The Tatacoa, or the Valley of Sorrows, as it was called in 1538 by the conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, is not a barren desert but rather a tropical dry forest.

During the Tertiary Period, it was wetter, with thousands of flowers and trees, but has been gradually drying up to become an arid zone.

The area is heavily eroded and crossed by dry canyons that develop transiently in the winter months.

There is relatively little runoff, and animal and plant life is adapted to the conditions of low humidity and high temperatures.

Wildlife includes turtles, rodents, snakes, spiders, scorpions, eagles, alligators and wildcats, and cacti reaching between four and five meters high.