Manizales - Tour to Nevado Ruiz and Visit to Termales Otoño

I went on a tour to Nevado Ruiz. Nevado Ruiz is an active volcano just east of Manizales. The above is not Nevado Ruiz. It is a smaller volcanic mountain nearby. At the time of my visit, they were not allowing visitors any closer to Nevado Ruiz due to volcanic activity. Even so, this tour rocked!

We started our day riding a tour bus up the mountain. We stopped for a typical breakfast. On the way up, the scenery was magnificent. It started with steep, deep green mountains. As we rose in altitude, the flora began to change. We saw four distinct floral environments: the deep green mountains changed to the Páramo, which then gave way to the Super Páramo at about 4200 meters, which then gave way to the Tumbas (the tombs) at about 4400 meters (about 14,400 feet). A person could spend and enjoy an entire day at each one of these eco zones.

We finished the day with a dip in the volcanic waters at Termales Otoño, which turned out to be a very relaxing way to finish the tour.

Deep, green eco:

Here you can see the beginning of the Páramo. There is still a lot of green, but there is more upper altitude brush type vegetation;

These next two were taken fairly close to each other at about 4000 meters in altitude and are both representative of the Páramo:

This next one shows the Super Páramo which begins at about 4200 meters. Notice the very limited vegetation:

Finally, Las Tumbas (the tombs) at about 4500 meters (I am not sure). Here it looks like we are visiting another planet. The volcano pictured above is just to the right.

Additional pictures of the trip:

Manizales - Catedral Basilica

The Catedral Basilica in Manizales is definitely worth the visit. I think I spent US$10 which included my tip for the guide. In this tour, you get to visit very close to the top of the cathedral, which I think is pretty rare in most tours. The views are spectacular.

Manizales - Panoramic View from Chipre

Chipre is a ridge on the north side of Manizales. It is easy to get to walking from the center or by taxi. It has nice views of the vallies and mountains towards the north. Here is where the view can change many times throughout the day with movements of the sun and clouds. If you are in Manizales, this is definitely worth the visit.

Manizales Aero Cable

They have a number of aero cables (gondolos) throughout Manizales to help people move around the city. This is due to the sheer inclines that are found throughout Manizales. It is a cheap (US$0.75) and good way to see of parts of Manizales.

The reason I took the picture below is a construction method that a friend pointed out to me. In Latin America, you often find building that have re-bar coming out the top. Apparently, they do this when they are not sure if they are going to continue building upwards. This gives the option to continue at a later time. I found that interesting: