Tatacoa desert

Not wanting to endure another full day of bus travel I decided to make the short journey up to Neiva and then take a Collectivo to the nearby village of Villaviaja, followed by a tuk tuk ride out to the desert. The scenery looks like something right out of a western movie with its rolling red hills and cactus's, albeit on a much smaller scale. Tatacoa Desert or the "Sadness Valley" is the second largest arid zone in Colombia and occupies 330sqm of land.

I really wanted to visit a decent astronomical observatory somewhere on the trip so ended up staying at one of the few basic accommodation options. It was a blissful afternoon rocking in my chair with a good book until the sun dipped below the horizon. A few of us made our way up to the observatory just before the 7pm start time to find out the volunteer guide was 'sick', apparently quite a common occurrence here. It was still a lovely evening to drag the rocking chairs out under the stars and rock gently as we admired the sky show.