Coffee and Mountains: Eje Cafetero and Los Nevados Tour by Uncharted Earth

5 daysDuration

Private TourPrivate experience, no group joining

4 peopleMaximum group size

2 peopleMinimum to book

12 - 65 yearsAge range for participants

English, SpanishGuide language

4700mHighest point reached

Starts

Pereira, Colombia

Ends

Pereira, Colombia

Highlights

Hike to the Santa Isabel Glacier, located 4700m above sea level

Visit the Otun Quimbaya Flora and Fauna Sanctuary.

Hike through Valle del Cocora, see hummingbirds and the tallest palm trees in the world

Itinerary

Let Colombia’s coffee country and mountain vistas sweep you off your feet on the "Coffee and Mountains: Eje Cafetero and Los Nevados" tour. This five-day guided trip is a haven for those craving a blend of nature, culture, and adventure. Begin with a deep dive into the world of Colombian coffee at a working plantation, where you’ll uncover the secrets behind one of the world’s most beloved brews.

Journey into Los Nevados National Park to marvel at the Santa Isabel Glacier and wander through the Otun Quimbaya Flora and Fauna Sanctuary, spotting howler monkeys and hummingbirds among the towering wax palms of Cocora Valley. Hike through unique paramo ecosystems and cloud forests teeming with exotic flora and fauna, then bask in the charm of Salento’s colonial architecture.

The unique selling point of this trip is its exclusive access to Colombia’s rare paramo environments—an alpine tundra ecosystem found in just a few places on earth. For travelers enchanted by biodiversity, dramatic landscapes, and authentic cultural encounters, this tour package is a rewarding escape into Colombia’s most scenic heartlands.

day 1 - Pereira - Chinchina - Manizales

Your adventure starts at Pereira Airport where you will meet your guide. Drive through scenic mountain roads from Pereira to Chinchina. Spend your day at a coffee farm. Drive to Manizales in the evening and spend your night there.

Accommodation: Guest house

Meals:Lunch, Dinner

day 2 - Los Nevados National Park

The day starts early with a drive to Los Nevados National Park. Reach the Nevado de Santa Isabel trailhead, located at an altitude of 4000m. Start your hike using headlamps to illuminate the way through a highland forest of dwarfed trees, moss and small lagoons.

As dawn breaks, you will get to see views of rocky cliffs and mountainsides. Patches of snow appear as you go higher, accentuating the barren but beautiful landscape. Trek past a collection of glacial lakes and get the chance to see the Santa Isabel Glacier, which is located 4700m above sea level.

Breath in the thin mountain air and hike back down. Spend the night in Campoalegre, an inn located outside the national park. Taste hand-made arepas and farm-fresh cheese while enjoying the ultimate Colombian highlands hospitality.

Accommodation:Andean farmhouse Other

Meals:Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

day 3 - Otun Lake

Hike through a wide, mountainside trail with sweeping views of meadows and hills full of wild flowers. See El Ruiz, the infamous and highly active volcano that killed 25,000 people when it erupted in 1985.

Reach Laguna de Otun, a lake fed by the Santa Isabel Glacier, after hiking for an hour. Located at an altitude of 3900m above sea level, the lake is also the source of the Otun River, which supplies drinking water to the city of Pereira.

Enjoy the view of the lake and the waterfalls that feed it before taking a narrow path that travels through a paramo. Spend the rest of the day walking through this unique landscape dominated by frailejones (cactus-like plants that are said to resemble friars) and colchones de agua (water cushions). You might even get the chance to see Andean eagles along the way. Arrive at El Jordan Farmhouse in the afternoon. Spend your night there.

Accommodation:Andean farmhouse Other

Meals:Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

day 4 - Otun Quimbaya Flora and Fauna Sanctuary

Descend down the paramo and enter a cloud forest that is often cloaked in a mysterious white shroud but is teeming with life. Your hike today ends at the village of El Cedral. Drive to the Otun Quimbaya Flora and Fauna Sanctuary from the village.

Hike through this sub-Andean forest that explodes with the color and music of countless exotic flowers, birds and butterflies. Soak in the sights, smells and sounds of this rich ecosystem before driving to the town of Salento, where you will spend your night.

Accommodation: Guest house

Meals:Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

day 5 - Salento & Cocora Valley

Founded in 1842, Salento is the most well-preserved town in Colombia's coffee region. Its colorful buildings and traditional colonial architecture make it one of the most picturesque towns in the country.

Spend the morning exploring Salento before heading to the Cocora Valley, home of Colombia's national tree, palma de cera (wax palm), which is also the tallest species of palm trees in the world, with its wax-covered trunk shooting up to 60m into the sky.

The first part of your hike will take you through a dramatic landscape, past grassy hillsides full of wax palm trees. During the second part of the hike, you travel through a dense forest crisscrossed by numerous streams. Your destination is a small cottage in the middle of the forest surrounded by flowering plants and abuzz with hummingbirds.

Admire the many different species of hummingbirds feeding on nectar before hiking back to the trailhead for a well-deserved lunch. Drive to Eje Cafetero and, after your last cup of coffee, say goodbye to this wonderful region and drive to Pereira Airport to catch your flight back home.

Meals:Breakfast, Lunch

Coffee and Mountains: Eje Cafetero and Los Nevados

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What's Included

Private transportation (pickup and drop off from and to Pereira Airport)Accommodations as mentioned on the itineraryAll meals, starting from lunch on Day 1 to lunch on Day 5An experienced guideEntrance fees to the places mentioned on the itinerary

What's Excluded

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