Hike In The Mysterious Landscapes Of The PÁRAMO DE OCETÁ (Colombia)

What ?!? Don't you know what a "páramo" is? Well, all right, we never crossed that term before exploring the páramo De Ocetá, one of the many páramos in Colombia.

The páramos are high mountain areas on the Andes cordillera, around 3500m, where you can see enigmatic, almost paranormal plants and landscapes. Follow us in this adventure that mixes football balls, deer, Black Lake, pre-Hispanic remains and silicone lips!

Monguí, the village of the balloons

The simplest way to hike to the páramo De Ocetá is to sleep in the small village of Monguí. While we were expecting a banal village, we discovered a nice main square, some cute streets, neat little houses, geraniums with Windows... decidedly, Colombians take great care of their villages!

We stop in amazement in front of a shop. She only sells balloons. Hundreds of soccer balls, in every color and pattern imaginable. Strange that the merchant could manage to get enough to live in such a small village. Except that, three steps away, we come across an identical store. Same with the next one, and all the shops on the square. Something is definitely wrong.

We learn that Monguí is famous all over Colombia for making balloons, by hand, please. A thousand people would work on their cutting, sewing, decorating. It's football!

We realize that almost every restaurant closes around 5: 00, So why? Only one pizzeria opens in the evening and we meet all the other tourists, five or six at the most. To counterbalance, the hotel we booked is run by the most adorable person in the world, María, who pampers us from A to Z.

Hike in the páramo De Ocetá

If we have come so far, it is not to make dribbles, but for the hike that leads to páramo, located about 1000m above.

Unfortunately, we find relatively little information on the path to take. But as we hesitate to ask for the services of a guide, we cross our neighbor's room, which just comes down from the páramo alone. The poor man suffered a nasty hail of hail up there, which did not stop him from worshipping his excursion. He gives us some tips that we will try to compete with ours.

First of all, you should know that bad weather usually only comes in the afternoon. In order to maximize our chances, we leave the hotel at 7am, alongside the toddlers on the way to school.

On the first part of the climb, the landscapes are nothing spectacular. We wish the many cows who graze in the meadows and the horses who bask.

Maybe it's not obvious from the pictures, but believe us, it's climbing and our calves are spinning. Following countless pastures, the trail gradually narrows. The air is fresh, but the sun is pounding.

The traveler of the day before gave us very important information: the traditional path to the páramo is now blocked by a fence and this message: "propriedad privada". The property in question occupies the entire width of the valley, just before the páramo. Warning to the rebel hikers or little gamblers: the owner chases away on horseback those who pass in spite of everything!

Fortunately, there is an alternative path that bypasses the lands of the parano of the páramo. Let's call it the crest pass. It overlooks the Valley and offers quite exceptional views.

There is some barbed wire to climb over, some fences to close behind, but intended to keep the cows rather than to block the hikers.

It is here that we discover our first frailejones (plants), these strange plants with the look of short palm trees and velvet leaves. They squat the mountainsides by the hundreds, forming a stunning landscape, to say the least.

The path eventually fades completely. You then walk on a curious thick and bouncy Moss, still a strange specificity of the páramo. Well, we're not alone in the world anymore. Three deer observe us from a distance and hop around.

By going around a hill, we get a panoramic view of the ultimate goal of our walk: the Laguna Negra. As its name suggests, its water is particularly dark. Perhaps the reflection of an increasingly threatening sky.

For fear of a shower and already tired, we turn back. Miraculously, the black clouds are waiting nicely behind us all the way down and we come back without taking a taste.

On the way back, we noticed these curious worked stones that had escaped us to go. They are said to be remnants of the Muisca civilization, preceding the arrival of the Spanish.

We finish this hike at 2pm, exhausted, feet in compote, but thrilled by the beauty of the páramo !

What about the silicone lips promised at the beginning of the article? Well the next day, Mi-fugue wakes up with huge lips, making jealous Angelina pretty.

The explanation is as follows: high altitude + tropical region = overpowering UV rays. We basted our skins several times with sun cream index 50 but we did not think of lips ! As a result, this huge sunburn that first results in a sharp swelling, before turning into nasty black scars for four-five days. Because traditional lipsticks only attract more sun, you need to use a UV-protected stick. Some pharmacies sell them, in France as in Colombia.

Practical tips for Monguí and the páramo De Ocetá

Sleep in Monguí: We loved our little hotel Los Recuerdos de Florito y Leo (~27€). The rooms are impeccably appointed and offer a lovely view of the mountains. It is best to plan two nights on the spot, as the village is quite isolated and you will have trouble following a hike then a bus ride to the next destination.

Restaurants in Monguí: the pizzeria open in the evening is called Cabubara. Cooks usually only prepare two or three types of pizzas, of which they serve large portions, but they gladly concocted us good vegetarian pizzas well garnished.

While returning from the hike:, we stopped at a more conventional restaurant, La Casona de San Francisco de Asis, very good, but closes in the late afternoon. If you like to try new things, they prepare a rice with "fruits of the páramo", which are various purple, pink or white tubers a little extraterrestrial.

The hike to the páramo De Ocetá in a few figures: is clearly not an easy hike. It leaves the village at 2800m, climbs up to 3900m and goes more than 15km round trip. Because of the altitude, you will have shortness of breath and more difficulty to progress. The path is basically passable, just be careful where you set foot because there are two types of traps : cow dung and puddles of water hidden under the Moss. The round trip took us 7 hours, picnic included.

With or without a guide: everyone in the village will recommend you to take a guide. This obviously has its advantages, the biggest one being that some of you can advance two or three kilometers in a jeep or tuk-tuk at the beginning of the hike, in order to make it less long. On the main square, a small tourist office will put you in touch with a guide the day before for the next day.

For our part, we did well on our own, armed with a smartphone and an offline card application. At worst, the valley that leads to páramo is clearly drawn and the direction of the return is easy to guess.

Weather tips: to avoid frying, sun cream and stick are required, even in case of clouds. Make sure you also have clothing for rain and cold. We were lucky, with just a little freshness and wind up there, but we were happy to have our hats. So if the mist, rain, even hail mix, watch out for the temperature drop !

Transportation: by bus from Villa de Leyva to Monguí take the first bus to Tunja (duration 1h10, price 7 000 pesos / 1,98€). Change to a bus to Sagamoso (duration 1h40, price 8,000 pesos/ € 2.26). Then hop on a last bus to Monguí (duration 0h55, price 4 000 pesos / 1,13€). We did not wait more than 5 minutes during our changes, which suggests that departures are frequent.

Bus transportation from San Gil to Monguí: even if it doesn't make sense on a map, you have to go through Tunja (duration 4h, price 30,000 pesos / 8.50€). From here, take the bus to Sagamoso and then the bus to Monguí as indicated above.