I recently visited Caño Cristales, along with some other sites near the town of La Macarena, on a trip with some other agents that was sponsored by Procolombia.
Of course everyone wanted to see Caño Cristales because it is a wonder of nature, famous for a unique aquatic plant which lives in this river that spans 100kms, and changes its color into red only once a year between July and November. But the purpose of the trip was also to highlight some of the other newly-developed attractions in the area that can be visited all year round.
Of course everyone wanted to see Caño Cristales because it is a wonder of nature, famous for a unique aquatic plant which lives in this river that spans 100kms, and changes its color into red only once a year between July and November. But the purpose of the trip was also to highlight some of the other newly-developed attractions in the area that can be visited all year round.
This area is not very well known internationally because for years it had been under control of the FARC guerillas, until they signed a peace agreement in 2016 with the Colombian government. Under FARC, many of the people were involved in growing coca plants, but after the peace agreement, many locals decided that they wanted to quit farming the coca plants and take part in tourism as a way to conserve and sustain the delicate ecosystem. The La Macarena Sierra is part of a very unique region. Its rock Quartzite is part of the Guyanan Shield, one of the most ancient geological formations in the world at more than 1.2 billion years old. This small and isolated chain of mountains emerges alongside the Andes and the Colombian Llanos, right at the border of Amazonian Jungle; demarking its importance between the three different ecosystems.
The national government has not infused much money into the development of the area, other than creating 2 national parks, so it has been up to the local communities and government to maintain and develop the attractions as much as they can afford to. Community members help to maintain the dirt roads to the attractions and they go to training sessions to learn how to cater to international clients - how to prepare food to international standards, how to provide community shelters, what infrastructure is needed for touring, etc. Like everywhere else, Covid hurt tourism, but now that tourists are coming back, they are hoping that more tourists will equal more money to help the locals to thrive and to help them to invest more to improve the infrastructure.
One of the places we visited was Laguna Silencio (Silent Lagoon). We paddled canoes through a flooded forest until we reached the lagoon and then saw various wildlife species such as caiman, hoatzins and other bird species until just before sunset, when we saw thousands of birds fly in to roost in one small area. We spent the evening in a local community shelter, listening to stories about life in the area, including those of animals who come to visit and become like friends.
We also hiked the Los Miradores Trail, which is a trail alongside the top of the Canyon of the Guayabero River, crossing the jungle for 4.8km one way, enjoying beautiful views of the river, seeing interesting rock formations and if a family of peccaries. At the end of the hike we saw some petroglyphs carved in the rocks, from an unknown origin and age. To get back, we got in motorized canoes to do the exciting crossing of Raudal Angosturas 1 (rapids formed by the river for 3 kilometres between 100 meter tall canyon walls formed by rocks narrowing the pass of the Guayavero river from 300 meters wide to only 30 meters).
One of the unexpected highlights was a visit to Caño Canoas, one of the most spectacular waterfalls of the jungle in Colombia. After a 4x4 trip of almost 60KM to get there by unpaved road, we did a short hike to reach Caño Canoas area, where we would enjoy walking by the river and swimming by the waterfall circuit. Adventurous highlights were walking behind the main waterfall and then across the water cascading down from the other waterfalls before it entered into the river.
We didn't have time to hike to the Ciudad de Piedra (City of Stone), a place reached by doing a 1 hour boat ride on the Guayabero river, and then by doing a 12km hike. This is a place in the savanna where the rocky formations create strange shapes like labyrinths of rock, resembling an abandoned city.
Because of the fragile ecosystem of the area, especially at Caño Cristales, the sightseeing is regulated, like it is at Bonito in Brazil. You need to follow the protocols established by the environmental authority as well as the army and the local authorities. and to follow all the recommendations given by the guides and the local experts. You should book your travel in advance to ensure the availability of entering the park as it has a limited capacity and is in high demand during the visiting season. There are scheduled times for visiting the different touristic places, which are also established by the local authorities only.
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