Colombia - The Coffee Region Road Cycling Tour (2017) Guided 11 days/10 nights The Coffee Region is an amazing region to cycle, and if you are looking for an easier cycling trip, this is the one for you; short stages every day, excellent roads, beautiful landscapes and a high cultural content. Come for a ride with us and learn about the coffee culture, how is it grown, types of coffee and what's is it process. But more interesting than that, learn how a simple bean can create a complete different life style and culture around it in three different regions of the country.
Itinerary Day to Day Day 1: Arrival to Armenia Pick up at the Airport and transfer to Hacienda Bambusa. Lunch if arrival before noon. Depending on time of arrival, visit to the Butterfly Sanctuary and Botanical Garden. Day 2: Hacienda Bambusa Puerto Alejandría Piedra de Moler Quimbaya 7:00 am: Start the ride About the ride: This ride is divided in three parts; the first part a 64 km ride to Puerto Alejandría, where we will take a bamboo raft for 15 km along La Vieja River. We will get off at Piedra de Moler, where we will take our bikes again and ride to Quimbaya, where we will spend the night. Ride # 1: Hacienda Bambusa Puerto Alejandría 64.1 km Ride # 2: Piedra de Moler Quimbaya 25.5 km About Quimbaya: Taking its name from the indigenous tribe of the region, Quimbaya is one of the most beautiful places of the zone, beautiful coffee landscapes, many activities and hotels. Accommodation: Hotel del Campo. Day 3: Quimbaya Filandia Salento 38.6 km 8:00 am: Start the ride About Filandia: During our climb to Filandia coffee fields will surround us, a unique landscape that is only possible in Colombia. In Filandia we are going to be at 1900m and we will be able to climb at the top of its lookout where we will be able to see a large part of the coffee region and its incredible landscape. About Salento: Salento is the entrance to Cocora Valley and one of the oldest towns in the coffee region. A typical coffee architecture town, with a great atmosphere where we will climb to the lookout to see the town and the Cocora Valley from above and see how majestic it is. We will have the opportunity to walk the streets of Salento and visit its craft shops and we will end the day with a couple of beers playing tejo, a very exciting national sport. Accommodation: Salento Real
Day 4: Salento - Cocora Valley (10.8 km) & Hike through the Valley (10km) To start the day and go to Salento there are two options, the first one in doing the 10.8 km ride, and the second one is to leave the bike aside for today and do this route on one of the typical coffee region trucks, the Jeep Willys. Brought to Colombia at the end of WW2, they are the best friend of the coffee grower and used to carry coffee sacks from the mountains to the city. If riding today, you will enjoy a short but very beautiful ride where we will see the majestic wax palm national tree appear on the horizon. About the hike and Cocora Valley: A 10 km walk through Cocora Valley where we will be able to appreciate its vegetation and hike up to the House of the Hummingbirds, a beautiful place full of hummingbirds that fly free just a few centimeters away from you. We will be able to see many different types of hummingbirds and have a nice cup of aguapanela with cheese. Going down we will see the beautiful wax palm forest, a field full of palms that is just amazing. After the hike we will be driving to Pereira to stay there for the night. Accommodation: Hacienda San Jose. Day 5: Pereira Anserma 63.4 km 7:00 am: Pick - up at hotel and drive to Pereira exit 8:00 am: Start the ride Accommodation: Hotel Mirador Santana Be prepared for a beautiful ride, a fast but very enjoyable ride, with sugar cane fields along the way to finally start a nice climb to Anserma, a town where you will be able to learn about the real life of Colombians, since there's no tourism here.
Day 6: Anserma Santa Rosa de Cabal 84.7 km 8:00 am: Start the ride About Santa Rosa de Cabal: Two things are a "must" when you stop in Santa Rosa. The first thing is going to be the spring waters and enjoy a deserved recovery and rest time at the pools. The second one is to try a Chorizo (sausage) Santarrosano. Accommodation: Finca del Café Day 7: Recovery Day Santa Rosa de Cabal Activities: This will be a full day of rest. After having gone to the spring waters the night before, we will spend the complete day at this beautiful hotel, enjoying the pool, the tranquility of the place and doing a not conventional coffee tour, where we will see how organic coffee is produced and processed and also we will hear some beautiful myths and legends from the region. Day 8: Santa Rosa de Cabal Manizales 31.7 km 8:00 am: Start the ride About Manizales: Manizales is the northern point of the Coffee Region and is a pleasantly cool, mid-sized university town, surrounded on all sides by a stunning green mountain landscape. Is the capital of the Caldas department and was founded in 1849 by a group of Antioquian colonists looking to escape the civil wars of that time. Two earthquakes in 1875 and 1878, and a fire in 1925 hindered the town s early development. We will visit the Cathedral that has been restored after each one of the disasters and climb to one of its towers to see Manizales from above.
Day 9: Manizales Los Nevados National Park Manizales 61.2 km 6:00 am: Pick-up at hotel 7:00 am: Start the ride About the ride: We will climb Letras Mountain Pass from Manizales side, 30 km of climbing and just a few kilometers before Letras we will detour to enter to Los Nevados National Park where we will see the most beautiful landscape of the tour. We will be entering to "Paramo" ecosystem, cycling above 3000m and we will reach 4000m at the end of the climb. Day 10: Manizales Optional activities to choose from (1 included): Hike Los Nevados National Park 58.300 hectares, altitude between 2.600m and 5.321m, Los Nevados national park is a chain of mountains formed by glaciers, volcanoes, Andean forests, snow peaks and paramos. Its largest ecosystem is the paramo, with more than 38.600 hectares. Paramos are vital for the country, not just because Colombia has over 60% of the paramos of the world, but because it represents an unique ecosystem characterized by being an essential source of water and energy and because they house a large biological diversity, and many endemic species of fauna and flora. Manizales city tour We will go to the Cathedral, where we can hear a little bit about Manizales and how fires and earthquakes marked the history of the city. The cathedral remains after these disasters and after a few restorations we can now climb to the tallest tower and see the city from above. To finalize our tour in Manizales, we will go to the colonizers monument to learn about how this region was populated with people from Antioquia region, this period was called the Antioquian Colonization. Day 11: Transfer to airport
Route Technical Characteristics: Route Profile: This is an easy tour, with short stages and climbs to have a good taste of the Colombian mountains, but nothing serious until we arrive to the last day where we have to face Letras Mountain Pass from Manizales Side, a 35 km climb to test our legs. Very good weather temperature for this tour since we will be riding below 2000 m. Distance: 448.5 km Travel Dates: Departures April 16, 2017. Other dates available on request
Price per Person: based on 2 people registering Double Occupancy Single Occupancy Surcharge per night $ 4100.00 USD $100.00 USD Accommodation: 4* Haciendas and Hotels. Suggested hotels are subject to availability, in any case, hotels of the same level will be chosen. Included: Pick up at hotel on the first day and subsequent days All meals Accommodation in 4* hotels Specified activities Hydration Snacks Water Bottle Cycle Jersey Companion car Spare tubes Assistance during the tour Shuttle back to hotel Bike transportation to Bogotá after the tour (clients own bike included) Not Included: Bike Rental: $40.00 USD per cycling day Bicycle assembly: $50.00 USD per bicycle (clients own bike including disassembly) Airfare and transportation to and from the trip pick - up/drop - off locations Alcoholic beverages Activities not specified
Bikes Assisting people in realizing their touring dreams worldwide is our passion. www.okcycletours.com THIS IS A PARTNER TOUR FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT OK Cycle & Adventure Tours Inc. 1337B Wellington Ave Ottawa, Ontario Canada K1Y 3B8 TICO Ontario Registration No: 50022848