Tatacoa Desert Photo

Photographer’s Note

Dear friends TrekEarth again begin to publish my photos of natural landscapes.

And from this shot, abruptly change the traditional scenarios of nature green, wooded and rural areas, by others of equal or greater beauty: the desert landscape.

In our country we feel privileged, proud and grateful to have all existing features, and this is a case in point:

Tatacoa Desert - The garden that became desert
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Leaving Neiva (Huila) north we find one of the most attractive natural settings in Colombia: the Tatacoa Desert which occupies the area of 330 square kilometers of land with ochre colored paintings of green cactus.

The Tatacoa or Valley of sadness, called him in 1538 as the conqueror Jimenez de Quesada, is not just a desert, but a tropical dry forest. Its name comes from Tatacoa bell harmless snakes and black color that inhabit this region, called "tatacoas."

As we reveal scientists, Tatacoa during the Tertiary period was a garden with thousands of flowers and trees that gradually se ha ido drying into a desert.

Within this region eroded by the wind, find fossils of mollusks over millions of years. That's why the desert is especially well visited by geologists and paleontologists to find a paradise for its investigations.

The legend on the Tatacoa said that the temperature that lives there is so high that you can cook an egg if it is buried under the sand.

Despite the inhospitable it may seem a desert, Tatacoa looks with two predominant colors belonging to two times the formation of the Earth: red and gray and full of animal and plant life that was adapted so perfect the minimum conditions of humidity and high temperatures.

We will find there: turtles, rodents, snakes, spiders, scorpions, eagles, alligators and ocelot who share this space hiding in dry soil and among the cactus until they reach four five meters high.

This region of Silent look fantastic is inhabited by about 300 people gathered in families pastors of goats and cattle. The water is obtained by digging wells in the ground.

The Tatacoa still alive thanks to the rainy season which corresponds to the months of April, May, October and November, recalling his past and lush green garden full of flowers and birds hidden among the trees.

All are specially invited to know. I hope it is the complete satisfaction of all.

robertosalguero, ribeiroantonio, macondo, siamesa, gracious, jlbrthnn, Colombiana, parbo has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

robertosalguero (2763) 2008-09-15 21:04

Hola John,

Este no es el tipo de terreno que me imagino cuando pienso de Colombia. Pense que solamente tenian rainforest! Bonito encuadre con colores bien saturados. La luz que tenias te dio una buena imagen. Gracias :-)

Roberto

ribeiroantonio (21885) 2008-09-15 22:46

It is a beautiful landscape with fantastic light and superb colours. I did not know about deserts in Colombia. Thanks for your note too.
Antonio

macondo (13073) 2008-09-15 22:51

Hola John.
A good presentation of this 'desert' landscape, which I did not expect to find in Colombia. We can see both the harsh, arid side of this area, as well as the vegetation which supports life. It's a sharp photo with subtle colouring under this vast sky.
Estoy de acuerdo completamente con los comentarios de Roberto! Hecho bien.
Saludos y salud buena
Andrew

izmirli (3071) 2008-09-15 23:13

merhaba dear john
magnificent nature and landscape. magnificent depth and naturel colours.well done.
best regards.
gürkan akçakır.

barrufeto_77 (25715) 2008-09-15 23:27

Hola señor.

Desde luego, bueno colores y profundidad. Sobretodo profundidad.

Un saludo!

Loro (364) 2008-09-15 23:42

Very nice use of light and perfect composition! A landscape of my taste. TFS!

siamesa (12726) 2008-09-16 0:27

Oi John,
Digamos, um deserto diferente da maioria deles uma vez que a vegetação permite a sobrevivência de animais.Muito informativa sua nota e a foto retrata super bem o lugar.
Abraços
Maria

gracious (20017) 2008-09-16 0:48

Hello my dearest friend from Colombia!
Sincerely thank you for this outstanding shot of the desert from your country! truly beautiful in this wonderful world of nature!
you had captured it with the best exposure and focus to brings out every single details that can be clearly seen and enjoy!
the clouds formations add another charming view towards this great composition!
my compliment
take care and best wishes to you
Tony

jlbrthnn (37697) 2008-09-16 6:11

Buenos días John,
Qué paisaje magnífico cuyo aspecto me gusta salvaje y desértico. La imagen de este panorama extenso utiliza lo mejor posible el primer plan para dar de la profundidad. Buena calidad y gracias para la nota. Bravo.
Pasa un buen día.
Cordialmente
Joël

Cretense (55812) 2008-09-16 10:22

Hola John!

Un lugar que parece muy hostil, pero a la vez muy impresionante, un paisaje de pelicula! Fantastico punto de vista, impecable composicion, perfecto manejo de la luz, y unos colores impresionantes! Gran definicion! Felicidades!

Un saludo,
Hercules

MarianneS (14262) 2008-09-16 12:03

Hola John,
Una vista estupenda de este paisaje desertico. Me gusta la variedad de colores, y los cactus impresionantes.
Es dificil imaginar que la gente puede vivir aquí. La condiciones de vida parecen tan dificiles...
Gracias también por la nota, interesante.
Un abrazo desde Lieja,
Marianne

josepmarin (33785) 2008-09-16 12:27

Hola John,
un paisaje radicalmente distinto a los que nos tienes acostumbrados, pero igualmente atractivo y muy interesante para ampliar nuestro conocimiento sobre tu país.
Tu encuadre en un ángulo abierto nos permite apreciar la especial belleza de este desierto, su paisaje duro y su vegetación adaptada a un medio hostil, y además, la belleza del cielo y las nubes crea un magnífico contraste de luz y color.
Bonito trabajo, amigo mío.
Un abrazo,
Josep

Colombiana (2542) 2008-09-16 15:06

Hey J.O!

Excelente toma de la Tatacoa con
buena profundidad. Me gusta mucho los diferentes
tonos desérticos contrastando los vividos
tonos verde y azul.
Saluditos!
Maryori :)

parbo (10968) 2008-09-16 18:53

Hola John,

Your country is full with surprises and I'm really curious about travelling there. Enviable contrasts between three (dessert-green-cloudy sky) textures and your notes very informative as usual everytime. Congratulations.

Cordialmente,

Ertugrul

rossofuoco (6352) 2008-09-16 23:44

Hi John.
Orizzonti lontanissimi. Foto ben composta e ben eseguita.
Ciao Renzo

stego (22350) 2008-09-17 11:44

Hola John,
Estoy como Roberto, sorprendido por descubrir un desierto en Colombia. No solo por lo que dices en la nota,pero también por lo que se ve, no es un desierto así tan desierto, al menos cuando comparado a otros.
El PdV elevado sobre la llanura cubierta de árboles y cactus, la colina roja que recuerda un termitero gigante y lo cielo pintoresco la hacen una imagen muy atractiva, con un toque de glorioso.
Saludos, José.

luighi (4070) 2008-09-18 6:37

Hola Amigo jhon , genial la nota y genial la obra , un POV fantastico que no permite observar con todo lujo de detalles todo lo que nos apuntas en la nota . Gran trabajo.

Un abrazo español.

Luis

Charo (31665) 2008-09-19 8:39

Hola John,
Un bello paisaje desértico pero no exento de vegetación. La perspectiva es muy buena y con gran contraste de colores bajo ese bonito cielo.
Bravo!
Saludos cordiales,
Charo

celiapires (71) 2008-12-07 17:07

Hello Jonh
Here is a wonderful landscape "of a desert" on a magnificent scale and a sharp color very well used.
Congratulations
Célia Pires

Photo Information

Copyright: John Ospina (ElAprendiz) (7370)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-09-14
Categories: Nature
Camera: Sony Cybershot DSC-P73, Sony Lens/ Optical 3 x, f=6-18mm 1:2.8-5, Sony Memory Stick Pr
Exposure: f/5.6, 1/640 seconds
More Photo Info: view
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2008-09-15 20:30