TATACOA DESERT

It really is a dry tropical forest after the La Guajira, is the second largest in Colombia. It is the town of Villanueva in Huila. I had a chance to visit with my mother's family living in Neiva, from there, we move overland for 45 minutes to get to this place, we traveled in the car with a guide, who stopped at some places for walking, this desert, reddish and gray earth and large cacti, herbs and shrubs, which are plants that survive in this place of arid and high temperatures. Animals did not see, but the guide told us there are snakes, spiders and some rodents.

The place is vast, peaceful, quiet and beautiful, with mountains and canyons, but that must go with a guide, because you run the risk of getting lost, and at night you can camp there, or there is also a hostel to stay. Many professionals such as archaeologists and scientists, there are also amateur astronomers, because as far as the guide told us you can see the constellations, meteor showers and eclipses when the place is ideal for them.

Tatacoa Desert, the second largest dry area in Colombia after the desert of La Guajira, is one of Colombia’s most attractive natural landscapes. It covers an area of 330 km² of gray and ochre soil interrupted by the green of the cactuses.

Tatacoa Desert has two characteristic colors: ochre in the Cuzco zone and gray in Los Hoyos

According to scientific discoveries, during the Tertiary Period, La Tatacoa was a garden with thousands of flowers and tress that gradually dried up until it became a desert.

The topographic conditions, the presence of winds that encourage the expansion and cracking of clays and their subsequent dragging by the rain and the absence of vegetation in extensive areas have formed a high visual value landscape, with contrasts of shapes and colors of singular beauty where biologic and geomorphologic elements are integrated and among which several forms of erosion, channels, valleys, forested areas , mounds, gullies, labyrinthine drains, rocky outcrops stand out all with a diverse level of weathering, as well as clays of varied shapes and cracks whose surfaces show “crackle”, all this in addition to the higher tops around the Cabrera River and the Saltarén Range, which serve as a vantage point to observe nearly the entire area of La Tatacoa.

Climate

The average temperature in La Tatacoa Desert is 28° C; yet on sunny days, it can go up to 40° C.

He astronomic place

Tatacoa Desert enjoys a privileged geographic location at latitude 3º13' north and longitude 75º10' west, not far from the equatorial line.

From there, it is possible to:

• Observe 88 constellations, 

• Tour various celestial objects, 

• Admire phenomena such as meteor showers.

  
  
  
  
  
  

 Let's go

The trip from Neiva to Villavieja, takes about 45 minutes by  land; from there to the desert, an additional  15 minutes. 

As we can see in the next picture the environment of the Tatacoa Desert is a world very different to the city. The sand stretches as far as the eye can see, the towering cacti ans sand formations are fascinating. You may take a hike to a natural spring, where you can have a delicious and refreshing dip in the water. 

This is a short video about the Tatacoa desert.