In Belén de Umbría, the privately run Eliseo Bolívar Museum (Museo Eliseo Bolívar) is a fantastic museum with a very unique collection. It displays indigenous artifacts from pre-Columbian times along with personal items collected by the grandfather of the museum’s current owners.
I’m now two months into my teaching post in Belén de Umbría and it’s been very interesting so far. I work at Colegio Nuestra Señora del Rosario every day except Thursday. It’s got over 800 students in grades 6 through 11. The school is just one block uphill from the plaza in Belén. It’s got an amazing view of the green mountains from the second floor.
Every year for one week, Belén de Umbría celebrates a week of fiestas to commemorate the founding of the town. The fiestas usually take place in November. This year, they were moved a month earlier to October.
Just 15 minutes from Belén de Umbría is Taparcal. It’s a tiny little village set beautifully on a small mountain ridge with incredible views in every direction. It’s located within the UNESCO World Heritage listed Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia.
One morning, I was picked up at my school in Belén de Umbría and taken to a rural school in La Tribuna, a tiny rural village about 45 minutes away. The ride through the mountains was down a narrow one-lane muddy road. It was slippery and dangerous. The road had no guardrails and it was a straight drop down the mountain.
Lashae and I were invited to go on a hike through Santa Emilia Municipal Park (Parque Municipal Natural Santa Emilia) one Saturday with an adult English class from Belén de Umbría. The park is located about 20 minutes from Belén. It has a nature trail through a dense forest that leads to a few waterfalls.
The small town of Belén de Umbría is my home in Colombia. It is a coffee growing town that sits up in the mountains surrounded by a beautiful green landscape and part of the UNESCO World Heritage listed Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia.
A guide on where to eat in Belén de Umbría. With all the places to find food in town, it’s impossible to get hungry. Almost all of the restaurants are located on the main plaza or within walking distance. A few others are just outside town. It’s not exactly world-class cuisine, but there are some very good places to eat.
Belén de Umbría is a small town in Colombia’s Coffee Region. It’s part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing for the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia.