After breakfast today you will explore the Colombian capital of Bogotá during a walking tour with your national guide. Bogotá has two sectors for tourism. The first is the old Candelaria Historic District scattered with traditional colonial houses and cobblestoned streets. The second sector and by contrast, the north of the city boasts modernity and innovation. You will find government buildings, as well as a variety of trendy shops, restaurants and bars.

Bogotá's historic city center "La Candelaria" with its impressive churches, the State Palace, and Plaza Bolívar will be explored with your guide who will explain each building’s history before you head on to visit the world-famous gold museum "Museo del Oro". The museum has an exhibition of jewelry and pottery from the indigenous cultures of the pre-Columbian period to present-day Colombia. It has more than 34,000 pieces and works of gold, 20,000 stone objects, ceramics, precious stones, and textiles that belonged to the Quimbaya, Calima, Tayrona, Zenú, Muisca, Tolima, Tumaco and Magdalena cultures.

Today you will also enjoy a Graffiti Tour. The tour started in 2011 by an Australian street artist and a Canadian graffiti artist that wanted to share Bogota’s unique and prolific urban art scene with a wider international audience. It made sense to share their love of the vibrant work that adorns the streets of Bogota with the world! Encounter stunning art that has changed over time, that is constantly reborn and see how it has embedded itself into the fabric of daily Bogota life. 

Lunch will be provided at a local restaurant. 

Return to the hotel late this afternoon to get ready for your welcome dinner at a local restaurant. 

Overnight: Hotel de la Opéra (or similar) 

Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

This morning professionals will head out for a day of professional engagement with your local counterparts. Meet with various individuals from governmental and private entities to discuss topics of interest related to mental health in Colombia, offering different perspectives based on experiences from various regions of the country. Specific hosting organizations and speakers will be defined once the group forms.

Lunch is by individual arrangement (own expense).

Accompanying guests will visit an emerald workshop. Colombia is known as the coffee country, but they have a longer history linked to what they call “green gold”. Over 60% of the world’s emeralds are originally from Colombia. The emerald tour in Bogotá begins at the main emerald trading center, guided by local professional staff with over 20 years of experience in this field you will learn about extraction, history, and the emerald trade, as well as how to recognize a genuine emerald.

Next stop is a cooking class offering a hands-on experience to learn the art of Colombian cuisine. Participants get to prepare and savor traditional Colombian dishes, for instances ajiaco, and empanadas, under the guidance of a skilled chef. This immersive culinary adventure provides insights into the rich culinary heritage of Colombia while allowing you to enjoy the fruits of your labor in a delightful and interactive setting.

Dinner will be provided this evening.

Overnight:  Hotel de la Opéra (or similar)

Included meals: Breakfast & Dinner

Today is a day dedicated to flying to Medellín, depending on flight time you will have some free time before heading to the airport with lunch on your own arrangement.

Get settled at the Poblado Plaza Hotel in the Milla de Oro area, with the best shopping, nightlife and more at your fingertips. Guest rooms have bathroom amenities, a safe, work desk, free Wi-Fi, coffee machine, pillow menu, minibar, room service, iron, AC water/coffee and tea in the room. The hotel has a bar and onsite dining including a buffet breakfast from 6-10 am daily. Room service is available from noon to midnight daily.

Dinner will be provided at a local restaurant. 

Overnight: Poblado Plaza (or similar)

Included meals: Breakfast & Dinner

This morning the group will enjoy a city tour. Get to know the social interventions of Medellín today: its transport system, escalators, and the attitude of its people as you explore the historic city center. Experience what the people of Medellín think about the history of the city. Explore the iconic tourist sites like Plaza Botero, Parque Berrío, Santo Domingo, and take a graffiti tour in Comuna 13. 

Take the metro cable up to Santo Domingo, which was once a notorious area of gang violence in Medellín. The cable car was constructed to make the inner city more accessible to people from the outskirts and allows visitors a glimpse into the lives of the marginalized population. At Comuna 13 district with its unique escalators you will have a chance to observe another innovative project that improved the quality of life of the people.

This afternoon you will have lunch before you immerse yourself in the transformative spirit of Moravia, a community that has risen to prominence thanks to the leadership and resilience of its women. This unique social gastronomy project celebrates the vital role of women heads of household, who have blended their traditional Colombian recipes with professional culinary techniques and conscious eating principles to uplift their neighborhoods. Once known as an area facing social challenges, Moravia is now a beacon of resilience and community transformation. At the heart of this change are the women of Moravia, who have turned their stories of perseverance into engines of progress. Through this project, they preserve their culinary traditions, embrace sustainable practices, and promote conscious eating as a tool for empowerment and growth. 

Dinner is on your own this evening. 

Overnight: Poblado Plaza (or similar)

Included meals: Breakfast & Lunch

This morning the group will head out for a Pablo Escobar tour to learn about the previous dark side of Medellín and the destructive influence of Pablo Escobar. From La Inflexión Memorial Park to the ruins of La Catedral prison and Jardines de Montesacro Cemetery, each stop highlights the dire consequences of his legacy. It concludes at the Casa de la Memoria Museum, honoring all the victims of violence. A powerful tour that commemorates Medellín's resilience in the face of its turbulent past.

Lunch will be provided at a local restaurant. 

This afternoon professionals will meet with a local hospital or clinic to discuss topics of interest related to access to care for mental health in Colombia, offering different perspectives based on experiences from various regions of the country.
 

Accompanying guests will have free time to explore. 

Dinner is on your own this evening. 

Overnight: Poblado Plaza (or similar)

Included meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Today you will head out on a trip to explore the Santa Elena flower region. Santa Elena region is a group of villages up in the hills (high altitude of around 9,000 feet). You can feel the temperature drop as you head up the hill. Halfway up, as you marvel at the orange-flowered, black-eyed creeping plant that covers every wall and cliff, you’re reaching for a sweater. Cultivated flowers are the heart and soul of Santa Elena, the home of the silletero, the grower, who would walk the streets with huge displays of his blooms on his back.

Your visit is as special as the story behind it, now considered part of Paisa cultural heritage. Santa Elena has a complex history marked by transformation and violence, from pre-Hispanic times through Spanish colonization to the present day. 

Today, organizations work with the community using different tools to help young people reshape their worldview and become agents of change in the territory’s future.

Today you will visit a flower garden, traditional silletero home, silleta-building workshop, and a meeting with a local organization focused on mental health in the community (for all attendees).

Lunch will be provided. 

Dinner is by individual arrangement this evening. 

Overnight: Poblado Plaza (or similar)

Included meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Today you will check out and fly to Cartagena, depending on flight time you will have some free time before heading to the airport with lunch on your own arrangement.

Located on the shores of the Caribbean Sea, the city has colorful streets full of charm that make it the gateway to South America. It is in the north of the country and is the capital of the Bolívar region. 'La Heroica', as they call it, is surrounded by several archipelagos and islands that are paradises for true rest.

Get settled at the OSH Hotel Getsemani, with onsite dining, lounge, a rooftop bar and outside spaces to relax when you have some down time. Located in one of the coolest neighborhoods in the world, according to Forbes. Guest rooms have AC, safe, hairdryer, free Wi-Fi, room service, minibar and more. 

After you are settled explore Getsemaní where the individuality and spirit of the neighborhood remain intact. Graffiti has played a major role in transforming Getsemaní since the first Graffiti Festival in December 2013, when local artists began using street art to express the neighborhood’s identity. The expert guide will lead you through the history of Getsemaní, starting at the Clock Tower, continuing to La Sierpe Street (where most of the murals are located), and ending at Trinidad Plaza—a site of historical, cultural, and national importance. You’ll also walk along the city wall, providing a perfect panoramic view of Cartagena."

Dinner will be provided this evening. 

Overnight: OSH Hotel Getsemani (or similar)

Included meals: Breakfast & Dinner

Today you will explore city center and visit the beautiful streets, churches and squares. This will include a visit to La Popa and San Felipe Castle.

Lunch will be provided at a local restaurant. 

This evening the group will enjoy rum tasting! Join an expert to learn about the most famous drink of the Caribbean, Rum. Walk to the bar, where a mixologist will tell you about the history and characteristics of this alcohol. This journey of flavors will take you to taste different Colombian rums, some of them cataloged as the best in the world. You will learn their secrets and discover how wide and rich the world of Rum is.

Dinner is on your own this evening.

Overnight: OSH Hotel Getsemani (or similar)

Included meals: Breakfast & Lunch 

  Wrap up your professional engagement with last meetings with your counterparts. 

Accompanying guests will attend a drum workshop in La Boquilla, an afro-descendant fisher village that for more than 200 years until today continues in a struggle to preserve their ancestral traditions, where drums play a leading role. , is a unique opportunity to connect yourself with the typical rhythms of Afro-Colombian folk music such as Cumbia, Mapalé and Champeta, through immersion by playing traditional drums.

 Batambora operates this project led by a group of pushing young people from the Afro-descendant community of La Boquilla, who are committed to human and economic development that is aimed for rescuing and preserving the cultural traditions of the African heritage. We like to support young people who make a difference and are warmly inviting you to experience it!

Dinner is on your own this evening. 

Overnight: OSH Hotel Getsemani (or similar)

Included meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Head out today for a full day in San Basilio de Palenque. A corner of Africa in America! Benkos Bioho, a runaway slave who, accompanied by 36 other male and female slaves, hid in the area found what is now known as San Basilio de Palenque, the first slavery-free town in Colombia.

Their palenquera language, traditions and rituals remained intact since they had no connection with the main road and the city and remained isolated until the seventies when the famous boxer “Kid Pambelé” placed this settlement on the map and brought with him access roads to the village.

After some explorations of town and lunch, you will enjoy a sweets (candy) workshop. San Basilio de Palenque has preserved memories tied to the tradition of sweets, a practice dating back to the times of the Republic. In the lands of the Colombian Caribbean, culinary knowledge and recipes have been carefully kept alive in the hands and cauldrons of the Palenqueras.

Enjoy a farewell dinner at a local restaurant this evening as you say goodbye. Delight your senses with flavors, aromas and colors in a romantic setting, where history, architecture and the feel of Colombian culture come together in one of Cartagena’s historic city center restaurants. 

Overnight: OSH Hotel Getsemani (or similar)

Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Your Colombian adventure ends today! Your guide will accompany you to the airport for your early afternoon flight to Dallas (potentially via Miami). We hope you have enjoyed your journey.

Included meals: Breakfast

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