hikes in colombia

For me, the hike up to see the Iguaque Lagoon (at  3,800m or 12,500 ft) is the best in the world because it’s the first actual hike I ever did… when I was 3. Although, at that age, I mostly went up and down the mountain on my dad’s shoulders… asleep. Oh well; since then I’ve visited the Park quite a few times and I always come down blissful.

Last time I was at the Iguaque Fauna and Flora Sanctuary I didn’t make it all the way up to the lagoon because of the rain, but boy is that a story.

I was with Lala, her sister and her husband, and Guille, a life-long friend who has lived his entire life on the coast of Colombia, where it’s HOT and there’s little rain. We started hiking up and got to the paramo, or above the tree line, easily. The path gets steep there, so we took a break before continuing our hike.

A few minutes later, it started drizzling. It doesn’t matter, we said, it’ll stop. Well, it didn’t stop and it only got harder. Soon, the rain was hitting us horizontally, sped up by the mountain’s winds. When we got to a flatter part of the hike that goes around the tip of the mountain to start the descent towards the Iguaque Lagoon, we found a boulder and used it as a shelter to stop and eat.

It wasn’t a rock you’d ever say is perfect as a shelter – it’s a vertical rock- but the rain was so horizontal that the boulder, which was taller than us, kept us away from the rain.

I remember that scene to this day and it makes me laugh. I see Guille to my left and Lala to my right, both of them sitting down, eating, and trembling completely soaked. The funniest part was seeing Guille, who’s life has been spent under the scorching sun, experiencing the famously cold and wet Colombian paramo in full. What an experience! And we had shorts on!

We never made it to the lagoon, but it was one of the best experiences I’ve had at Iguaque because it was different (I had never experienced rain on that hike before), pretty rough, and it happened with amazing friends. That’s the kind of experience that creates an image in my mind that remains.

How to get to Iguaque Park

All of the instructions below are assuming you’re in Villa de Leyva, a historic town in Colombia about 3 hours from Bogota.

*Note: You can find the map to get to Iguaque Park at the bottom of this post!

Without a car:

Getting to the Iguaque Flora and Fauna Sanctuary is difficult if you don’t have a car because there is no public transportation that will take you all the way to the entrance. Here are two options.

Take a taxi: find a taxi to take you all the way to the Iguaque Visitor Center or ask your hotel or a tourism business in Villa de Leyva to get someone to take you. If you find someone you won’t have to walk any extra miles.

Take a bus: there is a bus that will take you to “Casa de Piedra” that leaves the Villa de Leyva bus terminal until 7:00 AM. When you leave, tell the bus driver to drop you off at “Casa de Piedra.” It’s 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) from there to Iguaque. There is a big sign where the bus will drop you off that shows you which way to go.

In a car:

With GPS: use Waze or Google Maps to look up “Visitor Centre Iguaque National Park” and follow the directions.

Without GPS:

1. Get to Villa de Leyva.
2. From the main plaza drive the opposite direction from the church and the mountains until you find a paved road. That road is Carrera 13 (13^th street).
3. Take a right and drive 6 kilometers (4 miles) on that road, which becomes unpaved.
4. Once you’ve driven 6 kilometers be very attentive because the sign for Iguaque is small. You’re going to take a right on a road that goes up. The sign is made of wood and has a drawing on it.
5. From there on out it’s easy to get to Iguaque because there are signs at every major fork in the road. If you do get lost, ask a local the way. They’ll know!
6. Almost all cars can make it to the Visitor Center, but if it’s rainy it’ll be difficult for cars that are low to the ground. If that is the case, there’s a farm that consists of two houses with a metal gate about 1 kilometer from the Center. Ask the family for permission to park there and they’ll probably let you.

Some things to know:

Entrance fee:

• $17,000 COP or about $6 dollars for Colombian adults.
• $9,000 COP or about $3 dollars for children 5-12 and students.
• $44,500 COP or about $15 dollars for foreign adults.

Parking: $13,000 COP or about $4.5 dollars.

There is a restaurant and hostel a few minutes from the Visitor Center along the path towards the lagoon.

• The hostel costs $50,000 COP or about $18 dollars per person per night.
• Breakfast costs $13,000 COP or about $4.5 dollars.
• Lunch costs $19,000 COP or about $6.5 dollars.
• Dinner costs $16,000 COP or about $5.5 dollars.

There is also a camping zone with bathrooms, electric showers, and an area to prepare food. The cost per person per night is $10,000.

The time to start hiking is between 8:00 and 10:00 AM. Sometimes the park rangers don’t let you start if you arrive after 10 because they don’t want it to get dark while you’re still hiking.

Take a towel and clothes to change into in case you get in the water (more info below) or it rains!

The rainy season is between April and May and October and November. The dry season is between January and March and September and December.

What to do in Iguaque:

• Camp or stay at the Furachiogua Hostel: the nights and mornings in Iguaque are beautiful whether it’s cloudy and foggy or clear. They’re worth experiencing.
• Drink an agua-panela when you get back down: one of the best things about a tough hike is the reward at the end. On the mountain, the reward is the view and my recommendation is that your reward back at the restaurant be a hot agua-panela. It’s a drink that’s a mixture of water, raw cane sugar, and lime. So good!
• Hike up and keep hiking: when you get to the lagoon, take a breather. There’s a path crossing the creek where the lake water runs down the mountain. Take this path and go all the way up. From the top, you can see two more lagoons on the other side. Look for a big boulder to eat lunch on way above the Iguaque Lagoon. The people down there look like ants.
• Bathe in the creek close to the hostel: the path between the Visitor Center and the hostel runs parallel to a creek. I have the tradition of getting into that ice-cold water for a few minutes. It’s refreshing and gives me renewed energies. On top of that, it makes me feel like a badass (although you probably won’t think it’s that cold if you’re from anywhere where there’s snow). There’s a section of the creek that’s perfect for about 4 people to fit easily.

Read some more posts to get psyched to go an adventure, or read our last post!