Tourist Place

In Serranía de la Macarena, we can find diverse ecosystems. For example

•  Rainforests
• Dense and clear-thickets and forests
• Herbaceous vegetation of Amazonian savannah

In addition there are the ways of life of four large naturals regions of Colombia: Orinoco, the Amazon, the Andes and Guayana.

CAÑO CRISTALES

One of the tourist places of Serranía de la Macarena is Caño Cristales which is  considered the world's most beautiful river. Caño Cristales also is named by  the name of "River of five colors" (yellow, blue, green, red and black), as its clear and pure waters reveal aquatic plants which with the sun ripen with these beautiful colors, giving the river a magical appearance. [1]

To reach Caño Cristales it is necessary to reach the first town of Macarena

The season to travel to Caño Cristales lasts 6 months a year. It starts in the second half of May and lasts until mid-December. You can also travel to La Macarena between January and middle May, but you can not access the river because in this period the aquatic plants are in their reproductive period .

Out of season, you can make alternative activities for example: rafting by Guayavero River; hiking and watching wildlife endemic species, such: the shad, the tretatroncos, the copetón and the tangara; hiking for eroded rocky formations; visiting to natural savannahs of  Tablazo and  Piedra Gorda  of Lejanías with beautiful petroglyphs and pictographs of indigenous cultures that inhabited the region.

TRANSPORTATION AND COST

There are different ways to go to Caño Cristales in Serranía de la Macarena. The most usual is going through air.

If you are in Colombia, first you must travel to Medellin, to Bogotá, to Cali or to Villavicencio.

In these cities, you can find different direct flights to Macarena, Meta.

For example, from the Airport Olaya Herrera (Medellin), there are some charter flights every Tuesday or every Friday. The tourist package costs around the 400 USD without air ticket or 915 USD with air ticket, but also you can find air tickets for USD 530. The duration for charter flight- from Medellin to La Macarena is of one hour and 40 minutes, approximately.

From Bogotá, you can to travel with Satena or a charter flight. The flight takes about 50 minutes and runs Fridays and Sundays before noon (times may vary). Yuo can flight from La Macarena on Friday and Sunday. The price of a roundtrip is variable. If you purchase it in advance, you can get tickets for USD225 approximately; but if you need to buy the ticket the same week, the same ticket can cost a little over 350 USD.

From Villavicencio, you can travel by Airlines Llaneras or Aerostar from Airport Vanguardia. This trip is interesting because it can travel with great flexibility of dates, any day of the week. There are small planes called " Aerotaxis ". You will have spectacular scenery all the way. The plane leaves at 7 am. The price is fixed, you can buy it at USD 225.

 [1] http://prezi.com/sy0f2qhurgk8/cano-cristales