Very nice tour to the rock El Penõl, the Guatapé village and a small coffee farm for the coffee lovers, Carlos was a very friendly guide with a lot of wisdom to share with his passengers. Since we finished the tour sooner as planned, we had the opportunity to visit the casa del museo Escobar (Pablo’s oldest brother Don Roberto lives there and it’s possible to take pictures with him). gracias por todo Carlos!
O7540ZXtrishd
08 Feb 2024
I can't even begin to explain how special and amazing this tour was. When we booked this trip Carlos sent us a message almost immediately to confirm our day and go over some details. Carlos picked us up from our Hotel and greeted us with a huge smile. We knew within 5 minutes that we were going to have a great day with Carlos. His english was perfect, his SUV was clean and air conditioned and the conversation was like talking with an old friend right from Hola!
It should be noted that we had a super late night prior and I was feeling quite sick during our 2 hour drive to Guatape. So after an hour or so, Carlos pulled over on the side of the road to one of his favourite food stands and there we had an authentic Colombian snack while he got me the Colombian version of gravol to help with my self induced "sickness". Wow did he ever save the day! Half an hour later I felt like a million bucks again and was ready for our climb up El Penol!
The views of El Penol are gorgeous! We learned the entire history of this rock, the town, the family who owns it, the man made lakes and was that ever interesting! Carlos is a wealth of information! I consider myself somewhat of a coffee snob and he said he had the perfect spot in front of the rock to share a coffee with us, he did not disappoint! That coffee was perfection and just what we needed! He took amazing photos of us and continued to do so throughout the entire day!
We then went into the town of Guatape where we brought an outfit change for cool pictures under the umbrellas! So glad we did that not even knowing that our tour guide could also be a professional photographer!! We loved our fruit tasting here, sat down for a drink and some popcorn, tried coca tea and then off to the coffee farm.
Our visit at the Finca La Rivera coffee farm was pretty special. This was a bucket list item for myself. My love for coffee has evolved over the years into a passion but after touring this farm I now have a deep respect and appreciation for just how truly special that perfect cup of coffee truly is. The daughter of the Coffee farm led our tour with Carlos translating every word. Again, he took amazing photos and videos to capture just how magical this bucket list moment was for us. The coffee was delicious, an 11/10! If we had no weight limit with our luggage we would have bought a years supply worth but we walked away with at least a 4 months supply:) So now when its all gone we will just have to plan another trip back!
After all of this we had worked up quite an appetite, so Carlos suggested an authentic Colombian lunch at one of the locals favourite restaurants half way back to Medellin, even though our tour was clearly well past its over time. We were so grateful for that and the meal was absolutely delicious! The entire time we were there two of the workers were cleaning walls, floors, lighting, chairs, etc, you could have eaten off of the floor in this quaint little open aired restaurant!
Last but not least Carlos! We could have booked the other tours with thousands of ratings but the best decision we ever made on this entire trip was crossing paths with Carlos! He made our entire trip to Medellin EPIC! Carlos gave us THE BEST restaurant recommendations (we are big foodies and he knows his stuff!!) he told us where to go for coffee, brunch, dancing, you name it, he nailed it. We loved him so much that we cancelled a tour with a different company for two days later and booked Carlos! He custom curated what we wanted to do on this tour and made it work, so look for another review from myself on C13, Pablo Escobar and Botero Plaza - it blew this tour out of the water, and this tour was a 10/10!! Thank you Carlos for everything!!
And for future travelers, PLEASE TIP THIS MAN THE TIP HE DESERVES!! Bring lots of Colombian pesos to pick up trinkets, coffee, lunch, etc and a big tip for Carlos! He will make sure you leave Colombia in love with his Country and wow are we ever!! We will be back! until next time, Adios!!!
Great experience with Carlos. We visited Guatape, so Penon, and a coffee farm near Guatape. It was a wonderful trip