Páramo Feelings
5 days / 4 nights
Distance: 60km
Level of difficulty: Intermediate
Minimum altitude: 2,300m
Maximum altitude: 4,600m
Valle de Cocora to Finca La Argentina
Length: 9.9km
Alt. start: 2,400m
Alt. end: 3,500m
Departure: 8 am
ETA: 4pm
Lunch: El Bosque
We meet at Salento Trekking office at 8:00 am to be ready to leave by 8:30 am and hop on a Willys Jeep for the 12km drive to Valle de Cocora where our Trek starts. Valle de Cocora is a natural cloud forest and home of the Colombian national tree Palma de Cera. This giant wax palm tree, the tallest in the world growing up to 65 meters, was near extinction but regained life after the Colombian government designated it a protected area in 1985.
In Cocora, after about a kilometer of easy hiking taking in the beautiful view of the valley, we cross the Rio Quindío for the first time, enter the Bosque de Palmas forest and start hiking in the jungle. This is also the entrance into the Parque Nacional Natural Los Nevados created on April 30, 1974.
We will cross the Rio Quindío twice before our destination. The forest is home to 250 species of birds including hummingbird, yellow-eared parrot, Blue-crowned motmot and Andean condor to name a few. The trail heads up quickly and we climb for the next 2.8km (about 3 hours), crossing the Bosque de Niebla and passing by an indigenous cemetery.
After about an hour (2.5km) of hiking, we will take a lunch break (altitude 2,900m). After lunch, we head out for the 3.5km (2.5/3 hours) hike that takes us to our final destination Finca La Argentina. The trail will ease up a bit and cross a prairie where sometimes raccoons can be seen walking around. The last 600 meters to Finca La Argentina will get a bit steeper again and take about 30 to 45 minutes. Dinner at Finca La Argentina.
In case of weather change, the guide determines the safest path.
Finca La Argentina – Finca La playa
Length: 6km
Alt. start: 3,500m
Alt. end: 3,680m
Highest point: 4,100m
Breakfast: 8am
Departure: 9am
ETA: 12pm
Short hike today as we prepare for ascending the Nevado del Tolima the following day. We head out toward Finca Bueno Aires, on a kilometer steep uphill section. After another kilometer, we reach a point where we can see the Paramillo del Quindío, one of the highest mountains in the Nevados National Park. Sitting at 4,700m, it does not have snow anymore but is as majestic as always.
We continue toward Finca Bueno Aires and hike up to La Cuchilla (4,200m), which marks the “border” between the department of Quindío and Tolima. From there, it is a 2km hike to reach Finca La Playa (3,680m).
In case of weather change, the guide determines the safest path.
La playa – Paramillo – Bagaseca
Length: 16km
Alt. start: 3,700m
Alt. end: 3,700m
Highest point: 4600m
Departure: 08:00am!
ETA: 5pm
We leave from the property of La Playa to make the summit of Paramillo del Quindío (4.600 mts).
We will start the trek of this day with a trek of 4 km in a forest of paramo, we will arrive at the base of the Paramillo del Quindío where we will cross the cushions of water to enter a volcanic mountain with a sandy Ecosystem.
When we reach the summit, we will see Santa Isabel, Nevado del Tolima, Nevado del Ruiz and Lagoon la Leona.
We will cross the lagoon la Leona, after this lagoon we will continue our way to Lagoon Negra; from there we will take 75 minutes to reach the Finca Bagaseca.
In case of weather change, the guide determines the safest path.
Africa – Laguna del Otún – Potosi
Length: 14 km
Alt. start: 3,700m
Alt. end: 3,700m
Highest point: 4,600m
Breakfast: 8am
Departure: 8:30am
ETA: 4pm
Start 8 am an go up to 46000 meter crossing the mountain you can see nevado Santa Isabel an nevado del ruiz
In case of weather change, the guide determines the safest path.
El Jordan to La Florida
Length: 14 km
Alt. start: 3,200m
Alt. end: 2,100m
Departure: 8am
ETA: 12 noon
Lunch: La Florida
In our third day and according to your destination, we start hiking, mostly downhill, at 6 or 7 am for around 5 hours in a path of 14 km, in order to arrive at El Cedral at 2.100 Mts, through another Bosque de Niebla located at the same altitude of Cocora Valley, but with a different flora due to the kind of land where it is situated. In el Cedral, there is going to be a Yeep waiting for us to drive us to La Florida, where we will have lunch; In this path sometimes it is possible to see Howler Monkeys.
Finally, another car picks you up and takes you to the bus station of Pereira, Risaralda. You can pay a little extra to the driver and he would take you to the Airport or back to Salento.
In case of weather change, the guide determines the safest path.
Image Gallery
What’s Included
- Transportation from Salento to Valle de Cocora and back
- Bilingual English/Spanish guide
- All meals: 4 breakfasts, 5 lunches, 4 dinners and snacks
- Insurance policy
What’s Not Included
- Breakfast on the first morning
- Dinner on the last night
- Tips for the guide
- Luggage transportation (optional and additional $70,000/day)
