The Campbell Family
Sample Itinerary
Day 1
Arrival to Bogota
Welcome to Colombia! Upon arrival at the airport, make your way through customs, and exit the terminal. Your guide will be waiting outside holding a sign with your name on it.
After collecting your bags, transfer to your hotel to check in and get settled. Depending on how you are feeling, you can head out with your guide to see some of the city or stay at your hotel and rest.
Overnight Movich Buró 26
Day 2
Amazon Community and Reserve Walk
This morning, in accordance with your flight to Leticia, your guide will meet you at your hotel for your private transfer to the airport.
Upon arrival, you’ll be greeted by your guide as well as the local host. Together, they will assist you in connecting with your boat ride on the Amazon River, which will take you to the private reserve of Calanoa. While cruising down the river, keep an eye out for wild pink river dolphins among the different tributaries and the various pueblos that line the way.
As you near Calanoa, you’ll stop to visit an indigenous village to learn about the local culture and history of the area. The community is made up of the Vergel, or “Mocagua,” tribe members. Afterward, you’ll cross the river and walk through the land of another indigenous community on the Peruvian side. Your guide will help point out wildlife endemic to the area. If you are lucky, you might spot a manatee in the water or a tapir along the banks.
Please note that sometimes due to timing or weather, activities in the Amazon may have to be adjusted. If you cannot hike in the afternoon, we’ll add in a nocturnal walk through the forest to see the critters that come out at night.
Later this afternoon, you’ll be taken to your lodge to check in, relax, and freshen up before dinner.
Overnight Calanoa Jungle Lodge
Day 3
Puerto Nariño and Amazon’s Hidden Lakes
After breakfast, you’ll head out with your guide on a speed boat to visit some of the Amazon’s hidden lakes. The pools are incredibly deep and large during the wet season, but completely dry out during the drought season, revealing the bases of 100-foot trees that appear like young brush when the pools are full! Again, your guide will help you spot wildlife like sloths, birds, river dolphins, and other interesting species.
You’ll then head to explore the incredible village of Puerto Nariño and have lunch. Puerto Nariño is a small village in the middle of the Amazon, inhabited mostly by members of the surrounding communities.
As the afternoon wanes, jump back into your boat, and head out into one of the lakes or tributaries and jump in the water to cool off! Don’t worry, the piranhas won’t bite here.
You’ll then head back to Calanoa for the night. If you have the energy, you can go for another hike or just relax for the evening.
Overnight Calanoa Jungle Lodge
Day 4
Free Morning and Travel to Cannua
After breakfast, you can head out for another activity this morning, or just enjoy the lodge and relax to the sounds of the rainforest.
Later, your private boat will meet you at your lodge to depart for Leticia, and you’ll transfer from the docks to the airport to connect with your flight to Medellin.
Upon arrival to the airport, meet your driver for your transfer to Cannua, which was named a National Geographic Experiences Collection lodge, and is one of the most sustainable hotels in South America.
You have the evening free to enjoy your lodge at leisure.
Overnight Cannua Ecolodge
Day 5
Permaculture and Hiking in the Andes
This morning after breakfast, your guide will drive you up the mountain to meet one of Cannua’s chief permaculturists. They’ll share a bit about the innovative bioconstruction. Cannua is the first hotel in the world built primarily out of compressed earth bricks, made on-site. Permaculture is in the DNA of the hotel and is present in the buildings, gardens, and enormous forest. All of this contributes to making the lodge a member of the new National Geographic Experiences Collection.
After lunch, enjoy a private chocolate tasting where you’ll learn about the history of cacao and its importance in Colombia and taste some of the best artisanal chocolate in the country.
In the late afternoon, enjoy a guided hike up Cannua’s pre-Hispanic, indigenous trail. Along the way, your guide will provide knowledgeable insight surrounding this historic property, the indigenous and colonial importance of the region, and the diverse flora and fauna that inhabit Cannua. The hotel’s grounds are host to over 100 endemic bird species!
Return to your lodge to relax and get ready for dinner. Cannua’s chef is one of the very best in the country.
For those interested, a rum tasting has been included for this evening, which includes learning about the history of rum, how it’s created, and how to analyze the distinct flavors as you sample five unique rums.
Overnight Cannua Ecolodge
Day 6
Exploring Medellin
This morning, you’ll take a deep dive into the community and history that is Medellin — a city with a complicated past and an inspirational present. With your guide, enjoy an exclusive visit to one of the sites of the city’s network of music schools. This collective of music schools was created in the 1990s to teach classical music to children in some of the most dangerous parts of the city. The program was so successful that the children’s orchestra played a private concert for the Pope and has opened music halls across Europe.
Next, take the modern transit system up into one of the hillside favela neighborhoods, where the collective works and lives. Your walk begins in the ever-changing Urban Museum of Memories — a giant mural display that tells the history of the creation of the neighborhood and both the ancestral and modern history of its inhabitants. As you walk through the spiraling alleyways and streets of this neighborhood, you’ll hear stories of how this neighborhood has transformed over the last 50 years.
After an insightful journey through history, return to your lodge for a special event. Three of the now-adult musicians from the music school program, who are now some of the best musicians in Colombia, will accompany you for a special dinner concert.
Overnight Cannua Ecolodge
Day 7
Travel to the Island of Providencia
Today, you’ll continue your adventure on the small island of Providencia, one of the most beautiful of the Caribbean. Your driver will collect you from your lodge to take you to the airport for your flight.
Upon arrival, your local guide will be waiting to greet you as you exit the terminal. From here, transfer to your hotel for check-in. You have the rest of the day to explore the island! Head down to the beach to relax, or just rest at your hotel — wherever your mood takes you.
While staying at Monasterio del Viento, it is recommended that you enjoy dinner on the property at Caribbean Place with Chef Martín — one of the island’s most famous cooks. The restaurant is the best place to taste island food, lobster, crab claws, and “cazuela” stew/soup of different types of fresh seafood. Another option is Chelo’s Cevicheria, owned a run by Chelo — a fourth-generation islander whose ancestors from China brought distillation methods to Providencia. (Chelo’s brother is the island’s best rum producer!) Chelo went to culinary school in Bogota, worked in Europe, and now brings an international influence to traditional island ingredients.
Overnight Monasterio del Viento
Day 8
Private Diving Tour
This morning, you’ll be transferred to a dive shop to be fitted for scuba gear. Providencia features the third largest reef in the world (after the Great Barrier Reef and Belize), and today, you get to explore it!
Head out on the water on a speedboat for two dives (or snorkel expeditions if preferred) off Providencia’s giant park reserve. If the conditions are right while diving, you can continue deeper down to a sunken ship that now provides a natural reef for other sea life. If anyone is not certified, your first dive will include a session on diving before enjoying a mini-immersion. You can dive together or apart, depending on your certification and skill levels.
Enjoy lunch after your dive, and then you’ll meet a woman who has dedicated a large part of her life to the rescue and humane treatment of both work horses and race horses on the island. Each day, the horses love to head down to the sea to bathe in the water! You’ll have a chance to help draw the horses down to the sea, and once they’re ready, you’ll mount bareback and ride the horses in the water. The salt is great for their hair and skin!
Later, head back to your accommodations to shower and relax before dinner.
Overnight Monasterio del Viento
Day 9
Snorkeling Tour
After breakfast, you’ll head out on a private speedboat to snorkel around the island. Because the island’s reef is so expansive, there is a ton to see as you snorkel through the colorful corals and vibrant marine life. Make your way toward Crab Cay, a tiny island in front of Providencia, where you’ll learn about this island’s ecosystem. Take in the amazing views of the “Seven Color Sea” that surrounds the island.
Once you are ready, head into the water for your first snorkeling excursion. From the surface, the visibility is extremely clear, and you may spot many different types of corals, puffer fish, schools of tropical fish, and more. When you’re ready for a break, your guide will take you to one of the island’s two main beaches for a fresh seafood lunch. Typical dishes on the island include fresh fish, conch, crab, and lobster.
After lunch, make your way out to your second snorkeling spot, where you can continue to swim in the warm Caribbean waters.
In the late afternoon, return to your hotel to rest and have dinner.
Overnight Monasterio del Viento
Day 10
Your driver will meet you at your hotel to depart for the airport and connect with your flight home.
On arrival, check in for your international departure.
Wishing you a safe and easy journey homeward today!
