Colombia vacation, small group
Highlights
Bogota | Zipaquira Salt Cathedral | Villa de Leyva | Domestic flight to Neiva | Villavieja | Tatacoa Desert | San Agustín pre-Colombian sites | Tierradentro and Archeaological Park | Cali | Santa Marta | Tayrona National Park | Cartagena
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about this vacation or need help finding one we're very happy to help. The Travel Team.
Toll free 1-866-821-6866 Calling from outside the US? rosy@responsibletravel.com
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Small group adventure vacation
Whether you are traveling alone or with friends/family its good value, and a great way to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is plenty of free time to explore at your own pace. This trip will appeal to travelers of all ages who enjoy meeting new people as well as seeing new places.Responsible tourism
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we screen every trip so you can travel knowing your vacation will help support conservation and local people.
Waste - As a member of AITO, we adhere to the AITO Sustainable Tourism Guidelines and as such, we aim to protect the environment and minimise pollution both by on-tour practices and procedures in our offices around the world. On this tour through Colombia, we visit several sites of natural beauty such as Tayrona National Park and Taironaka Archeological Ruins, as well as the historic centers of important colonial cities such as Santa Marta and Villa de Leyva. When visiting these areas, our tour leaders make sure that our travelers respect signage, follow the instructions of the local guides and do not leave any litter. They also ensure that they do not take any rocks or plants away with them, or buy souvenirs made of endangered materials. In our administrative offices, we only use paper, water or electricity when it is necessary, and we reuse and recycle the resources that we do use to make sure that a minimal amount of waste is produced by our office procedures.Group Size - The maximum group size on this tour is 19 people, meaning we can use smaller accommodation and have minimum impact when visiting busy sights.
Our hotel in Bogota is located in the Historical Centre, a short walk from the main attractions including the Iglesia de San Francisco. Navigating a city by foot is the best way to not only keep your carbon footprint low but also to experience hidden gems that you would not see from a coach window. All customers are encouraged to act responsibly when staying in hotels and guesthouses, including ensuring all electricity and lights are switched off when not needed, air conditioning is not left on when not required, towels and bedding are not replaced unless necessary and water consumption is kept to a minimum.
The Impacts of this Trip
Friends and Neighbours - One of the principle aims of our responsible travel policy is to support local economies. We ensure that our tours provide maximum opportunities to engage with local people, so that local economies benefit directly from our business and our travelers gain a genuine insight into a region and its people. The optional excursions that we can help to arrange while on this tour, such as a trip to the Totumo Volcano or a city tour of Cartagena, help to support jobs and the local economy because they are run by local operators. We also recommend that our travelers eat and drink at locally-owned restaurants or bars to ensure that local businesses benefit as much as possible from our tours traveling through the region.
Traveling with Respect – On our website’s responsible travel pages we provide a list of tips on creating good relationships between our travelers and the local communities that we visit on our tours. For example, for this tour we would recommend that clients learn some Spanish to try and connect with the local people, and we would advise researching the history, religion and local traditions of Colombia to help them appreciate the architecture and culture of those countries and thereby get the most from their trip while respecting local customs.
All tours in Colombia are lead by Spanish speaking tour leaders, who not only act as a translator but have a deep understanding of Colombian culture and etiquette which they pass onto clients. We believe this leads to our customers gaining further respect and understanding of the communities they visit in Colombia. Clients are always encouraged to learn a few words of Spanish so that they can interact with local people, not only does it provide a personable experience but also great for locals who also wish to practise their English skills!
Waste - As a member of AITO, we adhere to the AITO Sustainable Tourism Guidelines and as such, we aim to protect the environment and minimise pollution both by on-tour practices and procedures in our offices around the world. On this tour through Colombia, we visit several sites of natural beauty such as Tayrona National Park and Taironaka Archeological Ruins, as well as the historic centers of important colonial cities such as Santa Marta and Villa de Leyva. When visiting these areas, our tour leaders make sure that our travelers respect signage, follow the instructions of the local guides and do not leave any litter. They also ensure that they do not take any rocks or plants away with them, or buy souvenirs made of endangered materials. In our administrative offices, we only use paper, water or electricity when it is necessary, and we reuse and recycle the resources that we do use to make sure that a minimal amount of waste is produced by our office procedures.Group Size - The maximum group size on this tour is 19 people, meaning we can use smaller accommodation and have minimum impact when visiting busy sights.
Our hotel in Bogota is located in the Historical Centre, a short walk from the main attractions including the Iglesia de San Francisco. Navigating a city by foot is the best way to not only keep your carbon footprint low but also to experience hidden gems that you would not see from a coach window. All customers are encouraged to act responsibly when staying in hotels and guesthouses, including ensuring all electricity and lights are switched off when not needed, air conditioning is not left on when not required, towels and bedding are not replaced unless necessary and water consumption is kept to a minimum.
The Impacts of this Trip
Friends and Neighbours - One of the principle aims of our responsible travel policy is to support local economies. We ensure that our tours provide maximum opportunities to engage with local people, so that local economies benefit directly from our business and our travelers gain a genuine insight into a region and its people. The optional excursions that we can help to arrange while on this tour, such as a trip to the Totumo Volcano or a city tour of Cartagena, help to support jobs and the local economy because they are run by local operators. We also recommend that our travelers eat and drink at locally-owned restaurants or bars to ensure that local businesses benefit as much as possible from our tours traveling through the region.
Traveling with Respect – On our website’s responsible travel pages we provide a list of tips on creating good relationships between our travelers and the local communities that we visit on our tours. For example, for this tour we would recommend that clients learn some Spanish to try and connect with the local people, and we would advise researching the history, religion and local traditions of Colombia to help them appreciate the architecture and culture of those countries and thereby get the most from their trip while respecting local customs.
All tours in Colombia are lead by Spanish speaking tour leaders, who not only act as a translator but have a deep understanding of Colombian culture and etiquette which they pass onto clients. We believe this leads to our customers gaining further respect and understanding of the communities they visit in Colombia. Clients are always encouraged to learn a few words of Spanish so that they can interact with local people, not only does it provide a personable experience but also great for locals who also wish to practise their English skills!
3 Reviews of Colombia vacation, small group
Reviewed on 06 Jan 2019 by Felicity Benson
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
Almost missing a plane due to tour leaders poor planning.
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
Okay if you like hikes in the wilderness. Everyone needed tipping; it would be helpful to give an indication of the extent of tipping, so that the trip could be properly budgeted and costed.
3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Not really. Lots of talk about ecosystems etc, but two internal flights and lots of motoring in AC bus.
4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
Poor; tour leader was arrogant, selfish, flippant and not really interested in the tour.
Activities were organised around his convenience, not that of the tour members.
Didnt offer suitable alternatives to hikes. Unfocused and lots of aimless wandering.
Didnt respond and certainly failed to acknowledge reasonable requests from tour members.
New Years eve meal and entertainment was overpriced and overhyped.
Di
Read the operator's response here:
Kind regards, Rosanna
Reviewed on 29 Apr 2018 by Trish Standaloft
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
All of it was memorable with amazing sights and some wonderful weather at the coast.
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
Hot and cold weather clothing required! Lots of mosquito repellent too. Do learn Spanish as not much English spoken.
3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Absolutely, especially our great consumption of Coco Rum produced by the indigenous people of Tierradentro! We were also very conscious, as are the
Colombians, of the need to reduce plastic usage. The use of local guides assists
4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
An excellent trip with an excellent guide in Juan Se - would recommend.
Reviewed on 17 Feb 2017 by Stevie Bishop
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your vacation?
The lush, beautiful scenery in the South of Colombia.
2. What tips would you give other travelers booking this vacation?
Be aware that so many of the activities our tour operator mentioned are NOT available, i.e. horse-riding, bicycle tour, tubing, white water rafting - latter not allowed for over 60's. This caused major disappointment for many of the group.
3. Did you feel that your vacation benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Not particularly.
4. Finally, how would you rate your vacation overall?
Tiring (lots of long road journeys, plus several flights due to the size of the country) but a fabulous vacation nonetheless!
Read the operator's response here:
Regarding optional excursions being not available, age restrictions were implemented by the providers of these excursions and we were not informed until your tour went through San Gil. We have since updated our website to show this. We apologise for the inconvenience.
We go to great efforts to travel responsibly in every country we operate in. We only stay in locally owned hotels, visit local restaurants and travel on public transport, reducing our impact on the environment considerably. However, we are always looking at ways to do more and welcome any suggestions. Please feel free to email us as this will allow us to constantly improve our tours for future travelers.
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