Palm trees in Colombia! Photos of wild and cultivated palms during my two week trip!

[kylecawazafla]

I just got back from a 2 week vacation to Colombia! The trip was divided into two parts. The first part was along the Caribbean coast from Cartagena, Barranquilla, to Santa Marta, which included excursions to the coastal forests of Tayrona to the highland forests of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta which houses the highest peak in Colombia! The second part of the trip was a road trip that began in Bogota then crossed over multiple ranges in the Andes to Armenia, then up the cordillera to Medellin via a few primitive-road detours, like from Riosucio to Jardin, and then ultimately ending back in Bogota! Special stops included Jardin Botanico de Quindio and Jardin Botanico de Medellin (where you could see Ceroxylon growing next to Cyrtostachys! Totally bizarre!) 

All of the photos can be seen at this link (it includes MANY unidentified palms): Click here for all of the photos from Colombia!

Geonoma undata in Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta

 

Prestoea acuminata var acuminata in Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta

 

Geonoma undata var weberbaueri growing at over 9,000 feet in Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta among Ceroxylon ceriferum 

 

Forest of Ceroxylon ceriferum 

[kylecawazafla]

Chamaedorea linearis growing at about 7,000 feet in Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta

 

Attalea sp. and Sabal mauritiiformis growing in the coastal forest of Tayrona

 

Unknown Chamaedorea sp. growing in coastal rainforest of Tayrona

 

Graceful Sabal mauritiiformis - they were very hard to photograph! 

 

Cocos nucifera growing in Tayrona at Cabo San Juan del Guia 

[kylecawazafla]

Ceroxylon quindiuense in downtown Bogota at 8,400 feet

 

Can San Francisco, CA start doing this? Young Ceroxylon quindiuense can be seen all over Bogota

 

Aiphanes buenaventurae at Jardin Botanico de Quindio

 

Anyone know what this palm is at Jardin Botanico de Quindio? 

 

Or this palm at Jardin Botanico de Quindio? Fronds are well over 30 feet long. 

 

Hyospathe elegans - Jardin Botanico de Quindio

 

 

[kylecawazafla]

General view of a section of Jardin Botanico de Quindio - it's very hard to photograph in this garden because most of the specimens are hidden within the forest with very few openings. Many juvenile palms in rather poor health, however this section had robust specimens.

 

Well, what probably inspired this entire trip was THIS - Valle de Cócora in Quindio, Colombia - home of the Ceroxylon quindiuense

 

 

 

 

 

The forests were carpeted with seedlings

[kylecawazafla]

Ceroxylon quindiuense growing on a near vertical surface next to a waterfall

 

Ceroxylon - alpinum? Not sure. This is by Santa Rosa de Cabal

 

Unknown palm by Santa Rosa de Cabal 

 

Termales de Santa Rosa de Cabal with unknown palm on the right

 

Acrocomia aculeata growing at a pretty low altitude beneath Riosucio

[kylecawazafla]

If I learned anything from this trip, I learned that wild palm trees LOVE growing where they're impossible to photograph. I can't even count the number of Wettinia kalbreyi (?) I saw in Colombia, but this is the only one that allowed a for a semi-decent photo. Between Riosucio and Jardin

 

Second best photo of one

 

Unknown palm between Riosucio and Jardin

 

Unknown palm between Riosucio and Jardin

 

Here's a curious green jay that woke me up by tapping on the window in the morning in Jardin!

 

Forest above Jardin - one tree stands out in particular!

[kylecawazafla]

Jardin Botanico de Medellin - Ceroxylon AND Cyrtostachys renda growing side by side!!!

 

Areca vestiaria 

 

Socratea exhorrhiza in Medellin! I was hoping to see more Socratea on this trip, but alas, I did not see as many as I'd like. The nicest one I saw was at Jardin Botanico de Quindio, but it was too hard to photograph.

 

Syagrus sancona in Medellin

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the photos! Unfortunately, I saw so many palms I was unable to photograph, since the roads were very treacherous with heavy traffic - even in remote areas - and there were very few opportunities to pull over! 

[HtownPalms]

That's an amazing trip! What spectacular photos. That beach picture looks like pure paradise!!

[The Gerg]

Very very nice. Thanks for sharing those great pictures.

[Jeff985]

That’s it... I’m moving to Colombia. Who’s with me?

[Gonzer]

Excellent photo diary Kyle. Much obliged for the eye candy.

 

[PalmatierMeg]

Beautiful photos, Kyle. A trip to remember.

[redant]

Amazing as always, I love the wax palms

 

[NOT A TA]

Great pics! Thanks for sharing!

[Neil C]

Never knew Columbia had a coastline, not something they are famous for but it looks idilic. Did you feel quite safe there?

Regards Neil

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

Loving all the palm porn we have been getting lately 

Ceroxlyn and Attalea growing so gracefully for huge palms. Areca Vestiaria looked photo shopped. Thanks for the journey !!!

[kinzyjr]

@kylecawazafla Thank you for sharing your experience with us!

[LJG]

Nice pics. The Tayrona palms are Attalea butyracea and Chamaedorea pinnatifrons.

[Jim in Los Altos]

Spectacular photos Kyle. I’m sure I speak for all when I say that we all appreciate your pictorial diligence! 

[Dypsisdean]

Thanks for taking the time to post such great photos.

[Trava]

Beautiful,thank you very much!

[palmfriend]

What a documentation!

All those great photos - I have to go through them at least one more time!

Thank you so much for sharing!

Best regards -

Lars

 

[Yunder Wækraus]

Amazing palms and love the bird!

[jimmyt]

Pretty dang Cool I must say!   Thanks for the dreams!

[Tyrone]

Enjoyed every pic. Thank you. Ceroxylon and Cyrtostachys. What the????? How is that even possible. 

[bubba]

OK! Right in front of my face... Anyone who does not review Kyle's Photo Bucket Link is missing out big time. I was there for four (4) months at school in Bogota in 1976 and traveled throughout. The people are wonderful and the country is beautiful. I am so happy that it is a safer place. What was your personal favorite? For me it was Medellin and Cartagena. Cali was great also but had a scary situation in a village outside Cali, where we had to jump a passing slow moving box car to flee and ended up in an obscure area on the Pacific.  Bogota was too bleak and chilly but at that time the Hotel Tequendama was the top of the world (behive of CIA (wild, crazy and fun) folks as the drug thingy ramped up). Skipped class and hung out at the Teq for so long that the staff thought I lived there. Did you ever get down to Leticia (Amazon area which converges with Brazil and Peru)? The colors of the Macaws, Cockatoos and other Parrots were beyond vivid.

Botero, architecture and the vistas in Kyle's vignette are beyond belief. Incredible photography of a sacred place. Thank you, Kyle

[kylecawazafla]

Wow Bubba! That must have been such an experience living there in 1976! I didn't make it down to Cali or Leticia, however, I'll have to make a trip out there some other time. It sounds like you had some very interesting adventures! I wish I could have spent more time there since the trip felt a little rushed, but I'll have to go back! My favorite city by far was actually Santa Marta next to Tayrona! The city was clean, the traffic wasn't too bad, and the people were super nice. Thank you for the photo compliments! 

[Hilo Jason]

Wow, amazing!  Thank you so much for posting these pictures. Sounds like an incredible trip!

[BrianRBruning@gmail.com]

In San Francisco California in Golden Gate Park there is a palm garden and a high elevation garden with Oaks and other plants that are from high elevations in Latin America.  The palm garden has several species of Ceroxylons and Juania australis.  Juania hates heat and mine died and I'm in sight of the SF Bay but an east wind can be up to 35C, dry and windy.  

I'm looking for several species of high elevation palms from the Andes Geonoma undata, Wettinia microcarpa, W. kalbreyeri and W. minima.  Can anyone help me?