Sumapaz Paramo

Paramo is a high tropical ecosystem occurring above the treeline and below the snowline, almost entirely in the northern Andes, and Sumapaz is the largest single one anywhere - well over three hundred thousand hectares of frailejones, tussock grass, cushion plants, bogs and hundreds of small lakes at between roughly 3,500 and 4,300 metres. Its function is hydrological: the soils and vegetation absorb and slowly release water, and this paramo feeds rivers supplying Bogota and a large surrounding population, which is why paramo protection matters so much in Colombia. Entry requires a permit. Part of the paramo lies within Bogota's own rural district. Nights fall well below freezing.

History

For the Muisca the páramo was a sacred place, tied to the divine forces of creation and the origin of mankind, where people were not meant to go. In the 16th century Nikolaus Federmann crossed it searching for El Dorado and lost men, Spanish and indigenous, and horses to the cold, and the Spanish called it the Country of Fog. José Celestino Mutis's Botanical Expedition of 1783 left it unvisited because of its climate, Alexander von Humboldt gave the first description of the páramo and its plants in 1799, comparing its glacial valleys with the Alps, and in the 20th century José Cuatrecasas, Ernesto Guhl and Thomas van der Hammen studied it; it became a national park in 1977 (Wikipedia, Sumapaz Páramo).

The landscape

• The largest paramo in the world - over three hundred thousand hectares.
• Frailejones and hundreds of small lakes - between 3,500 and 4,300 metres.
• The water supply for Bogota - stored and released by the soil.
• A permit-controlled park - entry is not open.

When to go

December to March, the drier window. A full day.

Things to know

Entry requires a permit arranged in advance through the park authority. Weather is cold, wet and changeable with frost at night. There is no infrastructure. Altitude affects visitors from lower ground.

Nearby

Bogota is north; the Sumapaz river valley runs south.

Key facts