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Home to an astonishing array of biodiversity and cultural experiences, delve into Colombia’s Pacific and Caribbean coastlines, deserts, mountains and jungle for a journey like no other…
By Shafik Meghji
Colombia packs a continent’s worth of landscapes, ecosystems and climates into a single country. Travellers can take in mountains and reefs, deserts and grasslands, islands and cloud forests, mangroves and moorlands, not to mention Amazonian jungles, captivating cities, and Caribbean and Pacific beaches. Along the way there are endless opportunities to encounter a staggering array of bird, animal and plant species – many of which are found nowhere else on the planet. In total, Colombia is home to almost 10 per cent of the world’s biodiversity, a variety matched only by its multitude of cultures, lifestyles, cuisines, and music and dance forms.
Towering Andean ranges march through the heart of Colombia, their peaks, slopes and foothills home to a patchwork of communities and a profusion of flora and fauna.
Reaching heights of more than 5,700 metres, the snow-topped mountains of the Sierra Nevada gaze down on the Caribbean coast. Exploring the region provides an insight into the heritage of local Indigenous peoples, including the Kogi, Arhuaco, Kankuamo and Wiwa. There are also awe-inspiring hikes to ancient sites such as the isolated, jungle-clad ruins of the Ciudad Perdida (Lost City), which was built by the Tayrona around 800 CE.
More accessible, but similarly rewarding, is Lake Guatavita. Located in the highlands around the capital, Bogotá, this body of water is sacred to the Muisca and is thought to have been one of the inspirations behind the legend of El Dorado.
Colombia’s Andean regions have distinctive ecosystems: fields of creaking glaciers, dense cloud forests swirled with mist, and the páramo, a high-altitude, moor-like environment. The latter is a habitat for a host of rare animals, including spectacled bears, alongside unusual plants such as bright-flowered, fluffy-leaved frailejones.
Lower down, the tumbling foothills are fertile zones producing a wide range of crops, including world-class cacao and coffee. The latter is found in abundance in the Zona Cafetera, which is awash with coffee farms known as fincas offering tours, tastings and accommodation. This area is also studded with forests of soaring wax palms, which reach up to 60 metres or more.
(Image credit: Carmen Villegas)
Arid, otherworldly, mesmerising: Colombia’s deserts are uncanny landscapes. In the far north, bounded by the Caribbean Sea, the searing, semi-arid peninsula of La Guajira is a realm of dramatic scenery, surprising biodiversity and rich cultures. Beyond a coastline sprinkled with villages, beaches and bays, the sun-baked interior has rippling sand dunes, stark rocky expanses and occasional thickets of acacia trees. The scattering of lagoons in the region are havens for birdlife, including candy-pink flamingos, who gather in colonies thousands strong.
La Guajira has been the home of the Wayuu, the largest Indigenous group in Colombia, for millennia. Visits to a ranchería – a traditional community made up of a cluster of houses – provide travellers with the opportunity to learn about Wayuu culture, beliefs, textiles and cuisine, as well as the wealth of medicinal plants found in the region.
In the southwest of the country, the Tatacoa Desert feels like stepping onto the surface of another planet. It is an immense swathe of rugged canyons, sculpted cliffs and surreal rock formations pastel-shaded in varying reds and greys. At first glance, the only signs of life are stately green cacti climbing up to 5 metres in height, yet this hushed, blisteringly hot region is also populated by hardy creatures such as snakes, lizards, eagles and even ocelots.
The lack of light pollution has made Tatacoa – which is technically a dry tropical forest, rather than a desert – a centre for stargazing and astrotourism, most notably at the Tatacoa Observatory.
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
Colombia’s Pacific coast combines striking beaches of volcanic sand with tropical rainforests and chains of mangroves. The latter are an underappreciated ecosystem – inhabited by myriad marine species, they protect the coastline from threats such as erosion and extreme weather. As well as offering countless opportunities for surfing, diving and birdwatching, the region is well known for whale-watching – every year, hundreds of humpbacks migrate to the warm waters offshore to mate and give birth to their calves.
Backed by soaring peaks, undulating foothills and lush forests reverberating with birdsong, the Caribbean coast of Colombia has a string of sublime sandy beaches fringed with coconut palms, alongside fascinating port-cities such as Barranquilla, host of South America’s second-biggest carnival, and Cartagena, a UNESCO World Heritage Site bursting with historic architecture.
Almost 800 kilometres north of the mainland, the tiny Caribbean islands of San Andrés and Providencia are part of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. They are surrounded by the ‘sea of seven colours’, whose the blue, green and turquoise tones are produced by the third-longest barrier reef system on Earth. Turtles, dolphins, octopuses and starfish are just a few of the species that can be spotted on snorkelling and scuba-diving trips.
Afro-Colombian cultures, languages and identities are central to the Caribbean and Pacific coasts and islands. To learn more, head to San Basilio de Palenque – the first ‘free town’ in the Americas – from nearby Cartagena. Founded in the early 1600s by Africans who escaped slavery, the village remains a hub of Palenquero heritage.
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
Amazonian rainforests veined with serpentine waterways and teeming with life cover a huge swath of southeastern Colombia. The remote regional capital of Leticia, which sits on the banks of the Amazon River at the triple border with Brazil and Peru, is the gateway to this biodiversity hotspot. From here you can venture by boat into the emerald-green depths of the jungle, where you’ll find a bewildering selection of flora and fauna, from jaguars, sloths and anteaters to manatees, giant otters and pink dolphins. Meanwhile, the canopy above – formed by trees such as giant ceibas and mahoganies – echoes with the calls and songs of hundreds of species of bird, many of which are endemic.
The Colombian Amazon is also the homeland of Indigenous peoples such as the Ticuna, Yucuna, Huitoto and Matapi. A number of communities offer ecotours that give travellers a memorable insight into their traditional stewardship of the rainforest, as well as cultural, mythological and artistic practices such as the use of foraged medicinal plants and crafts fashioned from seeds, bark, feathers and other natural resources.
Alongside the chance to sample exotic fruits such as the pitahaya (dragon fruit), there are plenty of activities for adventure travellers. These include rainforest hikes, swims in lagoons carpeted with giant lily pads and whitewater rafting trips taking in meandering rivers, fearsome rapids and precipitous waterfalls. And if you have a head for heights, you can climb 35m-tall trees and traverse gravity-defying suspension bridges for a bird’s-eye view of the jungle canopy.
(Image credit: ProColombia)
Spanning roughly a quarter of the country, the tropical grasslands of Los Llanos stretch seemingly endlessly between the Andes to the west and the Amazon to the south. Also known as the Llanos Orientales or Orinoquía, this seasonally flooded region is renowned for its abundant wildlife: there are pumas, anacondas, armadillos, piranhas, caimans, howler monkeys and capybaras, as well as around 700 bird species, including toucans, jabiru storks and kingfishers.
Los Llanos are also cowboy country. Sparsely populated and remarkably flat, the plains are dotted with cattle ranches called hatos, many of which offer atmospheric accommodation in their homesteads and have created reserves on their land to conserve the wildlife. Alongside birdwatching excursions and jeep, horseback and walking safaris, they immerse visitors in the rugged, frontier culture of the llaneros, as cowboys in this region are known. You can help to round up the local herd and try your hand at skills such as lassoing, as well as experience the cantos de vaquería – traditional ‘cowboy songs’ that have been used for centuries to calm and control the semi-wild cattle of the region.
These evocative tunes are complemented by the haunting melodies of joropo, the fandango-like folk music and dance of Los Llanos. In the evenings, after an al fresco meal of world-class beef barbecued beneath a constellation of stars, singers backed by four-string guitars, harps and maracas take centre stage to perform wistful songs about love, cowboy life and epic landscapes.
(Image credit: ProColombia)
Colombia’s engaging cities reflect the country’s varied landscapes, ecosystems and cultures.
High in the Andes, 2,640m above sea level, Bogotá is a cosmopolitan metropolis. La Candelaria, the oldest neighbourhood, is a highlight, its cobbled streets and plazas lined with elegant, colonial-era palacios, churches and mansions, plus the Museo de Oro (Gold Museum), which has one of the largest collections of gold artefacts in the world.
The church-topped, pea-green summit of Cerro de Montserrate offers sensational views of the capital, while the Zona Rosa provides restaurants, bars and clubs for all tastes. A creative street art scene has turned the city into an open-air gallery, and attractions such as the Catedral de Sal de Zipaquirá, a subterranean church in the depths of a salt mine, lie within striking distance.
Northwest of Bogotá, Medellín’s sunny climate has earned it the nickname ‘City of Eternal Spring’. Dynamic and ever evolving, Colombia’s second city is famous for flowers, especially orchids. Every August it hosts the 10-day Feria de Las Flores (Flower Festival) with a parade featuring rainbow-hued floral arrangements. Alongside buzzing nightlife, there are numerous cultural spaces, including the Museo de Antioquia, which showcases the work of pioneering painter and sculptor Fernando Botero.
In the Valle del Cauca southwest of Bogotá, Cali pulses to its own rhythm. Since the 1970s, the city has turned itself into the world’s salsa capital, adopting, adapting and invigorating the Cuban music and dance form. Alongside annual competitions, festivals and street parties, there are countless opportunities to watch performances and learn the moves yourself.
(Image credit: ProColombia)
