south west colombia

hey guys,

from september to mid december i m doing some kind of Language school hopping, starting in sucre bolivia, ending in bogota, colombia.
my intension is to spend at least two weeks at each place interrupted by "sightseeing" like eduarado avaroa national park or salsa uyuni, rurre....

the last 2-3 weeks i want to spend in colombia.

but have still no idea about where to go...

thx to mstep, a really helpful member of this forum i will visit at first Las Lajas sanctuary.

i m not so in salsa, so i will probably just pass through cali.

i also think about to go to the pacific coast?
but what are the differences between the columbian and peruvian/ecuadorian pacific coast, except that there is the colombian black community?

would be very grateful for every answer.

i also think about to go to the pacific coast?
but what are the differences between the columbian and peruvian/ecuadorian pacific coast, except that there is the colombian black community?

Peruvian beaches are located in the desert. Ecuador beaches are in a tropical dry forest, which is brown or green depending on time of year. Colombia pacific beaches are more like the jungle, always green. But they are isolated, so for beaches like Nuqui or Bahia Solano, the only way to get there is to fly in from Medellin.

And Ecuador has a very large Afro-Ecuadorian population, centered in the northwest of the country like Esmereldas and around.

How about Mocoa? I have never been yet (I will go before you get to Colombia) and it is the south.

For mudsliding?

As you want to end up in Bogota I would suggest places like San Agustin, Tierradentro, Tatacoa desert, Salento and maybe Manizales and/or the Laguna del Otun trek from Pereira.

thx

Reports are that Mocoa is still in recovery mode after torrential rains caused muslides earlier this year. I'm not sure about road conditions.

Thx for informatiions

Reports are that Mocoa is still in recovery mode after torrential rains caused muslides earlier this year. I'm not sure about road conditions.
Thanks for that I did ask Posada turistica dantayaco and they said it was fine so now I am confused.

Mocoa is still very much in the middle of being rebuilt. It was only April when entire swaths of the city were destroyed. The places that are of interest to tourists are not located in the city. The eco hotels/hostels are located a few km outside of the city limits, and places like El Fin del Mundo and Hornayaco may be ok to visit/stay. However, most of the places of interest in and around Mocoa, are near/on rivers and water. There's a good chance that much of the tourist infrastructure outside of the town was negatively affected by the landslide/flash flood as well. The hotels may physically intact, but there may have been damage to things like water pipes and power lines. As expected, the recovery process has been a bumbling mess, and the people delegated to repair the city haven't done much. I would err on the side of caution when visiting Mocoa these days. Most of the hotels/hostels are probably hard up for tourists, and could possibly leave out certain negative information. Honestly, I would hold out for first hand info before I made my way to Mocoa. Communication in this country can be pretty bad, and information that could possibly have a negative answer, is often inaccurate or less than forthcoming. If things aren't functioning in the city or if there are power/electricity issues prevalent, then I wouldn't trust the hotel to be entirely upfront about it. Especially if that information could possibly keep potential tourists away.

There are tons of options besides Mocoa and San Augustin if you are looking to head South West. Some of best and easiest to access Paramo is in the Purace National Park. You can take a bus from Popayan, and visit the park as a long day trip. There is the Purace Volcano ascent, the hot springs (not for swimming), and many indigenous community reserves up there as well. There is accommodation in the form of cabanas for those that want to stay a little longer. Purace is definitely an overlooked place, and it's an awesome part of Colombia for those that want to access the paramo without going on a tour.

The Colombian Pacific is very different from the coastal regions of Ecuador and Peru. Accessing it is quite difficult for most of its length, and the Pacific Coastal areas in the Southwest part of the country have been off limits for quite some time, and the tourism industry is non-existent. A few months ago, someone posted about their experience crossing the border via lancha (small boat) from Tumaco. If you are headed south, then that may be an interesting option. If you want to kill some time on the Pacific, then you should check out Nuqui, Bahia Solano/El Valle, or the Pacific areas accessible from Buenaventura (Lardrilleros, La Barra, etc)

Thank you very much that infos are very helpful. Maybe I will try to go by boat

Mocoa is still very much in the middle of being rebuilt. It was only April when entire swaths of the city were destroyed. The places that are of interest to tourists are not located in the city. The eco hotels/hostels are located a few km outside of the city limits, and places like El Fin del Mundo and Hornayaco may be ok to visit/stay. However, most of the places of interest in and around Mocoa, are near/on rivers and water. There's a good chance that much of the tourist infrastructure outside of the town was negatively affected by the landslide/flash flood as well. The hotels may physically intact, but there may have been damage to things like water pipes and power lines. As expected, the recovery process has been a bumbling mess, and the people delegated to repair the city haven't done much. I would err on the side of caution when visiting Mocoa these days. Most of the hotels/hostels are probably hard up for tourists, and could possibly leave out certain negative information. Honestly, I would hold out for first hand info before I made my way to Mocoa. Communication in this country can be pretty bad, and information that could possibly have a negative answer, is often inaccurate or less than forthcoming. If things aren't functioning in the city or if there are power/electricity issues prevalent, then I wouldn't trust the hotel to be entirely upfront about it. Especially if that information could possibly keep potential tourists away.

True although I would feel bad about not going after the disaster (I had planned to go before hand) and making the situation worse by reducing their tourist industry.

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