Tibasosa - The gateway to the Sugamuxi territory

The road to the Andean highlands

The highway from Bogotá that goes to the north called the Avenida de los libertadores is more popularly known as the Autopista Norte. This highway takes you to the Andean heartlands in Cundinamarca, Boyacá and beyond. The road after crossing the peaje de los andes is a well laid 6 lane road till about Sopó. After Sopó the road becomes a 4 laned road that goes all the way till Duitama. The road takes you to some of the most beautiful landscape and towns in the region.

The traffic along the Autopista Norte

Towards Sogamoso

Beyond Duitama, further inside Boyacá the roads are still well maintained for the most parts, however are 2 lane roads. From Duitama, there are 2 main roads to reach Sogamoso, the capital of the Sugamuxi province of Boyacá. The first one is through Tibasosa and the second one is through Nobsa. Tibasosa, is the focus of this post.

Escape travel recommendation

Whenever you plan to travel outside Bogotá, my recommendation will always be to start early in the morning. The ideal time to start would be at or before 6 am especially when this is an escape travel. The peace of mind, and the wanderlust that accompanies the moment the first toll plaza is crossed, cannot be explained in words. After breakfast and a coffee, there is a pump of adrenaline to drive. The sunny day especially lifts the spirits and the traffic literally disappears after the toll plaza. 

The traffic build up to the toll plaza

The road to Tunja

After the customary stop at represa de sisga, the trip continues through Choconta and Villapinzon. Ventaquemada on this stretch of road is the first small town of Boyacá. The trip continues through Puente de Boyacá monument and leads to the outskirts of Tunja. Tunja is the capital and the biggest city in Boyacá. There are numerous boyacense restaurants on the way and most of them offer a typical lunch. Off through Tunja, through Tuta, passing over the cheese town of Paipa we continue till we reach the provincial town of Duitama. 

Marker for Boyacá 

Duitama and beyond

Duitama is the capital of the Tundama province. Without stoppages, the drive from Tunja to Duitama takes just a little over an hour.

Duitama has a lot of restaurants as well and you would be spoilt for choice.

Driving further, we reach a roundabout with routes to Nobsa and beyond, Tibasosa and beyond both of which eventually pass through Sogamoso, the capital of Sugamuxi province.

Duitama Center

Sugamuxi Province

This region is considered to be the place where the last of the iraca or the high priest of the Muiscas ruled - Sugamuxi. This region is composed of 13 municipalities that are culturally rich. Sogamoso is the capital of this province and is the site of the Sun temple of the Muisca region. Chía is the town that had the temple of the moon, and Sogamoso the sun temple. Sogamoso is also considered an important cultural capital of the Muisca federation due to the importance of the sun temple. 

Sun temple Sogamoso

Sugamuxi statue

Tibasosa

Landscape of rural Tibasosa

Another rural scene

Tibasosa is about 30 minutes away from Duitama. Once we reach Tibasosa, we are greeted by the big church in the center which has a very typical sandstone architecture. The square is huge and is surrounded by beautiful colonial buildings. When I see this, I sometimes wonder how they classify a town to be a heritage town or pueblos patrimonios in Colombia. To me, every town in Boyacá will be qualified for this title. Tibasosa is considered the capital of Feijoa - a native tropical fruit - The feijoa festival in Tibasosa attracts people from all over the region. Festival de la Feijoa is an important event in the cultural calendar of Tibasosa. People even make Sabajón from feijoa in the festival.

 

Tibasosa Center

Tibasosa center - Main church

Tibasosa center - Architecture

A restaurant in Tibasosa

Tibasosa - Architecture

Another restaurant in Tibasosa

A fair in Tibasosa

Guátika Zoo

Tibasosa has a zoo called the Guátika zoo (Parque zoológico Guátika) that is just about 10 minutes away from the center. This zoo houses a lot of native as well as wild animals and birds. The zoo is huge and can easily take about 4-6 hours to cover. The native animals from Colombia are housed in natural habitat. The trek and walk can be a bit tiring in the harsh Boyacán sun. Hence a hat, a sun screen is always recommended. Carry a lot of water too. The air is so dry that you do not sweat however, the body loses water easily. If you do not keep yourself hydrated, it could result in headaches due to lack of water in the body.

The entrance to the zoo

Inside the Zoo

The Capybara - Native to South America

Food options

Back to the town, there is a wonderful food plaza just a block away - There are a few amazing restaurants with the best ambience in town. One of the restaurants here is a Pizzeria called Ostaitetta that is owned by a very nice Italian gentleman. This has some of the most authentic pizzas in the entire Sugamuxi province. The service is top notch as well. This place is good for a visit for both lunch and dinner. The restaurant is housed in a traditional building with a typical architecture from the region. This is a must visit place if you are in Tibasosa or nearby. 

The Ostaitetta restaurant

Inside the restaurant 

Country hotels

There are a lot of country hotels in and around Tibasosa that offer excellent stay for the night. Most of these country hotels are owned by families from the region and offer spacious and comfortable rooms with excellent view to the mountains. As these places normally get busy during weekends, it is always a good idea to book through an app like booking.com. 

A typical country hotel scape