Getting To and Away

Getting to and away

By Lorraine Caputo

From Bogotá and Tunja two routes are possible: one through Duitama, Soatá, La Uvita, Guacamayas and Panqueaba; the other through Capitanejo and on to Cordoncillo. The road at Cordoncillo divides, going right to El Cocuy village and left to Güicán. Both these pueblos serve as entries into Parque Nacional Natural (PNN) El Cocuy and have national park offices where you obtain your permit.

From the north you can arrive from Cucarmanga, Pamplona or Cúcuta, by way of Málaga and Capitanejo, to El Espino and the Cordoncillo crossroads. A web of rough roads runs in the area immediately adjacent to the national park, leading to hacienda and guide lodges. You can transit this in your own or a hired vehicle or in the lechero. Express services arranged with the lodges cost $26.50 to 42 per vehicle. The daily lechero, leaves El Cocuy at 6 a.m. and Güicán at about 5:30 a.m. ($1.05 for Colombians, $2.65 for foreigners, regardless of distance). The distance from El Cocuy village to Guaicany is 25 kilometers (15 miles); Guaicany to La Capilla (health post, phone, store), 6 kilometers (3.6 miles); La Capilla to Kanwara turn-off, 7.1 kilometers (4.25 miles); Kanwara turn-off to Güicán, 13.6 kilometers (8.2 miles). From Kanwara is a dirt track leading down into the llanos.