spanish influence. It was founded in 1572 and built according to Spanish architectural norms. Even the location of the city (in a valley) seems to be an emotional encounter of the New World with places from Spain.
DAY six: COMEBACK TO BOGOTa
It is the day we come back to Bogota. Usually we leave around 11 am. We can do a small hike or buy some gifts in Villa de Leyva. After that, we will start the travel to Bogota and we will stop in the middle of car drive for lunch in a nice restaurant with a beatiful view. We will comeback to your hotel around 3-4.30 pm depends on the traficc entering in the city.