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Córdoba is a small town in nestled in the mountains of Colombia’s Coffee Region. It’s included in the UNESCO World Heritage listing for the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia.
Introduction to Córdoba
Córdoba is located in the department of Quindío and the nearest major city is Armenia. It was founded on November 1, 1912, as a village belonging to the nearby town of Calarcá. It became its own municipality on March 5, 1967. It’s the second smallest municipality in Quindío, after Buenavista, and the main economic activity is agriculture.
Córdoba is known for its abundance of guadua, a species of bamboo native to Colombia. The town celebrates the Bamboo and Guadua Festival (Fiesta del Bambú y la Guadua) annually. It’s also home to the National Bamboo and Guadua Investigation Center (Centro Nacional para el Estudio del Bambú Guadua), which is no longer open to the public. We were, however, able to take an educational bamboo and guadua hike through the Soñarte Nature Reserve.
José María Córdoba Park
As far as the town, there really isn’t much to see but it’s very pleasant and colorful. We started at José María Córdoba Park (Parque Principal José María Córdoba). It consists of an open-air amphitheater and band shell.
At the lower end of the park next to where the jeeps line up is an elevated café, while the town hall sits on a corner at the upper end.
Church of San José
The Church of San José (Parroquia San José de Córdoba) sits at the upper end of the park. It’s a simple construction but we were unable to enter because it was closed during our visit to the town.
Architecture of Córdoba
Walking around the rest of town, there are a few interesting colorful buildings to see. They’re mostly situated on the blocks nearest the park. One of them includes the town’s public library.
Soñarte
Soñarte is a nature reserve in Córdoba that features an eco hotel and café as well as several kilometers of hiking trails. The propertyhas been in the same family since the early 20th century.
Soñarte was once a coffee farm, but the current generation of owners decided to remove the coffee trees and let native plants grow in their place. This allowed the land to return the land to its natural state and an official designation as a nature reserve.
Hotel at Soñarte
We decided to spend a nice relaxing weekend in Córdoba and chose Soñarte after reading excellent reviews about the hotel. It’s got a wonderful setting and is perfect for both short and extended stays.
Upon our arrival, we were greeted outside the main house by the very friendly owners and completed our check-in. The main house contains a handful of basic rooms with a shared bathroom. There’s a common area just across from the house with a pool table and comfortable chairs.
Cabins at Soñarte
One of our hosts helped us carry our bags up to the cabin we had reserved. In addition to the rooms in the main house, Soñarte has two small cabins made of bamboo that are perfect for couples or families. Ours was the blue cabin.
The cabin was perfect for our stay. It had a kitchenette as well as a nice living area with a couch and table. The kitchenette had a refrigerator with a pitcher of water and was stocked with coffee and a French press. There was even a decent WiFi signal, which we didn’t expect.
Although the bed was a bit too small and cramped, we still had a great night of sleep. Listening to the insects and the raindrops lulled us to sleep, and waking up to the sounds of the birds couldn’t have been a better start to the day.
The housekeeper came up to our room in the morning with fresh squeezed orange juice and fresh fruits. She took our breakfast order and had it delivered to us within a half hour. The views for our meal were spectacular.
Lake Cabin at Soñarte
Downhill from the main house by a small pond is the lake cabin, which is for groups and can sleep up to 10 people. The owner let us in to take a look. It was similar to the smaller cabins in style and amenities.
What we liked most was the bedroom in the loft. There was a great view over the pond and we imagined waking up to that view would be amazing.
Activities at Soñarte
The owners provide several different activities for both guests and non-guests alike. They include birdwatching, a coffee tour, a jeep tour to Buenavista and Pijao, a night hike through the reserve, a bike tour, and more.
Trails at Soñarte
Soñarte contains several kilometers of hiking trails. All are well-marked and have different themes. One of them takes you to a waterfall, while others to different natural features. We had planned to do the hike to the waterfall but fell short on time. The only trails we took were on a guided educational hike to learn about bamboo and guadua as well as the trail up to the café.
Jacuzzi at Soñarte
A few steps along the pond from the lake cabin is a hut with hammocks and a jacuzzi. Guests are able to reserve a private slot in the jacuzzi ahead of time.
Soñarte Terraza Café
One of the highlights of Soñarte is the Soñarte Terraza Café, which sits on a hill opposite the hotel. It’s possible to get up there by car or via a trail from the hotel. The trail takes about 12-15 minutes to hike up but parts of it can be very slippery and muddy if it has rained.
The café has a great setting under a bamboo structure with some open-air seating as well. There are wonderful views of Córdoba and the surrounding landscape.
We were going to stay just for a cup of coffee, but enjoyed it so much we ended up staying for dinner as well. First of all, the coffee is decent but we were surprised they didn’t offer alternative methods such as a Chemex or French press (although the website says they do). Secondly, the menu has a good variety of meats, fish, and chicken, and can be ordered as room service if you’re staying at the hotel.
For starters, we ordered fried cheese topped with eggplant, red pepper, and beets. We were also brought a complimentary basket of plantain chips.
For our main course, Marisol had a churrasco while I had the mixed grill. Both were served with potatoes and yucca. We were happy with the quality of the meals, and finished them off with a homemade cheesecake topped with berries.
Bamboo and Guadua Educational Hike
The small town of Córdoba is known for its abundance of guadua, a species of bamboo native to Colombia. In fact, the town celebrates the Bamboo and Guadua Festival (Fiesta del Bambú y la Guadua) annually. Naturally, we wanted to learn more about this type of grass used in construction and the arts.
Our first thought was to stop by the National Bamboo and Guadua Investigation Center (Centro Nacional para el Estudio del Bambú Guadua), located just outside Córdoba, but unfortunately it’s no longer open to the public. Thankfully, the owners of Soñarte Nature Reserve have developed a bamboo hike through their property to educate the public about this incredible natural resource. The hike is available to both overnight guests and day-trippers, and you can find out more about the fees by contacting Soñarte directly.
The Hike
Our hike started around 9am on a designated trail through a dense patch of forest. This trail was developed specifically to take hikers through the best patches of guadua on the property.
Along the way, our incredibly knowledgable guide told us several interesting facts about guadua, including how they grow, their height, the amount of water they store, and important uses in earthquake-resistant construction. The guide continued by showing us how the roots are all interconnected and how new shoots spring up from the ground.
We learned the best time to cut guadua is in the middle of the night, because that’s when it stores less water. The guide was also able to spot a few shoots with a bright pink fungus, indicating it was too mature to cut.
What surprised us is how difficult it is to harvest guadua after seeing the sharp thorns sticking out of the shoots and branches. Also, having to come into the forest in the middle of the night with the possibility of encountering poisonous creatures such as spiders and scorpions makes the work even more dangerous.
Finally, near the end of the hike, the guide pointed out a fern that happens to be one of the oldest surviving species on earth. It dates back to the time of the dinosaurs.
She also showed us some beautiful flowers and plants. One was related to the banana while another resembled a red pineapple.
Art Workshop
After the hike and a well-deserved cup of coffee, we headed to an interpretive center to learn about the artistic uses of guadua. Before entering, we stopped next door to the center to see a small greenhouse where guadua shoots are grown.
The workshop began with a local artist showing us a few works of art using guadua, and explaining how the process was invented by another local artist from the Coffee Region as a project for university.
Next, the artist gave us the option to make a small or large notebook. We chose the small notebook, and she began by showing us the tools we would need to use.
The artist let us choose a few pieces of guadua that had been dyed with different colors. We fit the pieces on two thin blocks of wood, which would serve as the front and back covers of the notebook.
After the pieces were fit to the notebook, we drew lines on the back to indicate how to place them. We then smothered glue onto the pieces, attached them to the notebook, then cut the excess.
The final step was to use a hot iron to make a few designs on the guadua to resemble stitching, then punched the holes for the binding. In the end, we had our very own homemade notebook.
Our Thoughts on the Bamboo and Guadua Educational Hike
Overall, we really enjoyed our educational hike through the property. It took about 90 minutes. The workshop was interesting but we could have done without it. Not that we didn’t enjoy it, but mostly for time purposes. It was expected to take up to two hours, but we kind of rushed through it and were able to cut it down to one hour. We would have preferred to see some of the works and quickly learn the process rather than fully participate.
