2020 GeoEx Catalog

KAROL KOZLOWSKI / ROBERT HARDING

ABOVE  The Cocora Valley’s famed wax palms are easier to spot than its sloths, spectacled bears, yellow-eared parrots, and pumas.

Flavors of Colombia  CAPITAL, COFFEE, AND COAST TOURING · DAY HIKING · BIKING | 9 DAYS · CUSTOM

U pon hearing Aldous Huxley’s wise words “To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries,” travelers in the know think of Colom- bia. Over the past decade, the once-troubled nation has shed its unsavory past and now welcomes visitors with aplomb. Travel here is still catching on, though, and we get Colombia’s exquisitely rich culture, friendly people, and incredible natural landscapes (from the high Andes to verdant coffee country to Caribbean beaches) largely to ourselves. Our South America savant Natalie Crow remarks on the contrast of the fertile palette of greens backed by the soaring Andes. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” she says. We begin our journey in Bogotá, the kinetic capital, where our days include a walking tour of the architec­ turally entrancing old city; exploring the impressive, underground Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá; relishing views from 10,341-foot Monserrate; and savoring some of the country’s most cherished dishes. (Bogotá has quite an up-and-coming food and art scene.) Then we’re off to what many consider Colombia’s heart and soul: the coffee region, a resplendent tableau of lush green hillsides and plantations where campesino (farming) life continues much as it was centuries ago. At a working java farm, we’re privy to conversations with experts discussing the detailed production process, so intricate it’s reminiscent of wine- making. Later, we may take in the area by hot-air

ride or a relaxing river float, or hike among the towering wax palms in spectacular Valle del Cocora. Next we fly to Cartagena, the august coastal city that is the sultry setting for Gabriel García Márquez’ Love in the Time of Cholera . We’ll

wander its cobbled streets and learn to cook traditional platos or spend the day snorkeling and beach- combing in the blissful Rosario Islands. Natalie adds that this itinerary is com- pletely customizable: she’ll happily adjust it to include other activi- ties and places of inter- est—say, after-hours

MICHAEL RUNKEL / ROBERT HARDING

gallery visits, salsa lessons, rum tastings, bike riding on the Ciclovías (miles of Bogotá city streets closed to motor vehicles), time in vivacious Medellín or colonial Villa de Leyva, or even a jaunt to farther must-see locales like the Galápagos Islands.

offered year-round from $7765

Colombia

Day 1  arrive in Bogotá ✦  2  Bogotá exploring ✦  3  fly to the coffee region, hiking ✦  4  bamboo walkway hike, coffee farm ✦  5  Valle del Cocora National Park ✦  6  fly to Cartagena, walking tour ✦  7 & 8  private charter in the Rosario Islands, handicraft workshops ✦  9  walking and street-food tour, flights home.

balloon, go for an invigorating bike