Serranía de la Macarena is an isolated mountain range located in the

Meta Department Meta () is a department of Colombia. It is close to the geographic center of the country, to the east of the Andean mountains. A large portion of the department, which is also crossed by the Meta River, is covered by a grassland plain known a ...

, Colombia. It was named after the Virgin of Hope of Macarena. The mountains are separated by about at their northern extreme from the East Andes. The range is orientated from north to south and is in length and wide. The highest peak ("El Gobernador", the governor) reaches and is the highest point of the Orinoquía Region. The first national reserve in Colombia was established in the central part of the mountain range in accordance with a Congressional Law promulgated in 1948. The status of National Natural Park was designated in 1971 and the protected area encompasses .

Biodiversity

The national park encompasses the ecologically unique meeting point for the flora and fauna of the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

, Orinoco and

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

regions. The area is of

tropical climate Tropical climate is the first of the five major climate groups in the Köppen climate classification identified with the letter A. Tropical climates are defined by a monthly average temperature of 18 °C (64.4 °F) or higher in the cool ...

and temperatures range from 42 °F (5.5 °C) to 88 °F (31 °C). These aspects help to maintain a high level of

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

with numerous

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

and rare species. The ecosystems found within the park include rainforest,

dry forest Dry or dryness most often refers to: * Lack of rainfall, which may refer to **Arid regions **Drought * Dry or dry area, relating to legal prohibition of selling, serving, or imbibing alcoholic beverages * Dry humor, deadpan * Dryness (medical) * ...

shrublands Spring Park is a small area in London, England. It is within the London Borough of Bromley and the London Borough of Croydon, straddling the traditional Kent-Surrey border along The Beck. Spring Park is located north of Addington, west of West ...

and

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

. The mountains are home to around 50 known species of

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

, and botanists studying the area have identified more than 2,400 other species of plants. Of those, over 400 can also be found in the Orinoquía subregions. The plants in the Macarena have even less overlap with the 8,000 species in the Amazon subregions. The ecosystem's fauna includes anteaters, jaguars, cougars, deer, 8 species of monkeys, 500 species of birds including the gray-legged tinamou, 1,200 species of insects and 100 species of reptiles.

Ecotourism

The La Macarena National and Ecological Reserve Park is internationally known for the Caño Cristales, known by people who has visited it as one of the most beautiful rivers in the world. The park also contains petroglyphs from ancient cultures (Angosturas I and II petroglyphs in the

Guayabero River The Guayabero River is a river of Colombia. It is primarily located in the Meta Department, forming a portion of its border with the Guaviare Department. It is part of the Orinoco River basin. Its confluence with the Ariari River The Ariari Ri ...

). There are also enormous waterfalls, such as Caño Canoas, El Salto de Yarumales, El Salto del Mico, Soplaculos and others. Most of them are difficult to reach on foot due to the rugged terrain. Just outside of the city of La Macarena are the Botanical Gardens of La Macarena, a place that offer the possibility of nature tourism involving its visitors in restoration activities.

Geology

Basement rocks on the east side of the Macarenas include the Precambrian granite of the Guyana Shield in the

Guaviare River The Guaviare is a tributary of the Orinoco in Colombia. It flows together with the upper Orinoco (until here also called Río Parágua), which it clearly surpasses in length (altogether about 1760 km) and water flow. Thus, the Guaviare is hydrolo ...

valley and the San Jose del Guaviare area. The rocks of the shield are overlain by

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

s and conglomerates of the Vaupes Formation of Lower

Paleozoic The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ' ...

to the lower Oligocene age.Pinson, W. H., Jr., et al., ''K-Ar and Rb-Sr Ages of Biotites from Colombia, South America,'' Geological Society of America Bulletin 1962, v. 73, pp. 907-910
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References

External links

*
La Macarena National Park
*

- Online book of the Colombian ''Luis Ángel Arango'' Library *
Sistema de Información Ambiental Territorial de la Amazonia colombiana SIAT-AC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Serrania de la Macarena Mountain ranges of Colombia National parks of Colombia Protected areas established in 1948