Mesa de los Santos

The mesa is a flat block of limestone standing above the Chicamocha canyon at around 1,600 metres, and its edges are vertical - which has made it the best-developed sport climbing area in Colombia, with several hundred bolted routes on the crags at La Mojarra looking straight down into the canyon. Paragliders launch from the same edge. The plateau is also seismically notable: the Bucaramanga nest beneath it is one of the most concentrated sources of intermediate-depth earthquakes in the world, producing small tremors almost daily at around 150 kilometres depth. The Sunday market at Mesa de los Santos is large and long-established, selling produce and food from the plateau farms, and coffee is grown here at unusually high altitude.

What you actually see

• Limestone crags above the canyon - the country's main sport climbing area.
• Paragliding from the same edge - launching over the gorge.
• A large Sunday market - produce from the plateau farms.
• The Bucaramanga seismic nest - small tremors almost daily, deep underground.

When to go

December to March; the market is Sunday. A full day.

Honest expectations

Climbing access is at cliff edges with no barriers. The market is Sunday only - other days the plateau is quiet. Roads up are winding. The earthquakes are deep and generally unfelt, despite the frequency.

Nearby

The Chicamocha canyon is below; Bucaramanga is north.