04/10/2025
After my 4 days in Amazon I met up with a group of travel advisors in Bogota for a week long tour accross the country hosted by Intrepid Travel, who focuses on authentic experiences with cultural emersion. We flew from Bogota to the charming town of Salento for night, and then went hiking in the beautiful Cacora Valley surrounded by towering wax palms (the national tree). After lunch perched over the valley, we drove deep into the coffee region for 3 relaxing days at a coffee and chocolate farm staying in their beautiful hacienda surrounded by peacocks, hiking, making chocolate and tasting their single origin coffees. From there we traveled to Medellin, where we saw Colombia’s social transformation first hand. We rode the network of trams and metros that now link the poorest communities (many who are refugees from Pablo Escobar’s drug wars and the gorilla violence that continued into the early part of this century) to the city, providing opportunities for the residents. We met the community leaders of Moravia, a thriving town literally built on a dump https://medellin.lib.uiowa.edu/metro-stations/caribe/garbage-dump/ Ironically, later on I had my first ever Michelin 2-Star dinner at El Cielo in Medellin!
Our final stop was the colorful fortified city of Cartagena where watched beautiful sunsets, ate delicious seafood and swam in the warm Carribean. A fantastic trip that I would highly recommend if you like a little adventure!
