Many blogs, guidebooks and locals all proclaim that Jardin, 3.5 hours south of Medellin, is the “most beautiful pueblo in Colombia.” So, being that we’re into cute things and buckets of color, (you may have noticed), it seemed like a place we definitely wanted to check out on our way south to the Coffee Zone. Jardin is beloved by Colombians and many tourists flock here every weekend, but we still loved it because it manages to keep its laidback, charming and authentic vibe. It’s a town made for people watching…absorbing…sitting back with a beer or tinto (Colombian coffee), and our favorite…for taking luxurious breaths of fresh air while hiking amongst waterfalls and rolling Andean scenery.
Most people make the jaunt to Jardin from Medellin. We, however were coming from Jerico which is a bit more challenging. But, it was an opportunity for adventure, which of course, we never turn down. When in Colombia, it’s mandatory for any voyager to hop aboard a rainbow dusted chiva to experience these robust mountain buses, which have been plodding through the Andes since the early 20th Century.
“Chiva” means goat, which is a nod to the extreme mountain mud, cliffs, bumps, and curves the buses are required to endure on mostly one lane roads trudging about 8-15 kilometers per hour (5-10 miles.) They are colloquially known as “escaleras”—ladders—because of the ladders on the sides and roof so extra people, as well as goods can join the fun. Fortunately, we scored a non-roof seat. In addition to an adventurous spirit, it’s a ride that requires patience and dexterity, as you have to hoist yourself about a meter (3 feet) off the ground just to get in. Also, not so good for those afraid of heights as there are many moments when you’re trucking along on the edge of not-too-stable cliff without guard rails.
A few other notes about our Chiva ride:
Firstly, we immediately noticed that everyone in the bus crammed over to the right side, while we as obvious extranjeros had poised ourselves on the left. The right side is where the open exit was, while our side had re-bar window holes. We couldn’t help but wonder if they were all sitting on the right in case they needed to make a quick escape should the chive decide to tumble off a mountain??? Or was this more of a weight distribution thing being that we were on the menacing cliff-side? Hmmm…there was way too much time to analyze your possible life destiny while riding this color mobile. We certainly weren’t getting any reading or podcast listening done.
The chiva dropped us off in the slightly gritty industrial hub of Andes where we waited briefly for a more tame, less life-threatening bus to take 25 minutes more to Jardin.
It was evident we had entered into the coffee zone by the numbers of small holes crammed with coffee beans, and people doing hard manual labor in those holes. (Clearly these guys are not in that camp.) This is where your Folgers comes from, folks. Be proud.
Okay, but I digress and we finally arrived…safe and sound. Stepping into Jardin is stepping back in time. Because of this, one thing you’re sure to find in Jardin is loads of horses and accompanying cute ‘lil hombres in cowboy hats and panchos spilling from the pubs.
The central plaza, Plaza del Libertador, may be the most vibrantly painted one we’ve seen.
It’s teeming with stiff wooden, yet adorable, tables and chairs with a diversity of color combinations that complement the buildings that surround.
Locals enjoying a lazy weekday afternoon.
It certainly lives up to its name of being called Jardin (meaning garden.)
The square is paved with river stones so it feels very natural. This is a wonderful spot to people and horse watch.
Yes, horse watch. One of the most unique things about Jardin is the high-stepping Paso Fino horses that prance about in the streets and the reverberation they make as they advance toward you. They parade by at random times, often in clusters, and command attention from everyone around. When we asked a local if he owned a horse, he said, “no that’s only for rich narcos.” So…there’s a possibility there might be more to the horse procession than meets the eye. But it’s still fascinating and we’ve never seen anything like it.
We loved the open concept.
More sights of the town.
Jasmina and Martin, a Polish couple we befriended at our first hostal. We very much enjoyed hanging out with them a couple of times.
And even when you leave the square, it’s still as cute as a button.
Basilica Menor of the Immaculate Conception
Also in the parque principale (square), rests a quite obvious deviation from the colonial facade of the rest of the square. But the longer you’re in town, the more the Neo-Gothic, Basilica Menor of the Immaculate Conception just seems to fit. The construction of the basilica began in 1872 when Father San Juan Nepomuceno Barrera allegedly asked that sinners bring stones from the nearby quarry equal in weight to the weight of their sins for its assembly. (Wikipedia)
But it’s not the outside of this church that impressed us this time. It was the inside which is coated with layer upon layer of turquoise paint and golden embellishments.
The main altar and entrance to heaven, it seems.
And flawless symmetry everywhere.
Not to mention the striking stained glass….
…and the river of elaborate tile.
Our Accommodation: Hostel Las Flores
After the weekend passed, we headed down from our place in the hills to Hostal Las Flores, which was much more centrally located and half the price for ~$12/night for a private room and bath with kitchen access. The hostess, Ruby, welcomed us with incomprehensible Spanish and open arms and truly, we couldn’t have found a more tranquil spot thanks to the roaring river, phenomenal mountain view and lack of other guests. We were so happy here we decided to extend our stay to five nights.
You can probably guess why by this photo!
The hostal’s exterior harmoniously flowed with the rest of Jardin’s ambience.
The view from our patio.
The outside of the hostal. We couldn’t believe how utterly quiet it was. Another bonus was the cuddly housecat we befriended.
Walking into the center took about five minutes and consisted of horrible views like these.
Hiking in Jardin
True to its name, Jardin actually resembles a garden. Everywhere you cast your gaze, it falls upon beautiful butterflies, hypnotic flowers, rushing cascades, banana and coffee fields and every color of green you can imagine. It’s truly glorious scenery and a big reason why Colombians rush here every weekend. With this, it’s also a hiker and walker’s paradise…a big reason why…yes we could potentially see ourselves returning here one day, maybe long-term, because a week definitely wasn’t enough.
We spent almost everyday walking somewhere in Jardin. It wasn’t rare to see prismatic butterflies like this one.
When we looked up Jardin on Mapy.cz, we were thrilled to see at least 15 waterfalls within the vicinity. Naturally, we didn’t go to all of them, but we did make it to Cascada Escalera, which was about an hour from the town. Although it looks beautiful and empty, it took us about 20 minutes to get this shot because there were so many other tourists, including two German dudes who were incredibly rude and having their own personal Gram moments. ?
The view of Jardin from high up in the surrounding hills.
It’s not uncommon to find yourself meandering through banana farms… Unfortunately, none of these bananas managed to drop, perfectly ripe, into Greg’s mouth.
…or loads of fincas and coffee plantations.
When we did the Cascada Escalera hike, we tried to continue onward a couple miles to see Falls of the Dragon. Unfortunately, despite what our beloved Mapy said, we were dead ended by a guy’s property, who didn’t seem to mind letting us pass through, not giving any mention of the obstacle ahead.
Ah yes, right in the path…this herd of cattle was shitting, snorting and mooing so much, there was no way we dared pass them without a license to cowboy.
This said, don’t drink the water from the streams around here ?
La Garrucha Teleferico & Hike
On another day, we thought it’d be fun to begin our hike by taking a haphazardly constructed wooden and metal box across a pernicious ravine to a viewpoint called La Garrucha.
Now, we’ve been on a lot of cable cars, gondolas and other floating contraptions, but this was our first boxed teleferico over a morality-testing pit.
In reality, the cables and system appeared to be relatively new and nothing to be nervous about.
So, we were more than a little disappointed when, despite the posted hours, it appeared to be closed. Fortunately, a lady arrived right when we were leaving to open it up and charge us about $1 each.
Now, we would be the first of the day to enter the rickety basket, along with two other valiant tourists so we could rumble across the gorge in record time.
We couldn’t believe there were farmers working at what appeared to be 60 degree inclines on the terrain below. La Garrucha was originally installed as a way to transport people, supplies and produce between the town center and the agricultural area to the south. Today, it still serves this purpose, as well as a way to play with the tourists (Atlas Obscura.)
The view of Jardin from the box.
Making it safely across.
Another view of Jardin.
The tourists who were visiting from Bogota were nice enough to snap our photo.
One of the old boxes was turned into a juice stand. Now that looks safe.
A lovely cafe is also at the top to enjoy a drink after your jaunt with death. Unfortunately, the view is hindered by barbed wire to remind you that the return trip across is imminent.
We instead took the long way across and hiked, which ended up being a swell idea, thanks to the number of arresting houses and gardens we would encounter.
The road couldn’t have been more tranquil.
Or the flowers more copious.
It’s not even a flower, but the Ireseine Herbstii, or Blood Leaf, might just be the most dazzling “regular” plant we’ve seen. These perennial shrubs are native to Brazil and there are about 30 species of them throughout South America.
What looks like a giant agave plant, but definitely isn’t, as it’s in tree form and doesn’t have a tap for tequila. It might be a Spanish Dagger, but we’re not sure.
Along the main road, there were several entrances like this that led to smaller historic trails into the forest. These were well worth stumbling into.
Cascada Escondida….it was definitely hidden and completely inaccessible thanks to this bridge that blocked it off.
Walking back across the rushing river.
Where the teenagers go to smooch…Cascada del Amor.
We walked back to town on the Camino de la Herrera, which is a stone path from 1858 and only 350 meters long. It was originally the driveway for the blacksmith and now features a enchanting little cottage that looks like it got tossed from a storybook.
The locals will dry their laundry wherever they can. It’s a good thing we don’t have sticky fingers.
On another day, we took the path down from Jardin on a stone path, to head up to Cristo Rey, another Jesus statue on top of a high hill. Loved the Spanish moss everywhere.
A bridge crossing the creek.
At the top of the hill, there is a bar overlooking the town. Because it was a weekday when we went, it was closed, so we just posed.
An extraordinary fellow we met called the Momotus Momota, or Blue Crown Motorcycle. It’s a interesting bird at first glance, but becomes much more fascinating when it looks directly at you and his eyes appear as electric blue prime-time TV blurs shielding naughty bits.
Eating in Jardin is AMAZING (for Colombian standards)
Colombia, particularly the department (or state) of Antioquia, is known for carnivorous and artery-clogging plates called Bandeja Paisa and is not exactly overflowing with healthy or vegetarian-friendly food options. So, when we got to the tourist town of Jardin, we were elated to find some be-kind-to-your-body treats to stuff in our mouths, which included the two best meals of our time in the country so far at Revolución Bananera and El Tabulé.
Revolución Bananera looks like a simple food shack in the “hostal kitchen” at El Encanto La Salada where we stayed. The hostal itself wasn’t too fabulous and we were glad to be staying there only two nights, but the all vegetarian restaurant itself was utterly fantastic. So fantastic we ate there twice, which never happens.
Felipe and Dayana, who run the restaurant know exactly what they’re doing and source and grow all fresh and local ingredients. We got this vegan salad three times, which was loaded with greens, including kale, roasted broccoli, croutons made of lentils, nuts, avocado and a hummus-type dressing. It was actually one of the best salads we’ve ever had, in our lives. And we’ve had a LOT of salads. And the price? An absurd $17000 pesos or about $4. OMG.
A stir fry bowl with homemade plantain chips, also packed with flavor ($4.) Not pictured was the delightful peanut butter smoothie for $1.50 and avocado soup for $3.
The restaurant itself. Who would know? And yes, it’s available to anyone. You don’t have to stay in the hostel, thankfully.
The best thing about this hostel was the food, the hammock/view, and the friends we made. Other than that, no bueno. The bed was like sleeping on rails, internet spotty, the shower was a deluge, and we couldn’t use the hostel kitchen as we pleased (because, uh…they also forgot to mention in the ad….they used it for this restaurant.)
Another wonderful meal was at El Tabulé Cocina Fusión which was Lebanese, Turkish, Mediterranean and Mexican(?) inspired. My goodness, we miss food from this part of the world. Mandy had an eggplant, chickpea and falafel bowl for $18000 pesos or about $4.50. Greg had the chicken schwarma for about the same price.
For another much more typically Colombian meal, we ordered the Menu Del Dia at Dona Hilda near the main plaza. This consisted of fried trout, potatoes, a mini arepa, salad, soup, rice and juice for $3.50/each. It was…Colombian.
A $1.50 tasty iced Frappuccino with a stellar view. Eat it Starbucks.
