Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta

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Hut in the Sierra Nevada on the way to Ciudad Perdida

F Located in northern Colombia mountains of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta belong to the northern part of the Central Cordilleras of South America. Their highest peak of Colombia, and thus are each 5,775 m Pico Cristóbal Colón and Pico Simón Bolívar. The peaks are located just 45 km from the Caribbean coast. The mountain range is therefore considered the highest coastal mountains in the world.

In the valleys of the Sierra Nevada still live three different Indian tribes, the Kogi, the Arhuaco (also called Ika ) and the Asario (also called Sanha ). Overall, today inhabit an estimated 20,000 indigenous people of the Sierra.

In the 1970s, the Sierra was known as the main growing area for marijuana, though later the coca cultivation was dominant.

The isolated areas of the Sierra are now controlled by the FARC guerrilla movement and the paramilitaries of the local drug dealer and landowner Hernan Giraldo.

See also: Ciudad Perdida - re discovered pre-Columbian city in the middle of the Sierra