My Travels: Cascadas Chicala - Payande Colombia

Visiting the Chicala waterfalls in Payande, Tolima was the last part of our little outing while vacationing in Colombia about a month ago. It was the part of the trip we enjoyed the most!

We had arrived to Ibague, my home town, where we stayed for the night (check those pictures and story right HERE), the following day, we decided to go on a tour to the Cascadas de Chicala through a touring company the hotel staff recommended.

The five of us (me, two sisters, nephew and daughter) got up early the next morning to wait for our tour guide/driver to get on our way to Payande, Tolima, only 30 minutes away.

Five miles from the falls,
the nice road we were traveling on ended and we continued the trip on an open and very bumpy road.

 The Andes mountains were the view on each side of the road.

Close by was Cemex, a Mexican Cement manufacturing company broke our view. They have a huge presence in the entire area. They extract different types of construction materials like limestone and clay which the region is rich in. It's a good and bad situation since the company brings jobs and progress to the area, but it also damages the ecosystem and causes health issues to the residents.

 Let's continue with our trip to the waterfalls... we had to cross this little creek.

A short distance up the road we reached our destination... Cascadas Chicala... Well, at least the parking zone.

The car was parked and from there on we had to walk for about ten minutes. The first part with the sun beaming down on us was not too fun...

 After walking several feet we made it into the mountain, the trees provided lots of shade.

I did enjoy the up hill walk underneath the trees. Getting there early was a good idea, since the weather wasn't as hot as it gets during the middle of the day. The other good reason is that there weren't many people crowding the space.

Here, following the guide...

 And we arrived!! The Chicala waterfalls consist of six accessible waterfalls all connected and well maintained through natural hiking trails. This picture below is the first one right as you enter. This is the one families with little kids enjoy the most, its depth is only 20" and has a soft sandy bottom.

We continued up the hiking trail to get to the other falls. Being right there in the middle of the jungle with the sound of the water hitting the rocks down below was amazing.

We then, got to waterfall number #3, after stepping from rock after rock... There was the fall hidden from plain view!

My daughter, a bit hesitant to get in the water, started to walk towards the waterfall.

 And in no time she was enjoying it! The water was so clear and fresh.

 Soon after we were back at the trail climbing to waterfall #6 the deepest, at 26-feet.

 Of course, she had to jump from here too!

 Her cousin was a good leader. ;)

He even dove in!

Me? No way! I was just relaxing and enjoying the view. :D

After a couple of hours we started to descend and headed to our final destination of the day as part of the tour.

 Lunch, a swimming pool and resting area were awaiting us here in the little town of Payande.

 Love the brick pathway and all the vegetation.

 After having a wholesome lunch, some decided to take a dip in the pool.

I, instead, turned to the closest hammock under a few trees, and enjoying the most wonderful breeze, took a long nap! Ahhh... it was glorious! :)

Well guys, I'm so very happy we decided to visit the Cascadas of Chicala, it brought great memories of outings we as a family did long time ago while growing up. This time, it was great to share this same type of experience with my daughter who had a wonderful time!

Hugs my friends!

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