Georgie’s Wanderlust

If you have been following the typical gringo hotspots a little too long and want to break out of the norm, the Tatacoa desert will deliver.

Off the beaten track, this unique desert is 7-10 hours south of Bogota, depending how you get here. I chose the longer option, getting a bus from the Terminal de Transporte S.A. in Bogota to Neiva – a 9 hour journey and 70,000 pesos. By the time I arrived in Neiva there were no more connecting buses to my hostel in Villavieja, an hour down the road and on the edge of the Tatacoa desert I was trying to arrive to. So I took a taxi into Neiva and booked a last minute hotel on booking.com. I left bogota at 12pm, I suggest leaving at 8am at the latest to connect a bus straight to Villavieja.

The next day I returned to the bus terminal in Neiva and took the shuttle bus to Villavieja with Coomotor – 6,000 pesos and a one hour ride. There was no time scheduled for this shuttle, they just wait for the mini bus to book up and then you board and go.

The other option is to ask your bus to Neiva to stop in a town called Aipe, which will drop you on the highway. You then walk half an hour through the town of Aipe to meet the ferry that will cross the river for you to Villavieja. And from the other riverbank you will continue your walk into the town of Villavieja and your accommodation. I met a guy at my hostel that did this, if you speak enough Spanish it should be fairly straightforward and I would take this option next time.

I stayed at Hospederia Sol Del Desierto in the town of Villavieja, a cute little hostel with fans for cooling the rooms and a swimming pool and hammock area. The food in the restaurants in Villavieja is relatively cheap and simple, yet tasty.

The lady at my hostel organized two tours for me, the astronomy tour for star gazing, and a tour to the Tatacoa desert. The astronomy tour was 10,000 pesos to enter, and I paid 20,000 to get a ride on the back of a motorbike, there and back (he waited for me).

The astronomy tour is educational and interesting, and the deserts night sky is absolutely filled with stars! Everyone lays in the dark on carpet outside and the presenter has a long beam of light to point out the different constellations. The tour was in Spanish and lasted about two hours, 7-9pm.

The astronomy building is located 20minutes from Villavieja, so transportation is needed for this tour. Check with your hotel/hostel if they can arrange this for you.

My second day I took a private tour with my guide, Herman, for 100,000 pesos. I rode on the back of his motorbike and we took off from Villavieja into the Tatacoa desert. The desert consists of two main areas, Cuzco, the red, and Los Hoyos, the grey. We visited both during my tour which lasted 5 hours, 8am-1pm.

You will want to wear comfortable shoes as you’ll be walking, a good amount of water (there will be some opportunities to buy more), sun protection in the form of sunscreen and long sleeves, and a camera for memories! The bugs took me by surprise during my time in Villavieja and Tatacoa, my legs and arms got quite the chewing on – midgies (sandflies) in particular. I do prefer to cover up rather than use insect repellant – this is your choice.

My tour was entirely in Spanish, I don’t have strong Spanish skills but my guide spoke slowly with simple sentences so I was able to understand most of what he was explaining. And I really enjoyed the day being solely Spanish! It added to the experience.

We started in the red desert, going for a walk through the sand formations. Over the years rain and wind have weathered them down into incredible shapes, with cactus and other vegetation growing between. It is unique here as it gets a significant amount of rain per year making it a “green desert”, giving plants a better go at thriving.

You will see many different birds and lizards during your time in the red and grey deserts. When you are in the grey desert there is an option to swim in a man made swimming pool, it didn’t look overly appealing to me, so I skipped it.

I did however stop for a maracuyá (passion fruit) slushie which was delicious and so refreshing! This place is so different to everywhere else I visited in Colombia and I was so grateful for my time in the Tatacoa desert and Villavieja. Well worth the effort to get there!

Cactus in the red desert