Manizales Things to Do

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We made two more photo stops. One was at Chalet Arenales, a place about 3 km from the park entrance at La Brisas. We did not enter in the red house, but here there are accommodation with dorm beds. Chalet Arenales is situated at 4150 metres and here vegetation is very sparse, there are mostly some grass.

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Our next stop was at La Brisas, which is the entrance to the national park. Here you pay the entrance fee if you come on your own. We were shown a film about national parks in Colombia and a guide talked about Los Nevados. There are bathrooms and a counter where you can buy snacks, water and warm drinks. At La Brisas there is basic accommodation and you can also camp here.
La Brisas is situated 13 km from the Manizales - Bogotá road at La Esperanza and it is situated at an altitude of 4050 metres. On the surrounding páramo (high altitude grassland) you can see frailejones growing, a typical plant at these altitudes in Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador.

The view can change rapidly here. When I took the second photo the sky was blue behind the mountain. Two minutes later you could not see the mountain at all because of the mist, but before we left you could see the contours of the mountain again.

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The bus was going to take us to 4800 metres, but along the way it is necessary to make stops to acclimatize the body to the height. We made some photo stops and one was at Laguna Negra. The lake is situated at 3760 metres and has glacial origin. It is a beautiful view.
By the road a man was selling gloves, caps, scarves and warm clothes. Something you need at this elevation as it is very cold. On the opposite side of the road some soldiers were stationed.

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We drove along the Manizales - Bogotá road and it was mostly going uphill. After 29km, at La Esperanza, there is a fork to the right leading to the national park. Before continuing we stopped at Restaurante Lucho for breakfast. We got a fried egg, an arepa and hot chocolate. If you haven’t brought any snacks you can buy some here. It can be good to have some nuts and chocolate later on during the day when you are walking.

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After having been on higher elevation we stopped at Hotel Termales for a late lunch and to use the thermal baths. First we had lunch. We got soup and a main course and it was good and filling. Then we went to the changing room to change to swim wear. We were told not to leave anything in the changing room, but to bring everything to the pool. The air is cold so I hurried to the pool and the hot water. It was lovely hanging around in the hot water and we stayed very close to the inlet where the water was warmest. I feared it was going to be very cold getting out of the pool, but the body had been heated and stayed warm. There are three showers next to the pool so that you can rinse most of the sulphur water off the body and at least one of them have warm water (or at least not freezing cold).
Hotel Termales del Ruiz is situated just outside the National Park on the north side and it is at an elevation of 3500 metres (it is the highest situated hotel in the country). It cost 45 000 pesos (July 2008) to stay a night at the hotel and that includes breakfast and baths. If you come here on your own and just want to use the baths it is 12 000/15 000 pesos.

Los Nevados National Parque is 583 square kilometres big and stretches over four departments; Caldas, Risaralda, Tolima and Quindio. The altitude in the park range from 2600 metres to 5325 metres so there are different biotopes. You can find humid cloud forest, open highland (páramo) and at the highest altitudes snow. There are several volcanic peaks in the park and the highest one is El Ruiz, which is 5325 metres. Maybe you read in a newspaper about the eruption of El Ruiz in 1985. It was a terrible catastrophe as the heat melted large part of the snow cover and water and mud floating down the slope swept away a whole town and killed 20 000 people.

I booked a day tour to Los Nevados National Park through Mountain House in Manizales. The tour was 95 000 pesos (July 2008) and that price included transport, guide, entrance fee to the park, breakfast, lunch and thermal baths. We were six foreign tourists from Mountain House and 16 Colombian tourists on the tour. We were picked up at the hostel just after 7.00 and came back just before 18.00. The bus took us as high as 4800 metres and from there we walked up to 5125 metres, which was the highest altitude we were allowed to go to. If you want to walk to the top of El Ruiz there are other guides and you can take a two day tour.

It is very cold and windy so gloves and a cap is necessary. Dress with several layers and put on good walking shoes. You will also need sunglasses as the sun is strong and reflecting in the snow. And you will need a lot of sun block for your face.

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The Cathedral in Manizales doesn’t look like other churches in Colombia. It is built in a neo-Gothic style and was constructed between 1928 - 1939. The two churches that had stood on the site before had been destroyed in an earthquake and a fire. The present church has got four towers, which are dedicated to the saints Mark, Paul. Inés and Francis. The highest tower is 106 metres and that makes it the highest church tower in Colombia. There are fine reliefs on the three front bronze doors. The reliefs shows the history of the cathedral and the city Manizales. The church have got many colourful stained glass windows.

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The Gold Museum in Manizales is small, but have got a nice collection of gold and ceramic items. The artefacts are of the Quimbaya people. On the wall outside the gold room there is an interesting drawing showing the topography of Colombia, from west to east (at the latitude of Manizales I guess). There is also a library.
The museum is situated on the second floor of the Banco de la República building.
Admission is free.
It is open between 8 - 11.30 and 14 - 18 on Mondays - Fridays.