Calima Lake

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 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.

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 beutiful landscapes going near the Cauca river.
c) Cali - Dagua - Loboguerrero - Darién, 100 kms. Mostly used by trucks, since it collides with Buenaventura.

Weather

The average anual 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.

External links

• lagocalima.tripod.com Template:Es icon
• www.lagocalima.com Not too much info, but better than nothing Template:Es icon