Jardín, Colombia – Scenic Town on the Edge of Coffee Country

Another long windy bus ride with the added entertainment of having our bus attacked by a bull on the way back to Medellin.

Jardín is just a bit further, 130 km (80 mi), south of Medellin than Jericó, where we were a week earlier. The bus ride took about the same three and a half hours. It too was over windy (again wine-dy, not win-dy) roads with an added feature. Part of the journey, we kept alternating between paved and unpaved roads. Unfortunately, on the way there, we were sitting a bit further from the front of the bus than our usual preference. Ann probably was saved from bus-sickness by the fact that this bus had air conditioning!

Ten of the 20 seats on the bus were occupied by back packers. Which signaled something a little bit different from our original expectations. Yes, we found more tourists in Jardín than we expected mid-week. Our new friends, Lori and Albert whom we met in Jericó, really liked Jardín. We our grateful to them for their many recommendations, which guided our activities.

Our Accommodations in Jardín

We had already been considering Hotel Internacional Jardín when Lori and Albert recommended it.

We booked a room with private bathroom and balcony for $32 per night. When we got there, the room was fine, but the balcony faced the building across the street. Per our friends’ recommendation, we requested the room on the 3^rd (top) floor. We’re so glad we did! Although the room had a few more beds than we needed…five to be exact. Windows covered one whole wall with calming views of the green countryside, complete with our own cows and horses.

How We Spent Our Time

Wandering around Town

As is our usual way, the first day we spent simply wandering and exploring the town.

Our hotel was a bit on the edge of town, so we enjoyed walking through the local streets to get to the center of town. Here the central square, with its requisite church, was buzzing with people and activity at all hours of the day and evening. It was amazing how few people we saw in the other streets compared to in and around the square. Okay, we know the photos show hardly any people in the square, but Ian was up to his old tricks, trying to take pictures without people in them!

We walked past several schools on our way to and from the square and enjoyed watching the children of all ages in their crisp, clean uniforms. Another regular sight was men on horses, and the horses had a strange unusual trot. Not knowing much about horses, we think that these horses might be specially trained for some competition. We would appreciate enlightenment from any horse aficionados out there.

Hiking

Like Jericó, Jardín also has its own Jesus statue. And this town had (notice the past tense?) not one, but two different cable cars: a modern one and an old one that’s not much more than a single wooden crate. Alas, neither was operational, we believe again due to a lack of funds. We had read about a way to hike up to the Jesus statue but never managed to find the path.

Our research also told us about a scenic hike to waterfalls. We managed to find the path for this hike but only made it to two of the smaller falls. We opted not to cross the scenic rocky stream, having only one pair of sneakers (our only walking/hiking shoes) each. Still, a very enjoyable hike!

Parque Natural Jardín de Rocas

Jardín is one of the birding destinations in the department of Antioquia. Ann had hoped to visit the Parque Natural Jardín de Rocas to see the beautiful rocas but unfortunately, we never made it there.

These red-headed (disclaimer: not a birder) birds only come out at dawn and dusk. It rained hard and straight (very vertical) both afternoons of our two full days in Jardín. If Ann had known in advance about the afternoon rain, she might have considered visiting at 6-7:30 in the morning, but not likely.

Eating in Jardín

Since breakfast was not included at our hotel, we went to a few places on or near the square. Every day, we ate the typical local breakfast of eggs, a hunk of soft local cheese and large flat corn arepa, usually served with avocado. And of course, delicious local coffee! We usually had café con leche, which often, but not always, was like a latte.

For lunch one day, we enjoyed an excellent menú del día at La Parrilla de Mi Pueblo. The restaurant was tastefully decorated, had an extensive menu including salads, and the meat was of a higher quality, less chewy. We have found this to be consistent at parrillas throughout Colombia. The word parrilla can refer to grilled meats, the actual grill, or the type of restaurant.

For dinner, our two favorite places were Café Europa and Bon Appetit . As much as we enjoyed the excellent thin-crust pizza at Pizza y Parrilla Tomatitos in Jericó the week before, the thin-crust pizza at Café Europa was even better. We also enjoyed Asian food at Bon Appetit. The restaurant’s name is a bit misleading as the menu included Italian, Chinese, Thai, and Indian dishes and not a single French one. Both restaurants are small and popular for dinner. On our last night here, we had hoped to have another pizza, but alas, no tables, so we enjoyed some different Asian dishes instead.

A couple of afternoons, we stopped in at de los Andes Café , sat and enjoyed a coffee or hot chocolate upstairs overlooking the central square. This café does the coffee roasting process on site and has good Wifi.

Jardín Wrap-Up

Although we enjoyed our time in Jardín, we both agree that we like Jericó better. Both towns are filled with colorful buildings, particularly in the areas close to their central squares. There’s just something about the laid-back vibe and friendly people of Jericó that appeals to us. However, the area surrounding the town of Jardín is lusher and greener as it is situated on the edge of Colombian coffee country. For more about Colombian coffee country see here.

Next Up: Return to Medellin

Ian and Ann