Cold, high and often wrapped in cloud, Laguna de la Cocha is the largest lake in the south-west of Colombia, and it feels like a different country from the dry canyons around it. Also known as Lake Guamuez, it lies at around 2,800 metres in the Andes east of Pasto, and the shores are lined with wooden houses painted in bright colours, small jetties, and boats waiting to take visitors across to the Isla de la Corota, a tiny forested island that is a protected sanctuary and a wetland of international importance.
The road out of Pasto, about eighteen kilometres away, climbs steadily through potato fields and pastures to the village of El Encano on the lakeshore. It is a pleasant, easy ride on mostly good tarmac with gentle bends, cattle in the verges and, in the mornings, mist that lifts slowly to reveal the water. Expect it to be cold and damp even in the dry months, so bring waterproofs, and treat the stretches near the village with care, as farm vehicles and roaming dogs are common.
Fish is the local business, and trout, fried or grilled, is served in lakeside restaurants with patacones, flattened fried plantain. Visitors take a short boat ride to the island, where a walking path circles through dense cloud forest and a quiet reserve of birds. The surrounding páramo and wetlands hold spectacled bears and Andean birds, though you are far likelier to see ducks, grebes and cormorants on the water.
The city is known for its Carnival of Blacks and Whites in early January, one of the most colourful festivals in the country, and for the barniz de Pasto, a decorative craft of resin-coated wood. If you arrive in the afternoon, expect fog to roll in, and plan to be back in town before dark, since the lake road is poorly lit and the temperature falls fast.