Exploring the Other Side of Colombia’s Coffee Region
Alejandra guiding in the Colombian forestToday we took a break from coffee to explore the natural and cultural side of the coffee region. We met up with Alvaro in the town of Filandia, where we jumped into the back of an old Willy’s Jeep and set off through town. The paved road quickly turned to a smaller rugged road and then truly a little jeep trail. We bounced along for about 10 minutes and arrived at Alvaro’s place where we were greeted with hot tea and warm smiles. We changed into rubber boots and set off down the trail. Alvaro showed us his property - he owned hundreds of acres of cloud forest that he had officially designated as preserve so it would not ever be developed or cut down for farming. He explained the varying plant life we came across We could hear howler monkeys off in the distance and continued to hike in hopes of catching a glimpse of them. But they never showed their faces. After about an hour, we hiked down into a little draw and looked up to a beautiful waterfall, falling over 100 feet from the rocks above us. It was too cold to take a dip in the water, but the site was spectacular!
After our hike, we headed back into Filandia where Alvaro gave us a tour of the town. This was probably the most colorful town I have ever seen. The buildings were purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and every color in between. The traditional buildings in the area were painted brightly over 100 years ago and the tradition just stuck. The insides were also brightly painted - but not just decorated with paint. The ceilings were all a beautiful wood-design that then was painted varying colors.
Alvaro then took us to visit his friend Maria Ruby, a basket weaver. She and her two daughters sat us all down and we learned how to weave! We each made a little mini basket to take home - about the size of a thimble. I’m not sure what I’ll ever put in that basket, but am glad to have a souvenir from Colombia that I made!
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
5 days ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.
Mary Warren
6 days ago
Jess was very easy going and answered all our questions. It’s not easy dealing with 6 people at once but she did an outstanding job!
Diane Foster
1 week ago
Kassandra and the Adventure Life team have been incredible! Kassandra was very knowledgeable and attentive to our asks while making sure we kept within our budget. This was our first experience with a travel agent and we were blown away by the booking/initial exploration service. We will use Adventure Life again.