We went on a saturday night by bus. One hour later, we arrived to the village situated at the bottom of the mountain. Then, we went to a "finca" to sleep there and we find one where we could camp.
The following day, we woke up early in the morning and we climbed to the top of the Pico de Loro for 3 hours. The climbing is a little bit difficult, sometimes you completely have to climb on trees to continue but everyone who want to do it can do it. The more weird thing is that we never saw the top of the mountain because during the climbing you are in the jungle. But, it is really pretty, with a peaceful atmosphere in the nature. As well, you can heard some birds singing, see huge butterflies, parrots, and some animals.
When we arrived at the peak of the Pico, the view was fantastic. If it is cloudless, you can see the panorama of the whole valley with different species of birds flying. We stayed one hour on the top, admiring this spectacular view and then we came down to the village where we left our bagpack.The owner of the finca told us that if we wanted, we could have a swim in the river to chill next to this physical effort. The water was a little bit cold but it was so cool to have a rest. And then, we had to take the bus to come to Cali because it was late and we were tired.
Advice :
There is just one route to get up there. First you have to take the Recreativo 7 and you have to arrive to El Topacio, near Pueblo Pance. Next, ask for the path.I recommend to everyone who likes to go to some places in the nature to go there and to climb. It was a really wonderful hiking. I also recommend you to take a sweater because it is cold there and obviously ankle boots because it is not very easy to climb to the peak.
It is posible to sleep under canvas at the top of the mountain. But don't forget to bring a flashlight.
One more thing, you can climb up there without a guide. You just have to ask for the path to someone before.
I hope this will make you want to climb up there, it was really worth it.
Jonas
