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The Tatacoa Desert (Desierto de la Tatacoa) is an unusual place in Southwest Colombia that happens to be the second driest place in the country.
Introduction to the Tatacoa Desert
You hardly expect to find a desert deep in the heart of Colombia. Mixed in among the lush green mountainous landscape, however, is a 330 square kilometer region packed with interesting formations, canyons, and incredible scenery. Here’s the secret – it’s not even a true desert, it’s a dry tropical forest.
In 1538, Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada (1509-1579) named it the “Valley of Sorrows”, but the Tatacoa Desert is much more than just a dead zone. It’s rich in plant and animal life and is also a phenomenal place for stargazing.
The desert has different sectors to explore, both on foot or with a bicycle. The Red Desert (Desierto Rojo) is famous for its red sandstone formations while the Gray Desert (Desierto Gris) is more of a gray lunar landscape where a large number of fossils have been found.
Getting to the Tatacoa Desert
It’s easy to travel to the desert alone. A colectivo from the Neiva bus station leaves frequently in the mornings, usually when it’s full.
If you want to sick around for an astronomy talk, you’ll have to stay overnight. Thankfully, there are several inexpensive places to stay both in Villavieja and in the desert. The only drawback is that transportation from the town to the desert can be much more expensive than it should be.
Tours of the Tatacoa Desert
We decided to take a tour from Neiva. Our hotel recommended a local company that offered reasonably priced private tours. It included round-trip transportation, water and snacks, local guides, and admission to the museum in Villavieja. The tour was in Spanish only.
Overall, we felt it was a good deal because the transportation cost seems to be an issue for independent travelers. As far as time, it allowed us to see everything without having to stay overnight in the desert, allowing us to head home directly from Neiva the next morning.
There were a couple negatives about the tour. One was getting a flat tire on the way to Villavieja but that was beyond anyone’s control. It only cost us about an hour. The other is that we weren’t given a chance to eat a proper meal during the tour although we had plenty of time to stop. For example, there was a good hour between the last hike and the astronomical observatory. We thought the option to eat at one of the restaurants in the desert would’ve been nice.
Town of Villavieja
Villavieja is the largest town around the Tatacoa Desert. It was actually the second site of the modern city of Neiva, founded by Juan Alonso y Arias as Villa de San Juan de Neiva on August 18, 1550. The settlement was destroyed on November 14, 1569, by the indigenous Pijao people. On May 24, 1612, Diego de Ospina y Medinilla (1567-1630) re-founded Neiva in its current location. Villavieja was part of the establishment and became a separate town a short time later.
Villavieja is supposed to be nice but it was quite a mess during our visit. The main plaza was under construction and the roads were drowned in puddles of mud from a very rare rainstorm the night before.
Villavieja Paleontology Museum
The local Paleontology Museum (Museo Paleontológico de Villavieja) is a small space exhibiting fossils from several animals found nearby, including giant land sloths. Admission is COP$7,000 (as of November 2024).
Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help
The Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro) is on the main plaza. Construction began on January 2, 1822, on land donated by Josefa Gertrudis de Vargas y Vargas, and it was ready for use in 1837. It features a single nave with a 3-story bell tower.
Chapel of Santa Barbara
The Chapel of Santa Barbara (Capilla de Santa Bárbara) is next to the museum. It was originally built by the Jesuits sometime between 1631 and 1767, but the exact construction date is unknown. The chapel became a parish after the Jesuits were expelled in 1767. By April 1821, it was in serious danger of collapse and the community decided to build the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help rather than restore the chapel. José María Herrera y Bahamón constructed the current chapel on its foundations around the same time the church was being built. It’s a small space with a single nave.
El Cardón
Our first stop on the tour was a lookout point called El Cardón where we were given a quick overview of the history of the area and its geography. It’s a scenic spot with a nice view of the desert.
El Cusco
The most famous area of the Tatacoa Desert is El Cusco. It features sandstone formations and columns up to several meters high as well as deep ditches. It’s easily the most photogenic part of the desert.
We took a nice hike at El Cusco. It was extremely muddy from the previous night’s rainstorm, which happened to be the first rain in over a year. The mud made things more interesting.
El Cusco is an amazing place to walk. We spent about an hour exploring the small canyon and the landscape felt like something out of Star Wars. The only thing I didn’t understand was the name. The guide told us it’s because the landscape resembles Cusco in Peru. I beg to differ.
The guide pointed out a few small cacti growing under the protection of some trees. He said that locals search for the fruits and make candy out of them. We were able to sample some of the fruit right off of the cactus and it’s delicious.
Las Ventanas
Las Ventanas was the next stop. It’s a lookout point where you’re able to see out over a vast gray landscape, hence the name “the windows”.
Los Hoyos
Our second hike didn’t start out very well but got better the further we walked. It was in the area called Los Hoyos (The Holes), which is known for its lunar landscape. The beginning of the hike was quite drab and gray but ended up having some nice formations.
The saving grace of Los Hoyos was climbing up to a small mesa and getting a breathtaking view of what looked like a mini Grand Canyon. The colors and formations are similar to the Arizona or Utah desert without the Colorado River down below. It’s also deceiving to the eye. The canyons in Tatacoa Desert aren’t very deep but from the top of the mesa they look intimidating.
Swimming Pool
On the way out of Los Hoyos, there’s a swimming pool built right into the canyon. It looks like a fun place to hang out for a day. Admission is COP$10,000 per person (as of April 2025).
Tatacoa Astronomical Observatory
Our tour finished at the Tatacoa Astronomical Observatory (Observatorio Astronómico de la Tatacoa) for an astronomy talk. It cost COP$10,000 to get in (as of March 2025) and there were at least 80 people attending. The clouds were out in full force but just as the talk began at 7pm, the skies opened up and we could see thousands of brilliant stars sparkling above.
The talk lasted until about 9:15pm and was simply incredible. For the first hour, we were able to peer into four different high-powered telescopes to get a closer look at stars and star clusters. The next hour was spent looking at different constellations and learning about the individual stars that form them. The astronomer knew the names of absolutely every star he pointed to with his laser pointer including their distance from earth, and he was able to answer every question thoroughly. We highly recommend attending the talk and believe it’s just as enjoyable as the desert itself. Just take insect repellant. I was eaten alive after the sun went down!
