El fosil

The arid desert highlands surrounding Villa de Leyva attract trekkers, but 120 million years ago the huge flood plain would have been better suited to scuba diving. The ocean waters have since retreated, leaving the country’s largest repository of fossils. Five kilometres out of town along the road to Santa Sofía, the star of the El Fósil museum is the most complete fossil of a 120-million-year-old baby kronosaurus, a prehistoric marine lizard found by a campesino here in 1977. The 12.8m-long lizard is one of only two in the world excavated in its entirety, but on display you’ll find it without the 5m tail, which was lost.