Georgie’s Wanderlust

Los Nevados National Park in central Colombia is a hikers paradise. This region of the Andes is home to some very unique plants, you can see the tallest palm trees in the world here! There are also Frailejones which live solely in the Paramo region of the Andes mountains.

Paramillo del Quindio is a mountain in Los Nevados National Park. I trekked 43kms to Paramillo del Quindio and back over three days. I completed a 3 day/2 night trek with Paramo Trek during Christmas 2022. They have other tours on offer, for me the Paramillo del Quindio mountain is one to remember. It is not the highest altitude I have ever trekked to before, but holy moly was it a good one. It was everything you could imagine all crammed into that one summit day. Lots of good feelings, very cold and wet by the end of the day, some celebratory chocolate at the peak, and a hike back to our farmhouse in the dark.

I paid $250CAD for a 2 day/3 night trek to Paramillo del Quindio in Los Nevados National Park in December 2022.

Los Nevados National Park is most easily accessed from the colourful little town Salento. There are many hostels and hotels in Salento, and the trek can be booked right form the town. If you are running on a tight schedule and solo looking to join a group, I recommend contacting one of the trekking agencies in town before your arrival as groups don’t depart everyday.

Let’s go over the 3 day itinerary:

Day 1 – Cocora – Finca la Argentina – 10kms

Our group consisted of 7 trekkers and 2 guides. We ate a delicious breakfast with coffee in the town of Salento, and then took off in a mini bus into the Cocora Valley. The valley is home to the tallest palm trees in the world, the Quindio Wax Palm, reaching over 60 metres (200 feet) in height.

This seemingly short hike in to our little farmhouse – Finca la Argentina – packed a punch. We made our way through the lower Andean forest, consisting of ferns and palms and rivers. Gradually making our way up to the farmhouse, we had a light showering of rain after our lunch that motivated us to arrive swiftly.

The Finca la Argentina had lots of horses, dogs, sheep, ducks and cats. We watched the animals and enjoyed the sunset before our dinner of soup and rice with chicken.

Day 2 – Finca la Argentina – Paramillo del Quindio Summit – Finca la Argentina – 23kms

This was a big one. We started the day strong with a 7am departure and lots of sunshine. We climbed up higher and higher until we had passed the high Andean forest and found ourselves in the Paramo region that is absolutely covered with Frailejones.

It was around 11am when it started raining relentlessly, we all covered up in our mediocre rain gear, and pushed on.

At around 1pm we were still not at the summit and the group had a standing meeting in the rain. We collectively decided that some of the group members would not reach the summit in time to get back to camp before dark (which we all hiked back to in the dark anyway). So myself and Maarten (hiker) and Janier (guide) set off with speed for the summit.

And holy moly. What a summit that was. I have been higher than 4750m before, but as we were pushing hard to make it up and back in a good time, it was a burn. My lungs were on absolute fire and my legs screamed at me to stop. We were in a thin and wet layer of snow and the earth was so soft and steep that we would slide back in places.

The closer we got to the summit the more the rain and wind eased off, which was so kind of mother nature in that moment.

Upon reaching the top, we all hugged and laughed and looked in awe at the surrounding scene. The steep drop on either side of us down Paramillo del Quindio, and the stunning views across Los Nevados National Park. The mist heavy and our breath returning, Janier pulled out two chocolate bars to congratulate Maarten and I for making it to the top.

After some photo taking, we made back for the group to eat our lunch that our other guide, Luis, was preparing for everyone. The way down was steep, and the guys ran ahead of me. I kept up, just, and we arrived back to lunch almost ready – phew! After eating sliced meat wraps with hot chocolate, we continued back for Finca la Argentina.

We still had many hours ahead of us, and although it was mostly down, this poses a challenge as the ground is saturated from all the rain. It grew dark quickly and our final push was in the dark with headlamps. Our arrival back to the farmhouse had us pulling off wet clothes and drinking warm cocoa with hot soup. A very long day, an uncomfortably wet day, an incredible day, I loved this day.

Day 3 – Finca la Argentina – Cocora – 10kms

Christmas Day! We wake up a little later, eat our scrambled egg breaky and head out at 8am. An enjoyable morning back to Cocora, Janier, Maarten and I hike together. While a lot of it is down, there is still a significant amount of up as we wind our way back. Janier leads the way and relentlessly powers up the hills, when we reach the top of the final hill we are all pouring with sweat and laughing.

In the Cocora valley, one of the hikers, Andrea, and I stop at a tea house to get a big slice of cake to celebrate our hike. Yum! We load up the minivan and head back to town, arriving around 2pm.

The group plans to meet at Somevi, an Italian restaurant in Salento at 6pm. We order cocktails and eat pasta, exchanging photos and giggles.

The group moves to the courtyard in Salento for beers and music. Luis teaches me how to dance and tells me we are dancing to Spanish Christmas music.

I farewell the group at 8pm to take the 8.30pm bus to Medellin. I wear my backpack and smile to the bus station. The bus has comfortable seats and the air con is freezing. The lady next to me offers to share her blanket and we fall asleep tucked in, waking up in Medellin at 3am.

Summary

I hope you found this post useful and thanks for reading. You may also like to read about other great places to visit in Colombia, like the Tatacoa Desert or bird watching in Minca!