The Tatacoa Desert

Also known as the Valley of Sadness, as it was called in 1538 by the conqueror Jimenez De Quesada, the Tatacoa Desert (the Tatacoa is a harmless local snake) does not have the typical natural features of a desert. Instead of the classic sand dunes, you can admire curious red earth sculptures that in some areas join and intersect, creating natural labyrinths of majestic beauty, the result of centuries of soil erosion. The sky, over that vast and silent expanse, is almost always clear, ideal for astronomy lovers and researchers who, at night, with a good telescope, can distinctly observe and analyze the sharp celestial vault. The apparent scarcity of forms of life, typical of a desert, is even more curious when you consider that during the Tertiary period, millions of years ago, that area was a vast garden full of trees, flowers, and many other plant species, and was inhabited by monkeys, turtles, crocodiles, and giant sloths. The fossil remains of the lush flora and rich fauna of that remote epoch, unknown to man, make the Tatacoa Desert a true paradise for geologists and paleontologists. The climate is hot and dry, and the daytime temperature hovers around 27 degrees. The ideal time for a few-hour excursion through the rocks, shrubs, and cacti of the Tatacoa Desert is late afternoon, when the sun lowers and the climate cools. The reference point to reach the Tatacoa Desert is the small colonial village of Villavieja, about fifty kilometers from Neiva and about ten kilometers from the first desert signs of the landscape. In Villavieja, there is the paleontological museum – worth visiting before venturing into the desert – where the fossil remains of animals that became extinct millions of years ago are preserved, and where the historical natural phases of the evolution of that territory are reconstructed, from the birth of the universe to the appearance of man on Earth.