[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he bleak landscape of Chingaza National Park that extends along the eastern cordillera of the Colombian Andes is home to a delicate ecosystem of plant and animal life.Several hours away from Bogotá by motorized transportation, these 76,000 hectares of some of the country’s most rugged moorland provide a vital source of water for the 8 million inhabitants of the capital.
Waters originating in this national parkland flow thousands of kilometers east to the Orinoco and Rio Negro rivers.
Chingaza offers walking trails and a campsite at the park’s entrance at Monteredondo, but visitors cannot turn up unannounced. Prebook travel with National Parks and hire a local guide, as Chingaza’s high altitude pa?ramos and severe wet climate ensure can be difficult for the inexperienced.
The area is rich in wildlife, such as the Andean spectacled black bear, torrent ducks and the endangered Andean Condor. There are streams and lagoons for fishing Rainbow trout, which was artificially introduced into the region before Chingaza was protected as a National Park.
And even though hunting has taken a toll on many endemic species, strict environmental measures have helped preserve the diversity of the pa?ramo and an eco-system of hydrologic importance to us all.
There are many areas within the park which remain unexplored and offer anthropologists clues as to the extensive network of the pre-Columbian Muisca along the eastern Andes and the foothills of Los Llanos.
