The Best Ecotours To Take From Bogot

Bogotá can seem like a huge, intimidating concrete jungle, but there’s a lot more to the city and the surrounding region of Cundinamarca than initially meets the eye. Bogotá is surrounded by amazing countryside and national parks, and there are some great ecotours to these beautiful places. So here are the best ecotours to take from Bogotá.

Chingaza National Park

One of Colombia’s most important National Parks is located just alongside Bogotá and is an easy day-trip from the capital. With stunning paramo landscapes, Andean lakes, and a wealth of unique wildlife – including the rare and beautiful Spectacled Bear – Chingaza is one of the best places to visit from Bogotá to really get into nature.

Quininí Forest Reserve

This lovely forest south of Bogotá is a great place to combine a hike in nature with a tour of a coffee farm, and even a visit to ancient Indigenous petroglyphs. Andes Ecotours offer an excellent day-trip to the reserve, and you can learn all about local coffee growing processes, enjoy the sight of the ancient and mysterious petroglyphs, and look for beautiful endemic birds like the Turquoise Dacnis at the same time.

La Chorrera Waterfall

Colombia’s highest waterfall is located in a gorgeous and well-preserved cloud forest less than two hours from the city. It’s a fairly easy hike and a popular day-trip from Bogotá, and you can observe beautiful birds – including Toucans and Trogons – as well as orchids and a variety of unique plants and trees during the hike.

Sumapaz National Park

Another important Colombian National Park, Sumapaz has the distinction of being the largest paramo ecosystem in the world. The vast landscapes might seem desolate from a distance, but they are full of life, and a hike in Sumapaz can reward visitors with amazing views of eagles, hummingbirds, deer, and even bears.

1. The Hummingbird Observatory, La Calera

Zoo

Colombia has more bird species – and more hummingbird species – than any country on earth, and there are some amazing places in and around Bogotá where you can watch birds. One of the best is the lovely hummingbird observatory near to La Calera (just outside Bogotá) – here many species of endemic and near-endemic hummingbirds come to feeders, and you can even see the Sword-billed Hummingbird: the only bird in the world with a beak longer than its body!

Chicaque Park

This beautifully preserved cloud forest natural park just a couple of hours south of Bogotá is one of the top ecotourism destinations in the region and spending the day hiking through the woods is a real nature lover’s dream – with wild sloths, toucans, hummingbirds, and many more species of bird and animal, it feels like another world after spending time in Bogotá!

Green Violet-ear hummingbird, Chicaque Natural Park, Colombia

Bogotá Wetlands

You don’t even need to go outside of Bogotá to enjoy some lovely wildlife-watching opportunities – the wetlands and parks of the city are home to endemic bird species like the Bogotá Rail and Apolinar’s Wren, and even wild guinea pigs! The aforementioned tour agency Andes Ecotours have a special Bogotá Wetlands tour that will allow you to appreciate rare Colombian wildlife without even having to leave the city.

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