Manizales Itinerary – GeoTours Americas & UIS
| Day | Time | Activity | Location | Notes | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | 7:00 AM | Flight to Manizales | Bucaramanga - Manizales | Preferibly travel to Pereira, giving that its airport remains open must of the time. Manizales airport tends to close when it gets cloudy | The tour will start in the city of Manizales, parties on the GeoTours should be in the city the day before. We will make arrangements for hotel at the end of day 1. |
| 2:00 PM | Visit to the Geologic Observatory | Manizales | Introduction to the volcanic activity of the area. | ||
| Day 2 | 6:00 AM | Early start of the day | Manizales – Murillo | To avoid traffic and take advantage of good weather. | |
| 10:00 AM | Visit to view points on the road towards the "Parque de los Nevados" | Manizales- Murillo Road | Observe U-shaped valleys carved by glaciers, and also to overlook the monogenetic domes of the Villa Maria-Termales volcanic field. | We will discuss how these morphologies are created as glaciers move, eroding rocks and soil, creating deep, wide, and steep-sided valleys. We will also discuss the morphologies generated by this type of effusive volcanism and the relationship of their compositions to local tectonic structures. We will also discuss information on geothermal energy projects in the area. | |
| 11:00 AM | Deposits of Block and Ash flows and Pyroclastic Density Currents from Nevado del Ruiz volcano | Manizales- Murillo Road | Block and ash flow deposits will be visited (on the flanks of Nevado del Ruiz volcano). Pyroclastic density current (PDC) deposits will be observed – Nevado del Ruiz. PDCs are perhaps the most dangerous events for local areas during explosive volcanic eruptions. | The characteristics of block and ash flows and PDCs will be discussed, as well as the processes that form them and the type of risk they can pose to surrounding populations. High mountain vegetation and paramo environments will also be discussed. | |
| 1:00 PM | Lunch | Manizales- Murillo Road | Free time | See the possibility of having lunch on glanping sites in the area, or bring lunch to eat on the field | |
| 3:00 PM | Avalanche deposits from Nevado del Ruiz volcano | Manizales- Murillo Road | Avalanche deposits. Observe columnar disjunction in lava. | We will discuss how these mass movements are a confluence of rock, soil, and snow that occur when a volcanic flank collapses and slides downhill. We will also discuss how debris avalanches can travel several kilometers before stopping or can transform into more water-rich lahars, which travel many tens of kilometers downstream. We will also discuss how "columnar lavas" are a geological structure in which closely spaced sets of intersecting fractures, called joints, result in the formation of a regular series of polygonal prisms, or columns. | |
| 4:00 PM | Deposits from the 1985 lahar (Armero tragedy) | Manizales- Murillo Road | Lagunillas River Valley in the upper part of the mountain. Deposits near the source of the 1985 lahar. | The difference between this event and the deposits it generated compared to other deposits observed along the route will be discussed. Stories will be told about how this event began and the socio-political context that influenced the handling of this emergency. | |
| 5:00 PM | Stay at Murillo | Murillo o Líbano | Glamping option in Murillo | ||
| Day 3 | 8:00 AM | Stop at view point Lagunillas canyon (from where the 1985 lahar descended) | Líbano | Lagunillas River Canyon. | The dynamics associated with the advance and canyon formation of the lahar produced in the 1985 eruption will be discussed. The associated processes and the magnitude of this event will be recognized and understood. |
| 10:00 AM | Visit to the ruins of Armero | Armero | Visit the ruins of Armero. The volcanic eruption of Nevado del Ruiz, also known as the Armero Tragedy, is considered the worst natural disaster induced by natural hazards in Colombia and produced the deadliest lahar ever recorded, a global case study of this type of event. | Not only the geological but also the human dynamics that influenced the development of this tragedy will be discussed. | |
| 1:00 PM | Lunch | Ibagué | Rest and recharge | ||
| 3:00 PM | Stay at Ibagué | leissure time at Ibagué | Stay at Ibagué | ||
| Day 4 | 8:00 AM | Return to Bogotá | Ibagué - Bogotá | End of tour |
