Exploring Jardin, Colombia and my favorite waterfall hike

Well welcome world, Pesos in my Pocket has officially documented all of my Mexican adventures (to date!) In total, I spent about 2.5 years living and traveling in Mexico and so I appreciate your patience as this blog became fully dedicated to Mexico. Mexico is now my second home and I fully intend to spend more time down there, and hopefully live there again soon, but meanwhile I was pretty stoked to travel to a new country for the first time in years.

And what was that first country I landed in? None other than beautiful COLOMBIA, a country that I think has the most similarities with Mexico. From the large population, mild climate, extreme biodiversity, lively music and dance, delicious food, and the national PRIDE, you can draw endless parallels between these two countries. Even when it comes to safety, both Colombia and Mexico get a pretty bad rap in the eyes of Americans yet travelers are generally positively surprised to find Colombia so much more peaceful and touristic than they imagined. In total, I spent about 2.5 weeks in this amazing country, and would have certainly made it a longer trip if I was not FIENDING to surf (classic).

JARDIN, ANTIOQUIA, COLOMBIA

And thus, first I will cover what was my favorite little hidden gem in the country: Jardin!

Jardin is one of the most magical places I found in Colombia! A small pueblo about 4 hours from Medellin, the whole place is practically cloud forest, coffee, and waterfall country with the most charming colorful centro to accompany the lush background. It is an affordable place with one of the best hikes I have done in Latin America. More below...

GETTING HERE

From Medellin, buy a bus ticket (around $13) leaving a few times a day to Jardin. Great views but pretty windy roads most the way, so sit back relax and enjoy the countryside. I met a wonderful and friendly older man that said Jardin is his favorite town in the world, and he had traveled literally to every continent, before the Internet. 

From Salento, another big tourist stop, you have a couple of options. You can go to Pereira and then to Jardin. Or you can go to Riosucio and then Jardin. I ended up making my route from Medellin to Jardin to Salento, and relied on this helpful blog for my transportation tips!

THINGS TO DO

Hike up to the café on the hill and mirador of the town. 

While just out of town, you'll surprise yourself by the difficulty of this little walk up to a coffee shop on the mountain. I really recommend you try to get there as soon as they open, at 10:00 AM, because from then on most of the tables get full and you will feel like you have less privacy and time in nature. There is also supposed to be a cross which is another viewpoint along the way, but when I went on a Thursday morning it was closed and there was no access.

Do the 7 Cascadas Hike

Literally if you do one hike in Colombia, let it be this one. I went with Jardin Ecotours and we had the most fabulous guide, David, who is a bird biologist and super outdoorsy local. I recommend you go with a guide because if you try to go on your own, you have to end up hiking double the distance and go both uphill and downhill. If you go with the guide, you are less likely to get lost, you will make sure you see all the waterfalls, and you have a Jeep that takes you to the top of the hill and you just have to walk down, so you save time and energy and get the maximum bang for your buck.

I literally have no words to describe this hike, I will try to put photos but even they do not do it justice. When they say 7 waterfalls it's not just any old waterfall, it is literally gushing tall magical falls and many of them.

Grab a coffee- or a milo – in the town center and walk the colorful streets

In Jardin I became acquainted with the milo, which is a chocolate based drink that apparently is not quite hot chocolate? This is perfect because at night the main things open are just places to drink a beer or have a coffee, and the chocolate drink is a good option if you don't want caffeine at that hour. The town square is one of the nicest I've seen in Latin America, very clean and the street food is affordable and tasty. If you can't tell this place is just magical and you gotta go!

Go up the cable car or try the little outdoor park

Other travel blogs recommended going up this cable car and I was also recommended to try doing the tightrope bicycle that is on one side of the town. These were the blogs I consulted for my own trip On Dusty Roads and this one.

Go to Cascada de la Cueva

I did not personally visit this waterfall because I did the seven waterfalls hike instead, and I'm very happy with my decision and other travelers said that was a good call. While you can do this hike, it is much shorter and costs almost the same as the seven waterfalls hike and you only see 1 waterfall. That being said if you're spending more time and how do they you might as well also add this onto your bucket list because it has great reviews

WHERE TO STAY

Not gonna lie, I went digital nomad mode in Jardin so I just looked for an affordable budget room to tutor from. Jardin Secreto was perfect for a 4 night stay.

If you do wanna stay in a hostel, Volarte Hostal has a 9.8 stars on Booking.com which is one of the highest ratings I have ever seen!

IN SUM

I think Jardin is great for a 2-day, 2 night adventure for the average traveler, or you can extend longer if you want to get in more, longer hikes, enjoy the slow daily life in the town, or go on more eco-adventures. Que lo disfruten!

My friend Nadia and the craziest waterfall I have ever seen