Parque Consotá

Last updated on September 23, 2024.

Not too far outside Pereira is a great park for both kids and adults. Parque Consotá is a huge recreational area with sports fields, several swimming pools, a spa, nature trails, fishing ponds, paddle boats, a small zoo, restaurants, and a hotel. We took Marisol’s 6 year old nephew, David, to enjoy the park for a day.

Visiting

The park is located in Galicia, west of Pereira. It can be reached on the city’s bus lines. At the entrance to the park, there are ticket windows to purchase your entry for the day. An adult ticket costs COP$33,800 and a ticket for children age 3-10 is COP$21,300 (as of April 2024). Members of Comfamiliar Pereira get discounted entry.

Noah’s Farm

We started at the small zoo, Noah’s Farm (Granja de Noé). It’s focused on farm animals and horticulture. We were able to see cattle, chickens, goats, pigs, and horses along with a section dedicated to herbs and vegetables.

My favorite part was the aquarium. Several exotic species of fish were on display.

Outside of Noah’s Farm is a restaurant, Don Noé, serving traditional Colombian specialties, and Trapiche, a sugarcane processing area with sweets and guarapo (sugarcane juice) for sale.

Pond

Next, we walked past the pond. It’s in a beautifully forested area and has a couple bridges over it. It’s possible to fish or rent paddle boats.

Indigenous Memory Trail

We had a quick lunch at a cafeteria, Zasonao, and continued to the Indigenous Memory Trail (Sendero de la Memoria Indígena). This 30 minute guided walk through a bamboo forest stops at a few different indigenous “villages” where we learned about the most important indigenous peoples of Colombia.

Each “village” has a mural showing important images of the indigenous culture. There was also one haunting mural explaining the past, present, and future. The past shows the indigenous people caring for Mother Earth, while in the present we are destroying the earth for money. The future shows a couple in gas masks with a mushroom cloud from a nuclear explosion.

Old Pereira

The walk ends where Old Pereira (Pereira Antigua) begins. Old Pereira is a replica village of what Pereira looked like in the early 20th century. It starts at a two story finca (farmhouse). Upstairs are bedrooms complete with straw mats showing how people used to sleep.

Next is a main street in old Pereira, complete with colorful homes and businesses. Windows are open allowing visitors to peer into the past. The mayor’s office, a barber shop, general store, and coffee purchasing agent are all on display.

It’s also possible to peek into a replica home with antique furniture and household items.

The street opens out onto a plaza, which is modeled after Parque El Lago. There’s a fountain in the center of the plaza and a church modeled after the El Claret Church (Iglesia El Claret).

Water Park

After the educational stuff was finished, David was getting a little antsy. That’s when we headed to the water park for some fun. We went through the lazy river and watched a few people head down the waterslides before we enjoyed the wave pool.