Iguaque lagoon
Sacred to the Muisca.
Petruss — CC BY 3.0 · Aron Prieto — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Petruss — CC BY 3.0 · Aron Prieto — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Aron Prieto — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Petruss — CC BY 3.0
Iguaque is a mountain sanctuary of high páramo and Andean forest in central Colombia. Slopes are dotted with woolly-leaved frailejón plants, clear streams run among the moss, a dark mountain lagoon sits in a valley between the peaks, and clouds drift over it. The sanctuary was created in 1977, covers about 6,750 ha and runs from 2,400 to 3,800 m, with temperatures of 4 to 12 °C depending on height. Its streams supply many neighbouring towns. It holds the Iguaque lagoon, which the Muisca held sacred before the Spanish conquest, believing humankind had emerged from it. You climb a long mountain trail from the entrance through forest and páramo to the lagoon, seeing the frailejones, birds and the valleys below. The entrance is about 8 km in a straight line northeast of Villa de Leyva. The climb is long, the air thin and the top cold, so start early, bring warm clothes and water, and respect the lagoon, once sacred to the Muisca.
Sacred to the Muisca.
On the slopes.
Among the moss.
Eastern Cordillera, between Tunja, Villa de Leyva and Arcabuco, Boyacá
Yes, long and high.
The Muisca believed humankind emerged from it.