Location: Department of Meta Map
Area: 6,200 km²
Serranía de la Macarena or simply Macarena mountains are located in a Department of Meta in Colombia. This unique terrain covered by virgin forest is protected by La Macarena National Park that covers a total area of 6,200 km².
Flora and fauna
The mountain range of the
Macarena constitutes a meeting point of the flora and fauna of the
Amazon, the Orinoquía and the Andes. Due to its height it has varied
bioclimatic floors, with temperatures ranging between 12º and 25 °
C. These facts have led to the conservation of a unique habitat in a
small region of great biodiversity and that has numerous endemic
species.
Its fauna has anteaters, jaguars, pumas, deer, 8
species of monkeys, 500 species of birds, 1,200 species of insects
and 100 reptiles. In the case of flora there are 48 species of
orchids, 2,000 of other flowers, different foliage and plants.
Ecosystem
Ecosystems: wet forests, forests and scrublands
both dense and clear. Wetlands and in particular, old mother.
Vegetation: herbaceous vegetation of the Amazonian savannah.
Climate: Tropical humid, The average temperature is 27 ° C.
Location: Located in the department of Meta in the jurisdiction of
the municipalities of La Macarena, Mesetas, Vista Hermosa, San Juan
de Arama and Puerto Rico.-
Places of interest
The Serranía de
la Macarena has become internationally known for the Caño Cristales,
made known by the couple of teachers Melco Fernanez and Sara Cortez
(who lived on the banks of the pipe) and the Colombian journalist
and explorer Andrés Hurtado García. The mountain range also has
petroglyphs from ancient cultures (petroglyphs of Angosturas I and
II, in the Guayabero River). There are also huge waterfalls, such as
the Caño Canoas Waterfall, the Salto de Yarumales, the Salto del
Mico, Soplaculos and others, difficult to appreciate on foot because
of the steep terrain. Near the town center of La Macarena are the
Botanical Garden of La Macarena and the private reserve La
Madrevieja de El Carmen, places that offer the possibility of nature
tourism involving its visitors in restoration and recovery
activities.
geology
The Serranía de la Macarena
constitutes one of the oldest geological formations in Colombia,
counting, in its oldest part, with Precambrian rocks that have been
accurately dated by the Uranium / Lead method in zircons in 1461 ±
10 Million According to some authors, this mountain range is related
to the Guiana Shield constituting the westernmost of the Tepuis,
very old rock formations (more than 1000 million years) present in
Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and Brazil.
Colonization and
conflict
"Sierra de La Macarena. Biological Reserve of Humanity:
territory of conflicts" was the title with which the National
University of Colombia named an extensive study published in the
early 90s where a good part of the historical, social background is
collected , physical and biological that make up this Colombian
region and that have made it famous over the years. Nature reserve
area, historical heritage of humanity, The Sierra de La Macarena was
colonized in the middle of the 20th century by thousands of peasants
expelled from the Andean areas. The FARC was an insurgent movement
that became strong in the region. The combination of guerrillas,
military forces, coca crops and efforts to eradicate them by the
Colombian Government make La Macarena an inexhaustible source of
newspaper headlines.