Travel Tip 34
Getting out into the forest at somewhere like Tinamú Birding is usually a good way to step off the main tourist trail.
How to stay near but not on the tourist trail.
I just got home to Cusco from my third trip to Colombia. I loved it but as always am happy to be home in Cusco. I travel so much that sleeping in my own bed feels luxurious.
My previous trips to Colombia I stayed firmly on the tourist trail for safety reasons. In 2015, not only was I traveling solo (like usual), but I was also going to a country that has a reputation for not being safe. I wasn’t trying to do anything special that trip. I just wanted to leave the dark North American winter and spend part of December in South America.
Playing it safe
At the time, the US State Department website said that US Embassy employees in Colombia were only allowed to travel freely in Bogotá and Cartagena, so that’s where I went. For solo travel in an unfamiliar country, that’s still my barometer for playing it safe.
This time, I wanted to see mountains, coffee farms and birds. The coffee farms are wonderful, and I enjoyed visiting one and doing a coffee tasting experience in Medellín with a barista named Javier. (Book him with GetYourGuide).
I did a coffee tour at Hacienda Guayabal, half an hour from the popular & reputedly crowded Hacienda Venecia. Counting me, there were only six tourists at Guayabal that day.
On the tourist trail
Colombia’s coffee region is squarely on the tourist trail these days. There are hundreds of coffee farms who have opened a side business hosting tourists for day tours and to stay overnight. The mountains of Colombia might sound risky, but once you get there, you’ll find it’s very safe. (The first place I stayed didn’t even have a door on their office where they kept their computer and souvenir gift shop).
I’m a fan of the tourist trail. I think that most famous tourist places are popular for good reason, though I’m an even bigger fan of travel adjacent to the tourist trail. I like the infrastructure of the tourist trail (efficient transportation, nice hotels, good restaurants) but not always the crowds that come with it.
Tourist trail adjacent
So, I went to a birding lodge in the coffee region: Tinamú Birding, near the city of Manizales. Colombia is a very popular destination for serious birders. It has all the bird diversity of a country with Pacific and Caribbean coasts, three mountain ranges and rainforest. It also gets migratory birds from both north and south. From September to April the birds of North and Central America migrate down to Colombia. Between May and October, you’ll find the birds of South America, as far south as Patagonia.
The happy medium
Being near the tourist trail means you’re likely to have lots of options for flights and other transportation. You’ll probably have lots of options for lodging from cheap hostels up to 5-star resorts. There’s more choice for restaurants and usually the understanding that travelers can’t always drink the water. (Colombia is an exception here. The tap water in Manizales was the best I’ve tasted in South America and even the Medellín water was perfectly safe and tasted good).
Here’s how:
Pick a touristy place that’s easy to get to, say Cancún. Then find a way to visit the small towns nearby that don’t have so many tourists. My mom and I did a road trip south of Cancún in 2017. Flights from Seattle to Cancún were just too cheap to pass up! The mot mot above was my favorite bird we saw at a cenote.
Or go to the tourist place itself, say Paris. Instead of going to the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, go to Parc des Buttes-Chaumont and the François Mitterrand library. You’ll still love Paris, perhaps even more than if you’d done the more famous sites.
Do you have a favorite tourist trail adjacent destination? Leave me a comment below!
Birds often fly through the dining room at Tinamú Birding. Only the cabins have doors.
Blog
Click on the blog title above to read about my birding trip in the coffee region. I’ve done some epic birding in Peru and Costa Rica, but I’ve never seen so many species concentrated in such a small area as at Tinamú.
This is only a small part of the Pisac Inca Ruins. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been and there’s so much to see that I’ll surely go back many more times.
Article
My 3 Favorite Alternatives to Machu Picchu
I wrote this for Frommer’s and it’s my favorite tourist trail adjacent article. I would love for everybody to take Machu Picchu off their bucket list and replace it with Peru. There are too many amazing places that are Machu Picchu adjacent that get ignored because marketing has convinced people that they have to see just one place in Peru. Do yourself a favor, come to Peru but skip Machu Picchu.