Tag: UNESCO World Heritage site

Colombia’s Zona Cafetera Highlights

We loved Colombia’s Zona Cafetera – coffee zone- so much we returned for a longer visit five years after our first. It’s a top tourist spot for many reasons including its status as a UNESCO World Heritage site and some of the most beautiful scenery in the country. While there, we visited some of Colombia’s nicest towns and saw amazing nature and wildlife. If you’re considering a visit, read about Colombia’s Zona Cafetera highlights.

Filandia Rainbow
The scenery is beautiful in Colombia’s Zona Cafetera

Getting to the Zona Cafetera

There are many ways to get to Colombia’s Zona Cafetera, and we have done most! By air, domestic flights arrive to three separate airports (it’s a big region): Armenia in the south, Pereira central, and Manizales, north. We flew into the Manizales airport years ago from Bogota, and this time we flew out of Pereira airport back to our boat in Cartagena.

Buses are very frequent and affordable throughout the country, but I get carsick so wasn’t up for that this time. We drove from Medellin, with a stop in Jardin, and went the indirect way, which I wouldn’t recommend unless you’re adventurous, have a lot of time, and/or a four-wheel drive.

Visit the Metropolis of Manizales

A university town in the mountains with a great cable car system and nearby hot springs, we visited 5 years ago and you can read all about our fun times exploring Manizales! This is the furthest north of the Zona Cafetera and one of the three airport hubs of the region.

Stay in Salento

We stayed four nights total in this beautiful town and it was the perfect length stay for us. Salento features a variety of restaurants and accommodations and is an ideal base for touring Colombia’s Zona Cafetera highlights.

Salento town Colombia
Pretty Salento has lots of hills

Salento is charming. With a beautiful town square and well-maintained colorful buildings, it’s a pleasure to stroll the streets, although keep in mind, it’s built into a hill so it gets tiring.

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Cartagena Highlights

Cartagena is one of the biggest cities we’ve sailed into, and even with Covid lockdowns, we found it lively and entertaining. Even though this isn’t our first visit to Cartagena, we still had a lot to see and discover. I went on some tours my first time here, but I’ve done a lot in the 5 years in between visits, so the city seems new to me. It’s been a blast exploring Cartagena again. Read on for my Cartagena highlights.

Orientation to Cartagena

When you arrive in Cartagena, the views are stunning. The ocean is next to skyscrapers and old stone walls. There’s an ancient clock-tower and a modern gold building. On the water are old wooden sailing ships and luxurious catamarans. On the streets are women in colorful traditional costumes, including fruit hats, alongside hundreds of people driving mopeds.

Old and new in Cartagena Colombia
Old and new in Cartagena Colombia
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5 Curaçao Rainy Day Activities

It’s rainy season in Curaçao which means day after day of downpours. Want to know what to do on this Caribbean island when the weather is bad? Here are 5 Curaçao rainy day activities, so you can still have fun without the sun.

Curaçao rain
Rainy day view from our boat in Curaçao

Curaçao Museum

Housed in a pretty former hospital building in the heart of Willemstad’s UNESCO historic district, The Curaçao Museum‘s collection honors the island’s history.

Curaçao Museum
Curaçao Museum

Art, crafts and furniture fill up the main building, but the highlight of the museum is the old airplane in the hangar in the back. So either bring your umbrella for the run through the raindrops, or find a break in the rain because you want to see the tiny aircraft in the shed. The Snip carried 4 crew and Christmas mail from Europe to the Caribbean in the 1930s, marking the first KLM trans-Atlantic mail flight, which took 8 days. They had to take off the wings to fit it in the barn, but it’s a cool exhibit and story.

The Curaçao Museum is located in Otrabanda Willemsted.

Snip plane 5 Curaçao rainy day activities
The Snip at the Curaçao Museum

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