Department of Risaralda - Colombia

Capital: Pereira
Altitude: 1.410 meters over the sea level (Pereira)
Distance from Bogotá: 298 Km.

It is located inside the coffee exe.  The landscape is composed by western rage of mountains and hillies.  The main activities are commerce, industry and cattle breeding.
Risaralada presents beautiful landscapes covered by vegetation, rivers, thermal waters; a perfect place for ecoturism, walkings, fishing and so on.

Pereira

This is the capital of Risaralda.  It is called “the nocturnal city” thanks to the quantity of bars and discos like “Heaven Club” that this district contains.

Tourist places

The Museum of The Gold, The Cathedral of Nuestra Señora de la Pobreza and The Matecaña Zoo.

Tourist attractions

 Zoológico Matecaña

This is the favourite tourist attraction because of its beautiful locations and its ecological diversity.  It is a natural habitat for many species like the Asian elephant and the hipopotamus.

Santuario de Fauna y Flora Otún Quimbaya (Sanctuary of Flora and Fauna)

It is composed by land extentions of Andean forests that are located in the central rage of montains.  It contains a variety of local animal species like monkeys, bears, eagles, bambies and coloured birds of every high.  The trees are amazing, they are enormous (10 m. high).
The sanctuary has a fascinating wet weather.  There are two famous rivers: Otún and Barbo.

Parque Nacional Tatamá

It is a place for natural conservation.  It preserves a diversity of plants, some of them, very rare.  It is possible to observe a variety of fauna: mammals like danta, cusumbos, tigrillo, oso palmero (bear) and the ant-bear among others.

Other interesting places of the park are The Valley of The Frailejones and The Valley of The Lagunas, The Natural Park of Ucumari and The Thermal Waters of Santa Rosa.

Parque Natural Los Nevados

This park is an essential source of tourist richness.  It is located on the central mountain range of Los Andes.  It covers many zones: Caldas, Risaralda, Quindío and Tolima.  It contains beautiful locations and a diversity of flora and fauna.