PARAMILLO OF QUINDÍO
In this post, we are going to tell you about our own experience in the Paramo of Quindío. This post is more than a post with instructions about how to arrive at this place. Through this post, we want to bring you closer to this place since it would be somewhat complicated for you.
The cost of traveling with an agency tour is around $769,000 per person (204,00 USD) departing from Manizales to Pereira (3 days and 2 nights included in the tourist package). If you want to make this trip with an agency, you can click right here. 👈.
[Ver ruta al paramillo del quindio en Español 🇪🇸]
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT PARAMILLO OF QUÍNDO
The Paramillo of Quindío is an inactive volcano that is located in the central mountain range. Its main characteristic is its height of 4,760 meters, which makes it the highest mountain in the department.
In 1801, the German botanist, Von Humboldt, visited this zone, which allowed him to describe unknown species as far as the frailejon.
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO FIND AT THE PARAMILLO OF QUINDÍO?
HOW TO GET TO THE PARAMILLO OF QUINDÍO 🛣🚌?
In order to get to the Paramillo of Quindío from Cocora Valley (Salento), you can do it in different ways:
- Departing from Cocora Valley to the Primavera farm.
- Departing from Cocora Valley to the Buenos Aires farm, or Argentina farm.
In this post, we will be explaining to you how to do it from the Buenos Aires farm or from the Argentina farm, which is one kilometer higher than the Argentina farm.
The first thing we had to do, was to arrive in Salento, and the bus schedules are the following:
- From Pereira to Salento: The bus departs every hour starting at 7:30 a.m. during the weekend or during the week, and the cost of the ticket is approximately $9.000 per person (2,39 USD). This bus company is called "Expreso Alcalá."
📞 Phone numbers for Expreso Alcalá are: (606) 3215447 o (606) 3215447 Expreso Alcalá.
- From Armenia to Salento: Buses depart every 30 minutes starting at 5:30 a.m, and the cost of the ticket is approximately $5300 in Colombian pesos per person (1,41 USD). The last bus departs at 8:00 p.m. Bus company: Expreso Alcalá.
📞 Phone numbers for Expreso Alcalá are: (036)747 46 44 o 318 331 80 67 Expreso Alcalá.
Once you are in Salento, you must arrive at the principal park, where it is mandatory to take a jeep to the Cocora Valley. To do this, the schedules available are the following: Starting Monday to Viernes starting at 7:00 a.m., buses depart approximately every hour, and during the weekend, buses start departing at 6:00 a.m. The cost of the ticket is $4000 in Colombian pesos per person (1,06 USD).
Once we have everything in order, such as tickets and baggage, we are ready to make our trip to Paramillo of Quindío ⛰.
QUINDÍO ROUTE PARAMILLO 🚶🏼
From Cocora Valley to Argentina Farm, it is approximately 12 kilometers, and from Cocora Valley to Buenos Aires Farm, it is exactly 13 kilometers, of which 8 kilometers are climbing.
DAY 1
Starting with our journey to Paramillo of Quindío, we stayed that the bridge where we could cross the river had been destroyed by the water; as a result, we had to cross under a tree that was crossing this river, and we had to be cautious (if you see this in the future, it has already been repaired). Suddenly, after crossing the river, we continued with our climbing.
At the beginning of the trip, everything was going well since, for part of the journey, we found stones on the road, but some kilometers ahead, the road became slippery, making it difficult to walk through it.
In our climbing to the Argentina Farm, some points were signposted, but we want to put emphasis that we found intersections of the road that, if we had taken them, would have taken us to a different place in the Los Nevados park.
ACCOMMODATION NEAR PARAMILLO OF QUINDÍO
On our way to Paramillo of Quindío, we will be able to find 2 farms that provide accommodation:
ARGENTINA FARM
This is the first farm that we found. This farm has a camping zone, and much of its land is in a mountainous area with many unevennesses. The services that you will find here are the following:
- Shared room 🛌: $25000 Colombian pesos (6.63 USD) per person in a shared room.
- Breakfast 🥟: $10.000 (approximately $2.65 USD) per person
- Lunch 🍛: $12000 Colombian pesos (3.18 USD) per person.
- Muleteers service 🐴 3 bags maximum permitted: $100000 colombian pesos per person (26,53 USD) (Cocora Valley-Argentina Farm).
Please make sure to confirm availability on this number by calling 3112433455 Finca la Argentina.
BUENOS AIRES FARM
This farm is located 1 kilometer above Argentina Farm (almost all the journey will be by climbing). The good thing about this road is that you will be 1 kilometer closer to getting to Paramillo of Quindío.
This farm has an interesting and affordable camping zone, and the services that it provides are the following:
- Camping Zone🏕: $7000 Colombian pesos (1.86 USD) per person.
- Shared room 🛌: $25000 Colombian pesos (6.63 USD) per person in a shared room.
- Breakfast 🥟: $100,000 (approximately $2.65 USD) per person.
- Lunch 🍛: $12000 Colombian pesos (3.18 USD) per person.
- Muleteers service 🐴 3 bags maximum permitted: $120000 colombian pesos per person (31,83 USD) (Cocora Valley-Buenos Aires Farm).
This location has good signal coverage, so you'll be able to send messages or leave voicenotes during the dates you'd like to visit and wait for a response.
Please make sure to confirm availability on this number by calling 3112433455
If you mention the fact that you arrived at either of the two farms on the recommendation of Rutas de los Andes, they will give you an extra coffee cup.😜
Once we were settled in our rooms, we decided to take a rest and wake up early in the morning in order to start our way to Paramillo of Quindío
DAY 2
The next day, we got up, and immediately we could see a magnificent awakening surrounded by an outstanding forest covered by fog. At the same time, it was raining a little bit, which allowed us to refresh the floors.
For that reason, we put on our waterproof clothing, and there we went, starting with a nice walk, but it is important to keep in mind that you wear comfortable clothing for this kind of weather due to the fact that it is very likely to deal with rainy days, and there isn't anything worse than climbing a mountain in wet clothing.
The clothing: The right clothes are non-cotton garments, and don't forget to wear garments with good waterproofing.
I want to put emphasis on something I did not mention, and that is the fact that on the way to the Paramillo of Quindío, there are many points which are not signposted. Also, there are paddocks where the cows have made many paths, and if you follow one of these paths made by the cows, you may end up finding the bull 😁.
Departing from the Buenos Aires farm, we could find 2 walking trails, and any of them led to the Paramillo of Quindío.
WALKING TRAIL 1
Along this walking trail, we passed through a part called ''bosque de esponjas'', and what a better name than that, because we finished getting our hiking boots wet. After walking for a few minutes through this wet area, we returned to the paddocks, a little drier but with many different paths made by cows.
WALKING TRAIL 2
This route goes through the upper side of the mountain. On this route, we could see many wetlands on the walking trail 1, but it is much easier to get lost, since on the way back from Paramillo of Quindío we took this road and we met some people who had gotten lost.
Any of these walking trails we take, will take us to the top of the Paramillo of Quindío. Whether you take the route that departs from Buenos Aires farm, or the route that departs from Argentina farm, the distance to the Paramillo of Quindío is approximately 6.5 kilometers, and it should not take more than 5 hours to reach this magical place.
THE HIGHEST POINT OF THE PARAMILLO OF QUINDÍO
Briefly, after departing from the frailejones, we could see sunsets surrounded by stones, and afterward, crossing a little river with a waterfall, we were able to see a slightly more sandy zone. It was the insight that we were about to start the climb to the Paramillo of Quindío.
Given that the route was very complicated at some points of the climb, due to the fact that it took us about 2.25 kilometers to reach the top on average. Practically, the sensation was like we were walking through a walk full of ballast.
After having reached the peak of the mountain and having taken some time to take photos, we started our descent of the mountain around 12:00 pm, and on our return, we met with some people belonging to our lodging who had gotten lost on the route to climb to the peak of the Paramillo of Quindío; that is why, we returned alongside with them to our lodging.
Final Advertisement: If you go with a tourist guide, you should take a GPS in your pocket with the route. If you decide to do the climbing on your own with the downloaded route on your phone, you must take into account that if the weather conditions are not safe, such as fog, rain, etc., which is a big concern in this area, the GPS on your phone could have an offset angle of 100 meters.
On the way back, we met with some people who were following the GPS route on their phones. As a result, they got lost, since the GPS route showed them the furthest road. An important fact is that, despite the fact that we had a Garmin, in some sections there is an offset angle of 12 meters.
DAY 3
We woke up at 7:30 a.m, and we started our road back to Cocora Valley around 8:30 a.m.
HOW TO RETURN FROM THE PARAMILLO OF QUINDÍO 🚌🏡?
Finally, if you do not have your own transportation, keep the Cocora Valley buses and jeeps' departure schedules in mind. During the weekend, the last bus departs at 6:30 p.m. These schedules can vary in their departing times. For that reason, it is better that you confirm it with the company.
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The costs mentioned above are an estimate, and they could vary.