The Chingaza National Natural Park is a natural and cultural treasure of central Colombia. Its strategic location allows to articulate the natural experience with nearby attractions in the municipalities of La Calera, Fómeque and Guasca, recognized for its peasant and gastronomic tradition, as well as its emblematic water reserves of the Embalse de San Rafael and the Laguna de Siecha.
Its mountains, in the Eastern Cordillera, a few kilometres from Bogotá, keep the memory of the peoples fowls and guaipesas well as of peasant communities that inhabited the region until a few decades ago. Today is rbiodiversity effuge and vital water source, as it originates near the 70% of water resource which supplies Bogotá and nearby municipalities. With a cold and humid climate of high mountain, which ranges between the 4 ° C and 21 ° C, the park houses subandine, high and extensive forests, ecosystems fundamental to water regulation.
The Natural National Park is located in the eastern Andes, to the north-east of Bogotá; it consists of 11 municipalities, 7 of Cundinamarca (Fómeque, Choachí, La Calera, Guasca, Junín, Gachalá and Medina) and 4 municipalities of Meta (San Juanito, El Calvary, Restrepo and Cumaral).
In this sanctuary more than 1,400 species of floraincluding the fra-lejon (Espeletia uribei), in addition to light, gavas, pajonal and peat; as well as more than 101 species of mammals such as the bear of glasses (Tremartos ornatus), also known as the Andean bear, the white-tailed deer and the concolor puma, also known as the Andean mountain lion; 531 species of birds, among them the condor of the Andes and the chivito of Bogotá or barbudito paramuno; in addition to amphibians and reptiles at risk such as the sapite arlequin.
In addition, its environment offers ecotourism routes, rural accommodation and community activities that strengthen sustainable tourism in the central region of the country.
