National Parks: Chingaza

By -


Add Image
The Chigaza National Park is located just outside of Bogota (about an hour's drive on paved, well cared for roads) in the Department of Cundinamarca. It offers you an opportunity to get up close and personal with nature -- hiking, camping, birding and photography are your best options here.

Established as a National Park in 1977, Chingaza covers about 76,600 hectares. It ranges in elevation from 2,600 feet above sea level (800 meters) to 13,200 feet (4020 meters). At the lower elevations of the park, the climate is rainy and more tropical, while the higher elevations are host to a frigid tundra climate with temperatures reaching below freezing.


Most of the year, the area will receive a great deal of rainfall, with mid-December thru February being the dry season. The area receives so much rainfall that a particular moss has adapted to help hold the water. The Spahagnum moss can hold up to 40 time its weight in water.

The Park is home to the Chuza Dam, which provides Bogota with 80% of its drinking water.

Chingaza was also a sacred place for the Muisca (Chibcha) Indians and offerings of gold and emeralds were made there. There are even remaing Muisca ruins at the Seicha Lake Archeological site.

The Park is also the refuge of several endangered species including the Andean Condor (the National Bird of Colombia), the Spectacled Bear, the Tapir, and the Puma.

If you are a birder, you'll want to note that you can see the following species in the park:

Bogota Rail, Flame-winged Parakeet, Matorral Tapaculo, Rusty-faced Parrot, Blue-throated Starfrontlet, Bronze-tailed Thornbill, Bearded Helmetcrest, Black-headed Hemispingus, Rufous-browed Conebill and Black-chested Mountain-Tanager.

(UPDATE MARCH 2010) Got an e-mail from an adoptive family that tried to visit Chingaza and found it to be considerably further away that this post suggests. I have heard there are 2 entrances one is much closer. I will investigate further and report back.

Photos:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Muisca Indigenous Names, from Hunza (Tunja)

By -
In response to this week’s posts on names, I have received several e-mails asking about the names of famous Colombians and their stories and about Indigenous names. I plan to spend the next three days sharing some of them. Also, I will continue to post more in the future and you will be able to find them all by clicking on the NAMES link the LABELS section to the right of the blog. Name: AQUIMÍN ( pronounced: ah key MEAN) or AQUIMINZAQUE (pronounced: ah key mean ZAH kay) When the Spanish arrived on the plains of Bogotá, 1536, they found a great nation. In fact, it was the third largest group of indigenous inhabitants in America. They called themselves the Muiscas , which meant ‘the people’. Their language was called Chibcha . The Muiscas were not a united group, but rather a collection of city states. The majority of the power was held by two main cities – what today are called Bogotá and Tunja (in Boyacá). These two cities were mortal enemies and each enlisted the loy
Read more

Popular Colombian Names

By -
Recently, I was asked to write a post on Colombian names, and popular Colombian names. I had a hard time finding a list, but eventually I did find one. According to I.N.E. - Instituto Nacional de Estadística, -- unfortunately, when I found this it doesn't say the year -- the most common Colombian boys names across all ages are: 1 JUAN CARLOS 2 CARLOS ALBERTO 3 ALEXANDER 4 ANDRES FELIPE 5 LUIS FERNANDO 6 DIEGO FERNANDO 7 JHON JAIRO 8 CARLOS ANDRES 9 ALEJANDRO 10 JUAN DAVID The girls are: 1 SANDRA MILENA 2 LUZ MARINA 3 CAROLINA 4 PAULA ANDREA 5 CLAUDIA PATRICIA 6 MARIA EUGENIA 7 PAOLA ANDREA 8 DANIELA 9 LILIANA 10 MARTHA CECILIA Just as here, names go through ebb and flow. Fourteen years ago when we were married, I attended several baby baptisms and met numerous friends of my husband. At the time, it seemed like everyone was naming their kid Juan CAMILO (boy) or Maria CAMILA (girl). I met dozens of them. Then, about 7 years later, I heard tons of SANTIAGO, JULIAN, SEBASTIAN and FE
Read more

La Madremonte

By -
Image
The myth of the Madremonte (Mother Mountain), and I do say myth though many campesinos in Colombia believe in her today, has it's roots in the indigenous cultures of Colombia and is known throughout much of Colombia including Antioquia, Caldas, Arauca, Caqueta, Amazonas, Guainia, and perhaps more departments. The Madremonte looks like a large woman. She has large, bony hands, large teeth and Betty Davis Eyes -- which on closer examination glow. Her body is covered in leaves and moss. Her hair is a tangled mess of plants and moss which often covers her face. She lives in the mountains and jungles, (in Antioquia and Caldas she lives in swamps where streams are born. People who claim to have seen her, usually report to have done so near thickets and bushes in jungle like areas. Others report having heard her bloodcurdling screams and groans on stormy nights. She rules the winds, the rains, and all the vegetation, and her role is to protect nature. She punishes those who invad
Read more