Juan Carlos met my mother and me at The Grace Hotel in Chapinero on time at 8:30am. He was very patient with us despite our tardiness. We then met our designated driver Jiménez (uncertain of her name but she was great too). We departed Bogotá at 8:45am.
He told us that the drive to Lake Guatavita would be ~2 hours. As planned, we made a stop at the town Sesquile around 10:00am for a quick picture with the town’s sign and bathroom break. He was very kind to pay for my coffee at the bodega to allow us to use the bathroom.
Then, onwards to the Lake Guatavita! There was a road closure for the main road to the lake, so we were forced to take a detour route which was mostly an unpaved road with no signs or cell/data service. This detour took us through an unexpected scenic route that resembled the Swiss Alps with endless rolling green hills, delicate wildflowers abound, mountain goats and cows freely grazing, and not a person in sight. We, including Jiménez and Juan Carlos, were pleasantly surprised and saw the positive side of the slight delay.
We arrived at Lake Guatavita around 11am and the entry to the park reserve was included in the tour. We joined the group tour led by a park ranger. Since the tour was in Spanish, Juan Carlos gave us synopses in English. He was very knowledgeable of the legend and history of the area. The hike up to the lake from the entrance isn’t challenging (mostly stairs). There were plenty of spots to take pictures. We made a brief stop at the town Guatavita.
After our pleasant experience at Guatavita, we decided to extend our tour with Juan Carlos by adding a trip to the Salt Cathedral. He and the driver were very flexible. The driver asked for an additional $120.000 COP. Juan Carlos arranged for our tickets to be pre-purchased so we paid $59.000 COP for each ticket that included an audio tour. They recommended having lunch at a restaurant near the salt cathedral. Truthfully, it was not a great experience. The waiter was very suspicious when handling the bill and payment.
The salt cathedral was an interesting and unique experience, but we were rushed on time as we had only 1 hour and 45 minutes for the attraction. We departed around 6pm and were dropped off at our hotel.
The highlight of this private tour was Juan Carlos and the lake. Although Juan Carlos was not completely fluent, his English was more proficient than most local people we’ve encountered in Bogotá which was extremely refreshing and helpful. It made this part of our trip to Colombia the least stressful, since my Spanish is only conversational. Thank you!