chingaza natural national park

Chingaza is a fantastic place to visit as a day trip from Bogotá. Never before have I walked through fields of frailejones twice my size or seen a rainbow fall over a high andes lagoon. The birdlife was also incredible. It's definitely one of the most fascinating places I've ever visited. It's difficult and tiresome to try to make it there by yourself so I recommend going with a guide. You have to request permission from the parks's service ahead of time and pay the entrance before you get there. If you just show up they won't let you in. If you go with a tour company they will organize everything ahead of time for you and the ride will be a lot shorter and smoother. Make sure you book your tour at least 24hours in advance to ensure you don't miss out as prior arrangements have to be made. Also, if you take a tour they will stop for lunch before or afterwards, but there are no restaurants in or around the park so take some snacks. The water in the park is fresh and safe to drink so bring a bottle and fill it up :D

Granted I was able to visit with the Park Staff (was there for work), but if you are able and have time while in Bogota - make a mission to see this place. This park provides water to most of Bogota's population. It is high up, cold and misty (although when I was there we had lots of lucky sunshine) and you will see some amazing flora you will see for the first time and possibly never again. It is beautiful in its own unique way.

We're driving slowly up the hill to Chingaza National Park, a wet mountain wilderness just east of Bogota. The city is now far behind and we've passed through the lush hills of La Calera and its bucolic fincas, small farms with wood-smoke curling up from homestead chimneys. Craggy mountains loom ahead, their sides coated in stunted woodland shrouded in puffs of grey clouds. The dirt road in front climbs the flanks of barren ridges, a yellow ribbon running into the grey clouds. The air chills. It´s all looking a bit Middle Earth. Is this is how the Hobbits felt leaving the Shire? The sudden appearance of the skeletal hulk of an abandoned cement factory seals the deal. Are we on the road to Mordor?But there are no trolls or orcs up here. In fact the first sign of life is a cute white-tailed deer calmly grazing by the roadside. The kids are thrilled, convinced that (being close to christmas) we have now arrived at reindeer HQ, or at least a sub-branch of the North Pole. Actually we arrive at Piedras Gordas, the Chingaza park entrance. Friendly park wardens check our entry permit and show us a short video on the park fauna and flora, and clips or pictures of pumas, foxes, mountain tapirs, condors, spectacled bears which live in the zone. We push on into the park.Chingaza covers 70,000 hectares of rugged moorland called paramó, a tundra-like wetland unique to the high Andes. At lower altitudes this is formed of dense thickets of amazingly diverse flowering shrubs. The higher paramó is grasses and mosses and the frailejones, a flowering plant with leathery leaves and a long stem. This high moorland looks like the toughest parts of the Scottish highlands - with more rain. Which means a lot of rain. In fact the whole of Chingaza is one mega-marsh that sponges up the water from tropical clouds steaming up the hill from the hot llanos plains below. Supposedly 99% of the water then seeps out to flow back as rivers back into the Orinoco thousands of kilometers east. And 1% flows west to become Bogota´s water supply. Just 1%. For a city of 8 million people. Get the picture? Mucha agua. So, yes, bring a raincoat, rubber boots (and, if you´re an optimist, suncream). There are plenty of walking trails and a campsite at the park centre, Monteredondo on the banks of the Embalse de Chuza, (the dam lake that collects all that water for Bogota and sends it by tunnels to La Calera). The headache is that since you need to pre-book your visit with National Parks, so you can´t just stick your head out of the window in Bogota and say ´oh, the mountains look nice today, lets go camp in Chingaza´. So we decided to ditch the hiking or camping option and just go for the day by car. Chingaza´s bleak climate ensures the rather miraculous fact that such an area so rich in wildlife and so devoid of human life can exist so close to a mega-city like Bogota. In fact some corners of the park are still being explored. Hunting of large mammals has taken its toll, though, and the Andean spectacled bear was almost wiped out in the park a few decades back, and only a few (15 at the last count) have reestablished, and they are very shy, and only really seen with trap-cameras. Condors have also been hunted down, though a few pairs remain. For the casual car visitor like us the chances of any significant wildlife sighting is very low. Anyway we are not really appropriately camouflaged to spot wildlife.So instead we enjoy the scenery and the soggy vegetation.The wet, acid, cold organic soils of the paramó are not very fertile, which explains the slow and stunted growth of the plantlife. Ironically though the tough ambience has also created a diversity of life here. Paramó is one of the most rapidly-evolving ecosystems on the planet. It is also quite delicate. Draining of highland swamps, for example to graze cattle or grow potatoes, has destroyed many if these rich habitats. Chingaza's role as Bogota´s water supply has been a key reason for its protection over the years.We have pass the park office at Monteredondo, and drive another hour over the hills to the Laguna de Chingaza, a misty lake in the heart of the park, and eat our sandwiches in the drizzle by the banks of the Rio La Playa, a fast clear river where some other visitors are trying to catch trout. A park warden warns us to get out of the park by 3pm, when the ´serious clouds arrive´ and it will be hard to see the road ahead. We start heading home. Five hours later, back home in Bogota, I get some water from the tap - a little bit of liquid Chingaza. I´ll drink to that!PracticalitiesBookingIn theory you have to book three weeks in advance via the National Parks website, or call them on 01 353 2400 ext 138, or email to reservas.ecoturismo@parquesnacionales.gov.co, with your proposed dates for entry. Then comes the usual bureaucracy of paying the entry fee (US$6 / day for locals, US$15 for foreigners), scanning and sending the bank receipt, and getting the entry permit by email.Altitude SicknessSince the road climbs to 3500 meters (almost a kilometer higher than Bogota) then there is a risk of sorroche or mal de paramó. This is unlikely to affect people living in Bogota, but recent arrivals to the city (less than a week) may suffer from headaches at this higher altitude. Tips for this are • do not undertake any physical exertion• drink plenty of warm or hot sugary fluids (tea or hot chocolate).• use mild painkillers for headaches (acetaminophen or ibuprofen). In my experience coca cola is the best cure for altitude headaches, it has plenty of sugar and caffeine. (It also works for hangovers).What to bring Binoculars, raincoat, warm clothes, boots, snacks, drinks. Roads/Time/DistancesRoute is well signposted from La Calera. Small 4x2 cars can make it into park, but preferable to travel in 4x4 or high ground clearance car.• Bogota - La Calera 20kms 0.5 Hours tarmac road. Road toll before La Calera.• La Calera - Piedras Gordas Gate 27 kms 1.5 Hours. Dirt road, good grade with gravel. Take turn to right 1km east of La Calera. You must show entry permit at gate. Small visitor center with snack shop etc.• Piedras Gordas - Montreredondo 28 kms. Some sticky dirt road in the first 5kms, then improves. 1.5 hours.• Monteredondo - Rio La Playa - Laguna Chingaza 20kms 1 hour, good dirt road.The return trip is faster (mostly downhill) we made it from Rio La Playa to the center of Bogota (95kms) in under 3 hours.

I got there twice in the afternoon, with one week in between. On the first attempt, we definitely arrived too late and were stopped at the gate, after a rough drive of about 20 km in a very beautiful scenery which became more and more foggy and cloudy. On the second attempt, we headed out of Bogota much earlier but also planned for a full day, first in Zipaquira (Salt Cathedral) and then the Laguna Guatavita, so again we arrived quite late. I made it to the upper lagunas which seem to have a good potential, but again, the fog stepped in together with the nearing darkness. Important tips: 1) Come early. Make it the first attraction of the day. 2) The climb to the lagoons is 3 KM long and not 2 Km as they tell you. The distances are very well marked and the path is wide and clear, so you can't miss it or lose your way. I'm glad I came again after all. Have a few more points to check there. You climb with the car from around 1800 meters to about 3200 along 20 km. And then get to around 3800 meters by foot. Not 100% sure about the altitude on the top as I didn't have my GPS with me. On the way back, it was already so foggy and dark that the taxi driver (older guy) couldn't drive, and I replaced him. Enjoyed myself tremendously.

We visited Chingaza National park by 4x4 from Bogota. The journey was very rough but definitely worth it for the birding. At the top, we birded in paramo, which made interesting birding. We also visited an area of lowland wetland where we saw Noble Snipe, Bogota Rail and Wlison's Snipe. We saw a great number of birds, to start our Colombia trip.

Es un lugar espectacular, paisajes hermosos, una paz indescriptible y se siente la energia de nuestros antepasados, para tomar mil fotos.Recomiendo entrar al tunel y visitar el mirador.

Es un parque donde se ven muchas cosas, la naturaleza, el ecosistema: "paramo", animales entro muchos atractivos. Se llega por la via La calera es un lugar que vale la pena visitar, es fuente de agua y de vida que alimenta a bogota y sus alrededores.

Un bonito sitio para caminar, relajarse, limpiarse, conocer otro clima y ecosistema.Nosotros fuimos en un grupo desde Bogotá, tomamos un íntermunicipal en la calle 72 con 13, que iba para Guasca (5000cop) aproximadamente 1 hora de recorrido, allí nos estaba esperando un transporte con su guía que habíamos contratado con anticipación, el recorrido es en una vía que no esta pavimentada. Iniciamos el recorrido, y mi gran recomendación llevar calzado que se adhiera al terreno ojalá impermeables porque metes los pies en agua muy fría, ojalá lleva botas y una buena chaqueta, que tenga para cubrir tu cabeza, guantes, ROPA DE CAMBIO, ponte bolsas de medias para que no se te enfríen ni mojen los pies. Lleva comida energética, chocolatinas, etc. La exigencia es fuerte, el clima y el viento es muy frío, casi de glacial! No es bueno quedarse mucho tiempo quieto, en realidad debes de tener buen estado físico, lleva buena ropa abrigadora, comida rica en grasa y de seguro disfrutarás el viaje y la historia de ese lugar, MÁGICO Y ENCANTADOR.

El parque Natural Chingaza tiene varias entradas, nosotros visitamos el secto de la Lagunas de Siecha. Se toma la via que de Bogota conduce a Guasca via La Calera, unos kilometros antes de llegar a Guasca hay una entrada, una trocha sin pavimentar, el camino tiene varias desviaciones y la señalizacion hacia el parque es deficiente, nosotros resultamos perdidos!! Para tener en cuenta.. hay que llegar a la Vereda la Trinidad, en este punto hay un puente y un restaurante, tomar la via que va hacia la izquierda, mas adelante, encontraran otra Y y una valla del parque, tomar la via de la izquierda, ya desde este punto no hay pierde.Anticipadamente deben pedir permiso a la oficina de parques nacionales para poder ingresar. Desde la cabaña Siecha comienza el ascenso hacia las 3 lagunas. Preferiblemente hacerlo temprano ya que baja muy facil la neblina lo que hace dificil contemplar el paisaje.El paisaje es hermosisimo, muy recomendada la visitaIndicaciones: llevar ropa abrigada, impermeable, alimentos energeticos.