Calima Lake

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Calima lake (Spanish: Lago Calima) is the largest artificial lake in Colombia with an area of 70 km². It is located in the municipality of Darién in the Valle del Cauca Department.

The lake is part of a hydroelectric project for generating power for the department. C.V.C (Corporación Autónoma Regional del Valle del Cauca) started the construction of the lake by 1961.

Calima Lake from the road to Darién

Calima lake has become a place for water sports and leasure activities. Vacational centers, restaurants and camping zones were built near the lake and now is a very popular and visited place from both national and international tourists, specially from near cities and towns like Cali and Buga. The average air temperature is 20 °C which contrasts with cities like Cali.

1 Routes
2 Weather
3 Festivals
4 External links

[edit] Routes

There are basically 3 routes to arrive to Darien, coming from Cali which is the closest city, all by road transportation:

a) Cali - Palmira - Buga - Darién, 108 kms. Good conditions route.
b) Cali - Yumbo - Vijes - Darién, 93 kms, this is one of the most crowed routes, it's in good conditions and offers the turist beautiful landscapes going near the Cauca river.
c) Cali - Dagua - Loboguerrero - Darién, 100 kms. Mostly used by trucks, since it collides with Buenaventura.

[edit] Weather

The average annual temperature is 18.8 °C, very pleasant, although by afternoon and in the night can be colder. The maximun temperature could be 28.8°C and a minimun of 14.0°C. The weather is classified as humid meso-thermal with a rain period of 189 days.

Evening in Calima Lake

[edit] Festivals

By the end of August, some cultural festivals and parties are celebrated in the town (Darien) and near the lake. The electronic party /festival called "Black and White Sensations" in tribute to the one hosted in Amsterdam, is one of the most important outdoor events in this category in Colombia and gathers music lovers from all the country and even international visitors.