It may be cold outside, but here at BIRD HQ we’re already planning our escape to sunnier climes come the new year and boutique Colombia specialist, Amakuna, has got just the ticket…
Their brand new adventure through Colombia launching next year will celebrate the 50th anniversary of One Hundred Years of Solitude, the magnum opus of Colombia’s most celebrated author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Famed for his creation of the magical realism genre, this country-wide pilgrimage will wind through the spots most associated with Garcia Marquez’s fascinating life and mystical works.
Tayrona National Park. Credit: ProColombia
Dispel all thoughts of trotting behind a tour guide through a dreary town in the middle of nowhere. Garcia Marquez was not one to stay put. Instead, you’ll be winding through some of the best (and least-explored) parts of enchanting Colombia, from jungled Tayrona, vibrant Barranquilla and bustling Bogota to colourful Cartagena with its bougainvillea-strewn balconies, and colonial Mompos, captioned ‘the town that time forgot’ as the rivers that once made it a thriving port town silted up. We don’t want to give too much away but we’re including a few of our highlights below.
Bogota. Credit: Shuttershock
Top of the list is a trip into the lush rainforest of Tayrona National Park in search of the Kogi Tribe, whose mystical culture is thought to have inspired much of the daily life featured in Garcia Marquez’s novels. Hidden by lush vegetation in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, this elusive tribe is home to aged shaman who are believed to be able to transform themselves into jaguars and other animals at will.
Kogi Tribe. Credit: Eric Julien
Next up is magical Mompos, a colonial jewel forgotten by the rest of the world – but you’d be a fool to make the same mistake. Here you’ll find a spectacularly preserved environment of crumbling colonial architecture, colourful buildings and winding streets on the banks of the Rio Magdalena, where you can fall in stride with a youthful Garcia Marquez who spent many a lazy afternoon sailing its winding tributaries and courting his soon-to-be wife.
Mompos. Credit: Shuttershock
End in Cartagena, the metaphoric setting for Garcia Marquez’s ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’, where you’ll rest your head in the main suite of apartment 201 at Casa Pombo – the hallowed spot where Javier Bardem stayed during the filming of Love in the Time of Cholera in 2007. Add onto this an exclusive private recital of Garcia Marquez’s favourite genre of music, Vallenato, by a local street band as well as a host of other adventures in spots around the country and you’ve got yourselves the ultimate Christmas gift for any literary fan.
Cartagena. Credit: Claudia Avila Batchelor
To Book: Amakuna offers a 10-night “In the Footsteps of Gabriel Garcia Marquez” package from £3,245 per person including two nights in Bogota, one night in Barranquilla, two nights in Tayrona including a visit to Aracataca, two nights in Mompos and three nights in Cartagena. The price also includes all activities outlined in the itinerary, private transfers and domestic flights. International flights start from £600 with Avianca.
www.amakuna.com / 020 7193 7582 /info@amakuna.com
