JARDIN COLOMBIA - The land of the coffee

Hello my friends! Today I'm gonna invite you to see one of the best destinations in Colombia, a hidden gem that is still unknown to many and that for me is Colombia in one single town. Ready to join me to Jardin? Are you planning a trip in Colombia? I'm here to help! I'm Jaime Rincón from Medellín, Colombia. I'm a professional tour guide and I really know my country. This is Kachay, Colombia! Jardin is one of the most beautiful towns in Colombia, located about two and a half hours away from the city of Medellín. Its colonial architecture, the impressive nature that surrounds it, the quality of its coffee, its food, its people and much more make it one of the most recommended destinations in the entire country. Stay there that we are going to Jardin! Jardin is such a complete destination. It is one of those places where you can stay for several days without getting bored. It has a very wide range of activities and places for all tastes. So first I'll tell you about the basics, what is practically mandatory and then I'll tell you about the rest. This is for example what we normally do on a tour from Kachay, Colombia in Jardin. The tour starts with a 17 miles road trip from Medellín along a beautiful road. After about 45 minutes, a pyramid-shaped mountain appears on the horizon. That is Cerro Tusa, known as the tallest natural pyramid in the world, although there are theories that say it is not natural. There we are going downhill until we reach the Cauca river, one of the largest and most important in Colombia. On the other side, we climb another mountain range to reach the coffee area where Jardin is located. A few minutes before arriving, you have to make a stop at the Carmata Ruan Reservation, where a community of the Empera indigenous culture lives. There you can see their incredible crafts, have a drink and even take a tour where they show you their lifestyle. Once in Jardin, we start enjoying the beauty of this town with a walk through its main square and its streets, where we can see the colorful colonial architecture typical of the coffee towns of Colombia. The stone floor main square is a national heritage site, as is its church, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. But wait! We come from a trip for more than two hours and to explore the town we need energy, and what better than the energy of a good coffee. That is why we are going to enter one of the many places in Jardin to enjoy a coffee of the highest quality, in this case the Macanas Café, which is a beautiful old house which has become one of the places to visit in the town. There we will begin to learn about the universe of coffee with a demonstration of one of its preparation methods. We are ready to continue exploring this gorgeous town, we see handcraft, take photos of its colorful buildings, actually we don't feel the walk because it's pretty fun, and we even pass through an old path built centuries ago that take us back in time. Its name is La Herrera. Then we will have a little adventure since we have to cross to another mountain, and the best way to get there is by La Garrucha, which is a handmade cable car originally built to transport sacks of coffee to the town, and which has become one of the attractions to visit. This little cage takes you to the other side of the canyon in seconds, and once there you can enjoy an incredible viewpoint. After a while there we embark in a new adventure which is the highlight of this trip, a visit to a coffee farm. To get to the farm we will have to travel in the typical transport of the region, the jeep. Due to their strength these vehicles became an important tool to carry the coffee and other products from the farms located in the mountains that have difficult access. After the nice trip through the mountains we arrive at one of the places where our emblematic product is grown, Colombian soft coffee. Here you are personally welcomed by the coffee farmer who will be your guide and teacher on a journey by the beautiful process of the coffee. Since you are going to join him at work you must become a real Colombian farmer, so you even need to dress for the occasion. During the tour you try fruits that grow on the farm, walk through the plantations, pick the coffee manually, which is how it is done in Colombia, you might get your hands a little dirty planting a coffee plant and you also learn what is done with the beans after the harvest. It's all not work, there is also time to play in the farm swing, which gives you the feeling of flying in this incredible landscape and taking some good photos. At the end it's time for enjoyment, the rest of the family joins the tour to teach you how to get the most out of this drink. They will show you different types of coffee and you will try different preparation methods, you're going to live being an expert. Imagine when you have visitors at home and you tell them, I learned this preparation at a coffee farm in Colombia. To counteract the caffeine overdose we end up doing what is best done when visiting a Colombian family, eating. They will offer you delicious delicacies such as patacones, puñuelos, etc. This is the end of the first day of adventure in Jardin and thus we are ready to go back to the town to rest. Talking about rest, in Jardin there is a large offer of accommodation. Here I show you one of the hotels that is the one we use on our tour. What we recommend is a hotel that gives you the feeling of staying in a countryside house. This one in particular has typical decoration, mountain views and farm animals but also has jacuzzis and a sauna and in the morning they offer you a typical breakfast. The next day the adventure continues. In the morning we're going to enjoy nature having a hike through the forest to get a waterfall. This hike from the town is approximately one hour long or we can do part of it by car and cut it in half. It is an easy path although with a bit of ascent and it's necessary to cross a small stream. So we are at the waterfall, La Escalera, the leather. This is where we're gonna have a cold bath. Once there you can enjoy a cold water bath which is great for your muscles and will leave you brand new. Later after a short rest and a hot shower at the hotel we will be in the town ready to enjoy a good lunch. There are excellent restaurants with typical food and also more sophisticated ones. After a good lunch what do we need? Good coffee! That is why now we are going to take a trip to another good cafe in Jardin that is located on a viewpoint. It's called Cafe Jardin. To get there we are going to ride tuk-tuks or moto taxis or biker mice as they are called in Jardin because they look like a line of laboratory mice. On this fun ride we climb the mountain by a dirt road. So Marcos, so far what has been the best in Jardin? The coffee, the coffee plantation tour. It's beautiful, the people are awesome, they're very nice people out here. Okay, so now you know when we do the tour here in Jardin with Achai Colombia, one of the activities is to ride these tuk-tuks with the best driver, and wait for the place we are seeing after this. The drivers are very friendly and along the way they will give you relevant information about the town until you reach the viewpoint where in addition to a spectacular view you will find a sign of Jardin for the photo and very good coffee drinks. You can spend a wonderful afternoon there. In addition to these activities in Jardin you can visit trout farms where you can have a fresh trout for lunch or a trapiche which is the place where sugar cane is processed and panela is produced. Panela is a sugar cane paste that is used in Colombia as a sweetener. It is more natural than sugar and gives a characteristic flavor. Extreme or adventurous sports such as rappelling or paragliding are also practiced in Jardin. There are several hikes to other waterfalls, natural pools, viewpoints, there are farms that offer bees and honey tours, bird watching, etc. There is a pretty large offer that is why I told you that you can stay there for several days without getting bored but at least you should go there for two days and do what we just saw. Final recommendations. You must be willing and prepared for changes in weather. Jardin has a changeable climate and it rains a lot so pack your raincoat and hiking boots for the mud. Plan your trip to spend at least two days and one night in Jardin but if possible make it a longer stay. I'm sure you won't regret it. Have a guide so that your experience is complete and you receive all the information you need. You can find guides there in Jardin or hire a complete tour from Medellin. Remember that I can take you on this tour myself or someone from my Kachai Colombia team. The information is on my website kachaicolombia.com. If you have questions you can write to me in the comments of the video or on the whatsapp number that appears on my website. I hope you liked the video if so don't forget to give it a like and subscribe to my channel and remember that I have more videos about other destinations in Colombia on my channel Kachai Colombia and articles and a lot of information on my website and also on my social media. Colombia is waiting for you and I'm here to help you enjoy it to the fullest. ¡Suerte pues!