La Pastora

Last weekend we had the chance to take a two day trip to La Pastora in the Ucumari Natural Park, situated in the Park of Nevados. Fede and I went with his cousin, Juan Martin, while Fede's parents babysat the kids. The pictures below are compliments of both Fede and Juan.

We drove for an hour to reach El Cedral (the little house pictured below) and from that point on was a 2+ hour hike up river. Most of the trail was up semi-dry creek beds, which means we were looking down, negotiating each step on slippery rocks.  Even so, we managed to slip a few times as we scrambled up the trail.

After an hour of rain the sun came out and we were able to really appreciate the beauty of this tropical-mountainous area. The beautiful river is the Otun. It was bizarre to see a mixture of pine trees with palm trees, and vast amounts of vapor rising from the mountains. This vapor effect is called the "Rain Factory" because it condenses in the mountains and comes down the valley every afternoon to shower Pereira.

Near the end of the hike the trail leveled out and we came upon a little Finca (a ranch house) --complete with a Direct TV Satellite!!-- where we stopped to take pictures. We also came upon a man with his mules, which are responsible for carrying all sorts of provisions up and down the trail. Their pace is impressive, especially considering the uneven terrain and slippery rocks.

When we arrived at La Pastora (which is the red house below, a rustic hostal) we were delighted to have reached the goal. And, pleasantly surprised to find a very hospitable staff on hand who were willing to set us up for the night. The electricity was down, which made the experience all the better.

Seeing that we still had a couple of hours of sunlight left, we decided to go see the waterfall -a 30 min hike. Again, the vegetation was breathtaking and it felt like we were in an enchanted land, totally unaffected by the rest of the world...

When we reached the waterfall, Juan took the iniative to jump right in. Bear in mind that at this altitude it was chilly, and we had spent a good portion of the day wet. The waterfall was quite high and besides the freezing cold water, torrents of air came down with force. After watching Juan scramble under the waterfall and then slip on the mossy rocks, Fede decided it was a good idea to go in too. Personally, prudence and modesty held me back from following suit, but I was more than happy to laugh and take pictures!

Farther up the mountains one finds the Laguna (really a lake I suppose), which is the source for the Otun River (which runs through Pereira). That night for dinner we had the pleasure of dining from trout caught that day from the laguna. Everything was delicious and all the tenants sad around the fireplace all evening chatting and keeping warm.

The following morning we were up by 6 am to see the sunrise and spend a few quite moments next to the river. By 7 am we were hiking back down and witnessed the spectacular beauty of the sun's rays as they filtered through the mountains and foilage. This short but wonderful trip was definitely the highlight of our time in Colombia and we hope to come back and make it up to the Laguna next time around!