Camino Real del Quino 5 days / 4 Nights

On this journey, following the old El Quinó King’s Road, you will discover the main ecosystems and ecological floors of the Merida Cordillera, together with multicolored mosaic crops. From the open and imposing páramos, passing through the cloud forests and forests of shade coffee plantations, even the intervened forests and the Andean-Llano Piedmont pasture. The route takes off from the typical and serene town of Los Nevados and descends during five days along areas intervened by agriculture, cloud forests, and shade coffee, traveling through and an incredible biological and landscape wealth that offers these environments discovering unique natural and cultural values. The Sierra Nevada National Park houses a good part of this adventure.

Itinerary:
Day 1: Mérida - Los Nevados - El Carrizal.
Spectacular landscapes among the high mountains (1. 640 m - 2. 506m)
The adventure begins upon leaving Merida by cable car to the Loma Redonda station, from where you will go up to the small village, Los Nevadaos with peculiar stone roads in the middle of the mountains, a church built in 1630 and restored in 1917, where the old bells can be seen and the statue of the Virgin de los Desamparados. From Los Nevados we take the road, which least to the El Carrizal Hacienda, then we cross Our Lady River (on the south side of the watershed) to stay and enjoy a place surrounded by nature and traditions.

Díay 2: El Carrizal - Boca E' Monte.
Cloud forest and Andean páramos (2.506m to 2.300m)
On this trip, you go down through a mosaic of land, vestiges of the potato, corn, and wheat crops, territory won over from the páramo and the 500 years old bushes, until arriving at the Boca E’ Monte refuge, where we will camp. We are in the middle of one of the most attractive ecosystems where the typical vegetation of the cloud forest and of the imposing páramos converge with the well preserved ecotones. From there, there is a spectacular view of the Sierra Nevada and the plains piedmont. This is the longest part of the trip.

Day 3: Boca E' monte - El Quino.
The ups and downs of the peaks that allow us to enjoy beautiful and ample landscapes of cloud forests and its attractive epiphyte plants, such as bromeliads and orchids until arriving at the typical village, El Quinó. Of indigenous origin, humble homes of clay and beautiful landscapes that intertwine with the natural habitats of the Frontino bear and which seem to be trapped in remote times. Lodgings in the Mucuposada La Paragüita, where the Dávila receives you with warmth. If the night is clear, cool, and with bright stars perhaps the town poet, Don Antonio, will be willing to declaim his humorous verses.

Day 4: El Quino - Palo Quemao.
From the rocky mountains to the warm savannas (1.260m to 257m)
We leave behind the town and its coffee crop to go through areas of cattle use and pasture land, intervened by humans. Then, the humid jungle delights the senses with its blend of colors and freshness and the heliconias with their spectacular forms and colors dominate the landscape. A narrow and impressive wooden bridge crosses the abyss and the Socopó River. The Galilito of the Sierra (Rupícola Peruviana), one of the most beautiful bird species in the world and emblematic of the region, as well as a great variety of fauna, live in the area. Lodgings in the Mucuposada Vista Hermosa, here you will enjoy a spectacular panoramic view of the Barinas high plains.

Day 5: Palo Quemao - Barinas.
Enjoy the place. In the afternoon we return by car to our destination.

Mucuposada Hacienda El Carrizal, 
El Carrizal.
This beautiful colonial hacienda features, founded two hundred years ago, is located at 2506 meters above sea level in an area heavily intervened by human activity, giving a landscape with colorful patches of corn or wheat. The Mucuposada has a single room with bath and host up to 10 people. Two patios and terrace invite relaxation and contemplation.

Mucuposada La Paragüita, El Quinó.
In the town of El Quino, at an altitude 1244 m, Analia and Teodolio, offer hospitality in her humble home, available for 10 people in their basic en suite rooms. They serve our authentic traditional Andean highlands. In this beautiful place, right in the heart of the Sierra Nevada National Park, religious festivals, traditional dances and crafts delivered as ancestral indigenous culture.