Tatacoa Desert

We continued from the mountains to the Tatacoa Desert. There are two stone deserts, a red one and a gray one, and it is pretty much the hottest place in Colombia. After an 8-hour bus ride and another 1.5 hours in a taxi, we finally arrived at our accommodation. We had chosen a small accommodation in the middle of the desert so that we could explore the desert on foot from there.

The first day took us to the red desert. Hiking through the desert was not easy in the heat, but the landscape is truly impressive.

The Tatacoa Desert is also a popular place for stargazing. There was an observatory opposite our accommodation, where an astronomy professor gave a lecture in the evening. We lay on mats during the lecture and looked at the stars. The professor was really funny. We were also able to see the moon, Saturn, and Jupiter through telescopes. We even managed to take a photo of the moon, which was pretty cool. Unfortunately, we couldn't see many stars because it was a bit cloudy.

On the second day, we headed towards the gray desert. Since it was a bit further from our accommodation, we had to walk for over an hour until we could see the first gray rocks. As it wasn't too hot in the morning, the walk was quite pleasant. The gray desert doesn't look as spectacular as the red one, but it's still worth a visit. There is also a small swimming pool there. As it got very hot in the afternoon, we cooled off there before heading back.

Since it was New Year's Eve, we had brought a bottle of wine with us. However, there was nothing going on at our accommodation (we were the only guests), so we had thought about going to bed early. Fortunately, a Colombian couple arrived later, and we spent the evening with them, toasting with a glass of sparkling wine at midnight. We also saw a small fireworks display in the distance. All in all, it turned out to be a nice New Year's Eve.

Here is the link to the video:

https://youtu.be/EF8N3ItEvF4