Los Llanos - the Great Plains of Colombia

Los Llanos of Colombia sometimes look and feel similar to the plains of North America and the fields of the Midwest. Lush, green, flat grasslands stretching as far as the eye can see, scattered with herds of cows and huge red skies in the morning and night. These tropical grasslands are treeless savannas and stretch for hundreds of miles before stopping at the jungles of the Amazon river basin.

The Llanos are to Colombia what the gauchos and Pampas are to Argentina: unique cuisine, music and culture that has been romanticized in Colombian literature. A vast grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes it extends over 170,000 square miles from Colombia to Venezuela. The area has one of the richest grasslands in the world and makes up over a quarter of Colombia's landmass but yet has only a tiny portion of the country's population.

Cattle farming has been the primary activity of the Llanos economy since early Spanish colonial days. The ranches, called fincas, are sprawling 2,000 - 4,000 acre spreads. 'Llaneros' or plainsmen, are the cowhands who take care of the herds. Up until recently millions of heads of cattle roamed freely on the plains.

It wasn't until the 1950s that smaller land owners started fencing their land and farming rice, bananas and corn. Flooding during the rainy season turns the grasslands into wetlands which is home to an incredible diversity of birds.

Cebu cattle on the plains of Los Llanos

The cattle are the Cebu variety. Originally from Asia, these humped back cattle are well adapted to withstand high temperatures and are mainly used in tropical countries. Completely grass-fed, the cattle here are free to roam the plains belly deep in grass. The meat is more muscle and tougher than barn-raised cattle fed a diet of corn and grain.

While only the dairy cows are rounded up daily to milk, the beef cattle are free to roam and graze the plains for months on end. It's and ideal life for the cattle until that one day when they are herded up and trucked to the slaughter house. At the distant ranches in Colombia's frontier, the cattle are loaded onto river barges and brought to meat processing facilities.

The best meat in Colombia comes from Los Llanos which is famous for its BBQ beef. The choices cuts of meat are prepared on giant skewers and slow roasted over open wood fires. These restaurants, called Asaderos, roast the skewered meats in roadside fire pits offering free samples to people passing in an attempt to lure them into their open air restaurants. It usually doesn't take much coaxing. Meat is piled high on plates, served with potatoes and yucca and not a vegetable in sight.

What to see and do

Villavicencio is the capital of the state of Meta situated just east of the Andes. Known as the gateway to the plains, the city is a good base for exploring Los Llanos. The city of 500,000 is a commercial hub of the cattle ranches in Los Llanos. A three hour trip from the capital city of Bogota, it's an easy trip up to the paramo through the mountains and descending down to the warm landscape of the plains. Here heat lightning continuously thunders and flashes in the Andes as the hot, tropical air blows over the plains to mix with cool, mountain winds.

Villavicencio has a unique culture, music and food. Here one can eat huge slabs of meat or enjoy the traditional dish 'mamona' - choice veal cooked over a BBQ while listening to live Jaropo music. The town has a nice town square - Plaza de los Liberadores which is in the middle of a vibrant, downtown commercial center. There are also a lot of green parks like Parque de los Fundadores to explore.

On the weekends there is plenty of 'joropo" music venues around town. Joropo features a harp as one of the main instruments. One can dance and party with the cowboys and cowgirls at the nightclubs like ' Los Capachos' - which is the most famous. Other spectacles include cock fighting, rodeos with lassoing, bull riding and 'coleos' , which involve four men on horseback chasing a bull down along narrow track trying to wrestle it to the ground.

There are dude ranches outside of the city offering accomadations, home cooked meals and participations in the llanero way of life. There are excursions on horseback roaming the open plains, along with river tours and bird and wildlife observation. There are over 350 different bird species to be viewed on the plains and the animals include anteaters, iguanas, jaguar, armadillos, tapirs, capybaras (giant guinea pigs - the worlds largest rodent), anacondas, alligators and water buffalo.

Yopal is another small, hot city in the northern part of Los Llanos a 3-4 hour bus ride from Sogamoso in Boyaca. There's enough to see to keep one busy for a day or two in town like visiting El Resurgimento Park, Iguana Park or visiting the Museum of the Centro Historico and the Casa Museo 8 di Julio. The city doesn't have a lot of good restaurants but there is a nice shopping mall, Unicenter, on the outskirts of the city. There are a number of dude ranches outside of town one could visit. But the best part of visiting Yopal was the 5 hour bus trip across the Llanos to Villavicencio. The vast expanse of pastures and the vast number of cattle seen along this road is stunning reminding one of the plains of Texas or the pampas of Argentina.

Los Llanos where the plains meet the jungle

Exploring Los Llanos - 3- routes - 3-days

The Llanos accounts for only a tiny fraction of Colombia's tourism. The area has a wealth of natural attractions but until recently had been off the tourist trail, ignored by both foreign and national tourists. A remote area, it was once a guerrilla territory for 30 years. But with the recent peace accords the area has been declared safe to visit. Many towns are organizing and promoting interesting activities for visitors.

In Villavicencio they break exploration of the Llanos into 3 different routes. Each route requires at least a day or two. The towns can be visited by bus but often the surrounding attractions, many of which are located outside the towns, have to be reached by taxi.

Route Piedmont - along the foothills of the Andes

• Route Piedmont or 'the foothill route' runs north along plains along the foothills of the Andes. On this road there's a zoo just outside of Villavicencio called Bioparque Los Ocarros which carries a wide variety of birds, animals and reptiles typical of the region.

Further north is the town of Restrepo a small cattle town. There is a salt mine here that used to be open to the public but after taking a taxi up to the mine found out it had been closed to visitors for over two years. Down the road the pueblo of Cumaral, a cattle center, is said to be the best destination on the plains to indulge in a big meal of beef and there are numerous restaurants along the highway.

After lunch, another short bus ride down the road is the town of Baraca - a center for pineapple production. A short ride away are the Thermal baths of Agua Thermales de Guaicaramo. And further west, 50 miles from Villavicencio, is the village of Medina where one can hike the spectacular Devil's Canyon nearby.

Southern Route for extreme sports

• There's a southern route that goes to the town of Acacias - a large, small town.
• Further up the road one can visit the village of Guamal. It's a pleasant llanero town in the middle of sprawling cattle farms. Guamal is a small, quiet, safe town with a nice park and plenty of hotels on the highway. On an express bus it's just an hour from Villavicencio. If one doesn't enjoy staying in cities, Guamal could be an alternative base from which to explore los llanos.
• Futher south (5 hours by bus from Villavicencio) is the town of Mesetas. It's a small town on the Rio Guejar. Here one can go rafting down the crystal clear waters of Rio Guejar to the canyon. The expeditions are organized by tour groups, like Triviantes, in town. The cost is 200,000 COP per person and included meals, a guide, entrance to Rio Guejar Canyon with a visit to the Encantada waterfall and to the Titanic stone with plenty.
• From Grenada one can catch a bus down to San Jose del Guaviare and visit the rock paintings at Cerro Azul and the Amazon jungle basin.

From left to right: The river at Puerto Gaitan; a beach on the river and a ferry to see the pink dolphins

The Amencer Route - the route of the rising and setting sun

• The Amenecer (or the dawn) Route is perhaps the most scenic. It goes east to the river towns of Puerto Lopez and Puerto Gaitan.

There are a number dude ranches in the llanos where one can spend a day or several days living life on a ranch. There are guided tours and horseback riding. Tiuma Park is a dude ranch/park open daily from 9-4. Just up the road is the town of Puerto Lopez. It's a town on the Meta River. The restaurants here serve mostly fish - catfish, bobosa and apuya. This is the center of Colombia and just outside of the town is the Menegua Obelisk - a tower on hill overlooking the plains it marks the geographical center of Colombia. The view is quite impressive like the monument in Ecuador designating the equator. A couple miles past Puerto Lopez there's a working ostrich farm open to the public.

The last stop, Puerto Gaitan, is a 3 hour bus ride from Villavicencio. A fluvial area, rich in oil, it's part of the Orinoco belt oil sands that runs through Venezuela. This oil region is one of the largest and richest in the world, just behind the oil sands in Alberta, Canada.

Puerto Gaitan is also home to 4 different native tribes. The town has large, sandy, riverside beaches. From here river boats ferry tourists upriver to a spot where three rivers meet, pink dolphins are abundant and passengers can swim with these giant mammals.

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