Climb to the top of Nevado del Tolima, 6 days from Bogotá, Colombia

I will guide you on this absolutely epic, awesome, challenging and rewarding 6-day climb of Nevado del Tolima, from Bogota, Colombia, where we will experience tropical forest and jungle vegetation, as well as valleys, rivers and waterfalls in the lower reaches, before hitting the upper reaches of volcanic and arctic conditions, with hot springs sitting next to mesmerizing glaciers, alpine lakes and snow-capped peaks.

Nevado del Tolima is a volcano nestled within the Los Nevados National Park in the Colombian Andes, 235km West from the capital city of Bogota. It is renowned for its variety of landscape, scenery and terrain, as we all being a difficult accomplishment to climb to the summit.

Our journey begins in Bogota, from where we then head by car to Ibague and then onwards to the sleepy settlement of Juntas, an area known for its lovely countryside.

We then head to the camp of Escuela El Salto, where we will acclimatize to the increasingly high altitude, and admire the lush green forest and jungle around us.

After this acclimatization we head up to base camp via Termales de Canon, and it is here that the scenery begins to change to a more volcanic and arctic setting, with the rocky terrain and large glaciers providing a great challenge to climb on and around.

Day 5 is when we tackle the undoubted highlight of the trip, the summit of Nevado del Tolima, a very difficult and time-consuming process, due to the need to move slowly, and the steep incline not helping matters.

Once at the top, the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction you will feel is like nothing else, with brilliant sweeping panoramic views back out over the country, making you feel like you’re on top of the world.

The penultimate day is spent descending back down, this time to the quaint and rustique town of Salento, via the Cocora Valley, before we head back to Bogota and finish the trip on day 7, physically and emotionally shattered but also immensely proud and happy at our achievement.

Climbing Nevado del Tolima is a true once-in-a-lifetime experience – book now to tick it off the list!