Breathtaking Culture and Nature Tour of Colombia

A long overdue review of our fabulous trip to Bogota, Medellin and Cartagena and our guide last month.

Our tour planner listened by phone weeks before our adventure to what my husband liked (and disliked) when traveling and what I liked (and disliked).  We shared with him ideas from Colombian friends for places to stay and restaurants to experience etc. and our tour planner incorporated much of that into our adventure after many e-mails.  We felt confident that when we would arrive all would be safe and in place and it was!

The best part was the private tours he arranged that were not your typical tourist group tours.  Instead we got to know the owners of a flower farm and coffee farm and the youth at Commune 1 in Medellin and had an incredible meal in a private home w an amazing host.   How inspiring it was to learn what Colombia has been through and where it is today and get to know people who proudly call Colombia home. We truly felt as if this was not only a vacation but a geography and history  lesson in a most relaxed fashion.

From the moment we were picked up at the airport by our tour planner's colleagues,the conversation and info flowed and Zicasso delivered a professional, knowledgeable guide who made our stay spectacular.  It was our first Zicasso adventure and certainly will not be our last.  Thanks again for listening and delivering a wonderful trip. 

We had a wonderful experience in Colombia thanks to Brian and his team at the travel agency. We traveled to Colombia for a destination wedding in Cartagena, and after several delightful discussions by FaceTime with Brian we decided to extend our vacation and travel to Medellin and Santa Marta as well. Drivers were there when we arrived at the airport and brought us quickly to the hotel. During the remainder of the trip, all connections and drivers were punctual and polite. After we flew to Medellin we were picked up by our guide who brought us to meet a sillatero (flower carrier) and to hear about the history of the flower trade in Colombia. We then went to a working farm where we learned how the flowers and food were grown and harvested. There was a clear intent to respect the people who were showing us their lives.We then went to Brian's resort outside of Medellin and it was beautiful and peaceful. We were so impressed with the commitment to sustainable approaches to the design, building, maintenance and plantings around the hotel. The food was outstanding, creative and delicious, using locally grown products. It was great to meet Santi, the third of the trio of the travel agency.Brian then took us on a tour of Medellin— Brian is a special guide, so intelligent and capable with a unique perspective as an American who chose to relocate to Colombia. We then took a salsa dancing lesson before finishing up with a terrific cooking lesson with Brian's wife who was lovely.During our stay at the resort we also did a rum tasting and a chocolate tasting tutorial which we enjoyed quite a bit. Finally, we flew to Santa Marta and were met by our co-guides. They were terrific guides, worked well together, and took us to some really cool spots in Tayrona National Park. They even improvised to give us a roadside fruit tasting tutorial which was really fun. Along the way, we enjoyed some in depth discussions with our guides, and we felt a personal connection with them when we said goodbye at the airport.

Overall, we would recommend the team from the travel company highly, for a personalized and flexible travel experience.

We were completely pleased and impressed with the service we received and the trip Zicasso’s tour company planned. We had a busy trip, with internal flights to the Amazon, Medellín, and Cartagena.

We were paired with excellent guides at each location, and for the Amazon, the guide actually flew with us and stayed with us the entire time. All of the guides spoke excellent English, were completely likable, very knowledgeable about their areas, and easy to spend time with.

We were met at each airport connection by a driver who took us to and from the accommodations. The accommodations were wonderfully located, comfortable and interesting. All in all, Zicasso’s travel company did an outstanding job.