Tatacoa Desert

The Tatacoa Desert is the most compelling landscape in the department of Huila, about 45 kilometres north of Neiva near the town of Villavieja. Despite the name, it is a dry tropical forest rather than a true desert — but the landscape of eroded red badlands and grey labyrinthine gullies is genuinely otherworldly.

The formation divides into two distinct zones: the red Cuzco sector and the grey Cusco sector, each with its own character. Guides are available in Villavieja and are useful for finding the best viewpoints and avoiding getting lost in the maze-like gullies. The Tatacoa is also one of the better stargazing locations in Colombia, far enough from city lights that the Milky Way is clearly visible on clear nights. A small astronomical observatory operates just outside Villavieja.

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A story
Despite being called a desert, the Tatacoa is technically a dry tropical forest — one of only two arid regions in Colombia. It formed as the Magdalena River valley became sheltered from Pacific rain systems by the surrounding Andean cordilleras. The red and grey eroded formations are the exposed bones of an ancient seafloor, and fossil hunters have found marine creatures millions of years old here, including extinct relatives of crocodiles and giant turtles.

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