Play an Explosive Game of Colombia’s National Sport

If you’re the kind of traveler that likes to escape the tourist bubble and connect with the local culture, you could seek out popular street foods, take a language course, or maybe even go on a Tinder date. For travelers to Colombia, the best way to immerse themselves is by joining a game of tejo. The game is rooted in Indigenous traditions that predate the arrival of Columbus and it’s been deemed the country’s national sport. It’s the most popular game in Colombia after soccer and involves an exciting mix of skill and explosions.

The easiest way to explain tejo to a novice is that it’s like cornhole but with gunpowder (to be honest, what game couldn’t be improved with light explosions?). The aim is to throw a small metal puck, called the tejo, into a target and hit either the center bullseye or one of the small marks around it, called mechas. The mechas, which means fuse, are made from tiny parcels filled with gunpowder. Points are awarded to the player whose tejo gets closest to the center bullseye or hits a mecha—which explodes on impact.

Tejo is also known as Turmequé, which is the name of the town in the province of Boyacá from where the game is said to have originated. Nowadays, it is played around the country. In cities like Medellin, Bogota, and the famous coffee town of Salento, you can find modernized tejo courts with DJs, bars, and restaurants, such as the LGBTQ+ friendly Tejo Turmequé in Bogota. In most cases, all you need to do is ask around to find the nearest court.

If you want to understand the rules and lingo a bit before you arrive, you could practice a few rounds of Virtual Tejo, an app available for Android and iPhone.

Talk to one of our travel curators to start planning your next trip to Colombia.