On Location: Street art, magical valleys & "big-ass ants" - 9 takeaways from Colombia with G Adventures

“Colombia is not what you often see on the news,” said Melissa Tolmie, general manager and chief operating officer for Alberta-based TravelGurus. “Beyond its stunning landscapes, I discovered warm-hearted people, a rich culture, and a deep-rooted sense of community that made every interaction memorable.”

Tolmie was one of 13 Canadian travel advisors who joined Canadian tour operator G Adventures on a recent tour through the “Gateway to South America" from July 10-18. 

The multi-city journey, called “Colombia Express,” featured stops in Bogotá (the capital), Armenia, Salento, Medellín and Cartagena. The thrilling experience was part of G’s annual FAM program for the trade – and showed off Colombia’s diversity.

The trip, which PAX covered exclusively, started in the high-altitude corners of the Andes mountains, where sweaters and coats were required at times, and ended on the hot and sweaty Caribbean coast.  

READ MORE: On Location - Beyond Netflix – PAX finds “the real Colombia” with agents & G Adventures

Jenna English, G’s global purpose specialist (GPS) for British Columbia and Northern Territories, who joined participants on location, called Colombia “a hidden gem.”

“A lot of people will come to South America and do Peru and Ecuador, but unfortunately, there’s a negative stigma about Colombia,” she said, alluding to the public’s perception that the South American country is a dangerous place.

Indeed, Colombia has a tumultuous history, full of colonial conflicts, political corruption and violent drug cartels. But as locals will tell you, the worst of these challenges are in the past.

The real Colombia, however, is a reemerging country where exciting art, food, music, culture and adventure lives and thrives, we learned. 

What was it like seeing it all with community tourism pioneer G Adventures? Here are nine takeaways from our trip.

1. Colombia is not the Colombia you see on Netflix

Spanish-speaking Colombia, since the early 2000s, has made strides in boosting its security and stability, while making areas more attractive for both locals and visitors.

Tourist-friendly areas are generally safe for visitors who exercise caution and adhere to common sense, such as avoiding walking alone at night and safeguarding personal belongings.

During our tour, we felt safe at all times, encountering many friendly people and businesses. Still, the world appears to be obsessed with Colombia’s dark and dangerous past.

If you’ve spent any time on Netflix, chances are you’ve crossed gritty TV shows, documentaries and movies about Colombia’s high-profile cocaine industry, including Pablo Escobar, a now-deceased drug lord and narcoterrorist who founded the Medellín Cartel, which dissolved in 1993.

While these productions serve as outlets for entertainment, they don’t accurately reflect the Colombia of today.

The signing of a Peace Treaty between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrilla group in 2016, notably, marked the start of new chapter for the country.

These negotiations, which review non-violent solutions to resolve conflicts, are still ongoing. But they have helped de-escalate the public-facing violence that once gripped the country.

Local tour guides will tell you that Colombia, today, is a less-hostile place compared to two, three decades ago.

What’s often overlooked about Colombia is its geographical and cultural diversity. The country features a mix of beaches, mountains, rainforests, moorlands, valleys, grasslands and lost kingdoms. And, from small villages to metropolitan cities, local life is a fusion of Indigenous, Spanish, African and Caribbean backgrounds. 

It’s like visiting multiple countries in one.

2. History is painted on the walls

One of the first things you’ll notice in Colombia is how so many walls are wrapped in vibrant murals depicting intricate designs and powerful messages.

Sprawling Bogotá, for one, is a mecca for street artists. Elaborate graffiti murals can be found everywhere, from highway tunnels to the entire side of a seven-storey building. 

The works explore themes of social injustice, anti-capitalism, war and peace, healthcare privatization, narco-state corruption and inequality. Graffiti, here, challenges the status quo.

Bogotá’s Graffiti District is a great starting point for discovering the city’s urban art.

Meanwhile, in Medellín, the mural-covered walls of Comuna 13 tell a story of conflict and social revolution. In the 1980s and 90s, this hillside neighbourhood in Medellín’s western fringe was considered the most dangerous place in the world where drug traffickers fought regularly with the army, police, and guerrilla groups.

After a controversial military operation in 2002, followed by years of improved infrastructure and a community-based approach to urban development, Comuna 13 eventually transformed into an urban hot spot for tourism.

Today, it’s a street carnival full of vendors, break dancers, hip-hop artists, thumping Latin beats and funky bars overlooking the clean and green city. For us, it was the highlight of the tour.

The kaleidoscope of murals that fill Comuna 13 not only serve as reminders of the conflict that once plagued the area, but also represent a bright future where communities can thrive.  

Another stand-out art form in Medellín (which, by the way, is called the "City of Eternal Spring" for its temperate weather) are 23 voluptuous sculptures by Colombian artist Fernando Botero at Botera Plaza.

3. The landscapes are so magical, even Disney was inspired

Hiking among 200-year-old wax palm trees in Colombia’s lush Cocora Valley is a must-see, must-do.

Vibrant shades of emerald green radiate from every corner of this UNESCO-designated park, which is in the heart of Colombia’s coffee-growing region in the Andean mountains.

Here, slim wax palms, which date back some 200 years, stand nearly 65 metres in height. “We’re like Smurfs standing next to them,” said our mountain guide Gio. 

Weaving around pastoral hills dotted with horses and sheep are hiking paths that lead up the side of the mountain to a lookout. The foot trails appear to sparkle due to the abundance of minerals, while red hot poker perennials add pops of red, orange, and yellow.  

It’s a magical and enchanting sight. It wasn’t surprising to learn that Disney chose the Cocora Valley as the setting for its 2021 animated feature Encanto (which tells the story of an extraordinary family, the Madrigals, who live in Colombia’s mountains).

The nearby town of Salento, a village of colourful craft shops, caps off the Cocora Valley experience. It, too, inspired the backgrounds in Encanto.

Epic views struck again in Guatapé, a colourful Andean resort town in Colombia’s northwest. Here, sits Piedra del Peñol, a giant granite rock – a monolith – that visitors can climb.

The rock is 660 feet high and takes around 660 steps to reach the top, where sky-high views of Peñol-Guatapé Reservoir – an artificial lake of turquoise waters that wraps around earthy, red-toned hills – await.

The town of Guatapé itself, with its brightly-coloured, mural-covered buildings, is also Instagram worthy. 

The Cocora Valley and Guatapé, with its hiking and climbing activities, are just two examples of how Colombia is a perfect destination for active travellers.

4. CEOs are the heart & soul of a G trip 

The heart and soul of a G Adventures trip are the Chief Experience Officers (CEOs), the tour leaders.

Our CEO in Colombia, Luis, treated us like family. Born in Bogotá (and now living in Cali, a Colombian city known for its salsa dancing), Luis, who travelled with us, was our point person from start to finish.

Not only did he provide detailed information, and a local perspective, about everything we saw, but he also handled every logistic along the way, from helping us order food in Spanish to securing transfers and tickets to attractions to finding us the ATMs with the cheapest fees.

We could have travelled to Colombia on our own, but it wouldn’t have been the same without Luis. Through his knowledge and expertise, we felt that had unlocked the real Colombia.

5. Colombia is a foodie’s paradise

Colombian cuisine is as diverse as the landscapes. Menus are a fusion of Indigenous, Spanish, African and even Middle Eastern cultures, drawing inspiration from Pacific, Amazonian, Andean, Orinoco, Caribbean and Insular regions.

Whether indulging in a platter of bandeja paisa (beans, rice, arepa, chorizo, plantain, chicharrón, avocado and beef), or savouring fresh ceviche, or trying street food, every bite tells a story.

Seriously. One could design an itinerary in Colombia focused on food and food alone!

In Bogotá, high in the hills of Monserrate – a mountain that’s more than 3,000 metres high – we feasted on sumptuous paella and citrusy ceviche at estate-like Casa Santa Clara. The novel-like menu, here, seemed to offer every Colombian dish under the sun.  

Another Bogotá must-do, Sanalejo, plated traditional fare, like soup of ajiaco with chicken (prepared with three different kinds of potato).

Meanwhile, crispy empanadas (filled with either beef or cheese) and succulent pork rinds, smothered in guacamole, were go-to super starters.

It helped having an in-the-know CEO like Luis, who would often shuffle us into diners and food stalls so we could taste something local.

Like in Medellín, where he introduced us to buñuelos (fried doughballs that can filled with either cheese or chocolate) and flavourful lechona (a traditional dish of succulent pork, rice and spices, often served during the holidays).

Colombia is also famous for a little delicacy called hormigas culonas, which, essentially, translates to “big ass ants.” It’s exactly how it sounds. Measuring about a centimetre in size, the ants, which are served as a snack, have a bulging and crunchy butt. Yum!

By the way, did you know Colombia has 85 varieties of avocado? Or seven types of mango? We sampled some of them, among other fruits, at a local market in Armenia. 

Tree tomatoes, sour guava, peach palm, guanabana, passion fruits, tamarind…Luis kept our taste buds busy as he offered us sample after sample. The best way to get a glimpse of local life in a destination is in a market.

Cartagena, a Havana and Miami-like port city with colourful colonial buildings and trees holding sloths and titi monkeys on the Caribbean coast, was another home run in the food department.  

Brunch spot Crepes and Waffles lived up to its name. It also has an ethical business model, almost exclusively employing women who are often single mothers.

Other times, we just indulged. Like in the Cocora Valley, at culturally-decorated Donde Laurita Campestre restaurant, where we gorged on humongous plantain toasts and rich "trucha makanas" (boiled trout in coconut milk with shrimp, mushrooms and grated cheese) that was served in “Colombian portions.” (Meaning, one dish could have easily served two).

The bottom line? If you’re going to Colombia, go hungry. And, oh, order the coconut lemonade.

6. Quality coffee lives here

In Colombia, coffee isn't just a beverage. It's a symbol of national pride. From the mountains of the Andes to the valleys of the Coffee Triangle, coffee farming is a tradition, and way of life, for many Colombians.

On G’s Colombia Express tour, coffee culture brews in Armenia in the country’s "coffee axis.” Here, we visited Recuca, a tourism-oriented coffee farm, where a guide with a sparkle in his eye, Andres, walked us through the art of coffee production. 

We even, at one point, donned buckets and picked our own coffee beans in a bush!

"Colombian coffee is all about quality, not quantity," our CEO, Luis, explained. 

There’s some dressing-up fun involved here. Andres invited some in our group to demo different types of coffee-picking garb, such as a raincoat, “zamarros” (warm chaps for collecting beans in winter), and roles in the production process, from the “water boy” to the “boss lady” who takes care of payroll.

The caffeine-infused tour also included wearing traditional dress and dancing (let’s just say Canadian travel advisors have some fancy footwork).

Other Colombian exports include petroleum, emeralds, flowers and cocoa. We learned about the latter during a visit to Finca La Alejandra, a sprawling farm where giant-sized cocoa fruits hang from trees.

An opportunity to sip fresh Colombian hot chocolate? Sí, por favor! Cocoa, we learned, can also be used as a cleansing face mask. 

7. “Explosive cornhole” is a national sport

If you’re wandering the streets of Colombia and hear a loud bang!, followed by raucous cheers, there’s no need to call the police. Chances are you’re overhearing a rowdy game of “tejo,” Colombia’s national sport.

It's like an explosive version of cornhole. Originating with Indigenous groups some 500 years ago, the game, a team sport, involves throwing a metal puck (called a tejo) at a clay-covered target on an angled board containing a metal ring and four triangular paper pouches filled with gunpowder.

There’s a point system, too. For example: landing the tejo in the centre of the ring wins six points, while hitting one of the paper pouches earns three points. The first team to score 27 points wins.

The game might be played in a barn, warehouse or bar (and it’s usually paired with copious amounts of beer). What makes it fun, though, is seeing an explosion of fire and smoke (and hearing startled screams) each time a paper pouch is hit.

We tried our hand at tejo one night in Salento at a family-run bar, restaurant and games venue called Betatown. It has a tejo space in a shed-like “arena” out back.

“This is the only game you can play where there’s lots of explosions and the police don’t show up,” said Betatown’s co-owner, Belinda, the Mom of the family.

Many in our group threw some bullseyes, which led to several wall-shaking booms, blasts (and laughs).

8. G Adventures loves travel advisors (and travellers)

Why should travel advisors book G Adventures? Certified agents can, for one, save 50 per cent on trips, as well as 25 per cent for up to three companions. Preferred agency partners also get higher commissions rates.

Clients (travellers) can meanwhile benefit from small groups (no more than 15 passengers on tours), guaranteed departures (once a trip is paid for, it’s happening) and lifetime deposits (if a traveller cancels for any reason, their deposit remains valid).

There are options for private groups and there’s all kinds of travel styles. “Colombia Express” is a “Classic” tour, but there are other categories, including National Geographic Journeys (upscale hotels live here) and the new “Geluxe Collection” (energetic adventures, with elevated accommodations).

9. With G, tourism dollars stay in destinations

One of G Adventures' core beliefs is that tourism, when done properly, can be one of the greatest forms of wealth distribution that the world has ever seen.

The itineraries are designed to fuel community tourism, which includes establishing meaningful relationships with locals to ensure that tourism dollars are benefitting the people and places it visits. 

The company uses a “Ripple Score” to show its guests the percentage of money it spends locally on hotels, restaurants and transportation.

In Colombia, our accommodations were all locally owned, ranging from three to three-and-a-half star hotels in central locations to a resort-style, family-run hacienda, Hostería Mi Mónaco, in rural Armenia.

The restaurants and bars we visited were also all Colombian – just like our drivers and guides (and our CEO, Luis).

When travelling with G, guests see firsthand how communities benefit from tourism.

It’s a life-changing experience that can turn tourists into travellers, who are often left with a new sense of purpose to use travel as a force for good.

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