Wild and Rugged Colombia

Sixteen nights deep into rural Colombia from Cali, on dirt as much as tarmac, finishing on a road widely reported to be the most dangerous in the country. The hire is included, with upgrades available.

Salento and a coffee plantation tour come first, then the Cocora valley and its wax palms, the tallest palms in the world, and Jardin by way of Andes ridge roads and dirt tracks that carry only farm traffic.

Guatape follows for the Stone of El Penol, a granite monolith with 740 steps up the side of it, then Rio Claro, where the river runs over marble through rainforest, and Giron on the longest riding day of the trip at around 400 kilometres. Barichara comes next above the Chicamocha canyon, with optional tandem paragliding, and a rest day for rafting and rappelling down waterfalls.

Villa de Leyva follows, colonial and cobbled, then Girardot near Bogota, and the Tatacoa desert, reached over old bridges, through tunnels and across the Magdalena by canoe. San Agustin is next, a UNESCO site often described as the largest necropolis in the world, with hundreds of carved stone figures guarding tombs, and a rest day for horses and waterfalls. The Trampolin de la Muerte then carries the route to the Laguna de la Cocha, a single-track mountain road with sheer drops and no barriers at all, before Popayan. Prices are quoted in US dollars. Seventeen days is a long time on surfaces this variable, and this is the most demanding trip in the operator’s Colombian range.