Caño Cristales Reopened To The Public For The Vacation Season
“As Colombians prepare for the mid-year school vacations, the environmental authority of La Macarena, Cormacarena, together with the National Natural Parks unit announced the reopening of Caño Cristales, which had been closed in November 2021 to protect the area from drought weather conditions at that time.
Admission will begin on June 8. The tourist attraction had been closed since November 2021.
The site, which has 11 ecotourism trails, receives about 15,000 tourists annually, so it is key to economic activity in the region considering that tourism moves several segments such as hotels, restaurants, transportation, among others, being considered one of the most employment-generating in the country.
How many people per day?
During the announcement of the reopening of Caño Cristales, the authorities informed that an average of 900 people per day will be able to enter the place, considered unique in the world, since it is home to an endemic plant: the macarenia clavigera, which is responsible for the colors of the water body that attracts tourists.
Precisely, the beauty of the place also seems to be what makes it fragile, because the plants are vulnerable to human presence at times when the stream is empty, that is, when there is drought. Hence the closure decisions made in November 2021, when rainfall was scarce at the site.
Expectations for regional tourism
For this season, not only because of the mid-year vacations in schools and universities, which leads thousands of families to take a break at this time of the year, expectations for Caño Cristales are high.
The return of Caño Cristales to the tourist scene, as one of the attractions of the department of Meta, coincides with a greater availability to reach the place, since new air routes to Villavicencio have been registered.
Thus, authorities estimate that 6,609 Colombians and 773 foreign tourists could arrive, a figure that is projected on the assumption that the influx of visitors will be similar to that of 2021.
There are more than 25 hotels and 29 local tour operators in the area, regional authorities reported.
Hiking, passive and recreational bathing, fauna and flora sightings, horseback riding in the Laguna del Silencio and ecological horseback riding are some of the activities that move the economy in this protected area.
Another of the information provided on Monday by the local authorities is that Laguna del Silencio, Raudal Angosturas I, Caño Piedra and Bajo Lozada are part of the areas authorized for tours.
The invitation to tourists, both national and foreign, is to contribute to the protection of the flora and fauna present in the area.