How to find a local guide in Colombia?
Here is the longest part of thetravel organization : looking for a English speaking local guide in Colombia. Indeed, there are too few websites referencing independent guides. So, it's a real treasure hunt that starts as soon as your itinerary and tour dates are set.
Then, after submitting the above draft itinerary to local agencies and independent guides, I cross-referenced the proposals, compared the services, prices, opinions on the internet… It's a big job that has to be done. spread over several weeks.
Remember that the guide and / or private driver services only concern 12 days out of 25 (mainly large cities and long distances). I will still have to organize the visits and transport over the other 13 days ...
Local agencies and independent French-speaking guides in Colombia
contact@terra-colombia.com
Tucaya Colombia Agency +5712825249
customer-service@evaneos.com
sonia.brijaldo@gmail.com
Heroes Tour: info@heroestourbogota.com
Altiplano Travel support@altiplano-voyage.com
towerHQ support@tourhq.com
Sonia brijaldo sonia.brijaldo@gmail.com
Pierre VERGER : (57) 3208125670 Email pierreverger@colombiainfinita.com
Intermediate sites of local French-speaking guides in Colombia
http://tripconnexion.com/partenaires/guides-independants/
https://www.tourhq.com/plan-my-trip.html
Services of the CHOSEN local agency for 12 DAYS
Cf COLOMBIA ITINERARY IN 3 WEEKS
DAY 2 : 9:30 a.m. Visit of the historic center, La Candelaria with your French-speaking guide. Visit to the Botero Museum in the morning. Lunch (your guide will advise you to taste the typical dishes) then continue the visit of the Candelaria before going to the Monserrate viewpoint (at the Gold Museum, closed on Mondays). - End of the visit around 17 p.m.
DAY 3 : Bogota route - Tatacoa (Villavieja), between 6h and 7h of transport depending on the traffic leaving Bogota. Departure IN THE MORNING (before 10am)
DAY 5 : Route Villavieja - Armenia (around 6 hours of transport). Departure IN THE MORNING (before 30am) according to the times of your convenience.
DAY 7 : Private vehicle and French-speaking guide for the visit of the sites of the cocora valley, of Salento village and of Filandia. Departure in the morning between 8 am and 9 am depending on the location of your hotel in Salento.
DAY 8 : Private vehicle and French-speaking guide in the morning (departure around 9am)
DAY 9 : Route Salento - Medellin, approximately 6 hours of transport. Departure in the MORNING (before 30am) according to the times of your convenience.
DAY 10 : Excursion Penol from Guatapé with your French speaking guide / driver specializing in the region (private transport). Departure around 9 am. Around 4 hours round trip for Medellin - Guatapé.
DAY 11 : Departure around 8:30 am, visit of historical Center and some comuna 13 with your French speaking guide / translator. End of the visit around 13 p.m.
DAY 17 : Departure for Minca around 9 a.m. with your French-speaking guide. Adaptable trekking, along rivers and in the heart of magnificent mountains. Typical lunch included. Visit the coffee and cocoa finca, visit a Kogui house with an explanation of the therapeutic uses of coca. - End of the day around 17 p.m.
JOUR 19 : Minca route - Cartagena (about 4 hours of transport). Departure around 9 am.
DAY 22 : Departure at 9 a.m. from the port of Cartagena (center) to your hotel in mucura (2 hours by boat).
DAY 25 : Departure from Mucura around 10 am. Return to the port of Cartagena center around 11am.
Hello,
we are a 75 year old French retired couple.
We are looking for a French-speaking guide and a car to discover Colombia.
Bogota, Medellin, Cartagena, and the Caribbean coast.
Duration approximately 20 days from the beginning of AUGUST- flexible date.
I take care of international flights, and see from the inside.
For hotels, I will come back to you when the project is finalized; (example hotel located in a lively area in the evening for example,)
Normally, I don't want an attitude circuit. (I know Peru, bolivia, argentina, etc…)
Assistance 24/24 for the duration of the stay.
Provide quote with 4 people;
Good research.
cordially
Serge HOUZE
Hello Serge,
I am delighted that you have chosen Colombia as your next travel destination. You will enjoy ! On the other hand, I am a simple blogger and I do not organize trips. For my part, when I left for Colombia, I went through the local agency Colombia Infinita which provided us with all the transport and guides for my circuit. For my part, it was I who had developed the itinerary, booked our flights and our hotels.
Have a good day,
Sincerely,
Coco
Hello, I cannot find the name of your incoming agency in Colombia, can you remind me Thank you
Hello,
In Colombia, we went only for part of the trip with Colombia Infinita.
Thank you, Coco for your quick response and thank you for making us dream and making us discover lesser-known places thanks to this wonderful blog.
Hello, your site inspires me a lot but we would like to make a shorter version and therefore be content with the Caribbean part for the first time even if it means coming back another time… and therefore I would like to know if you took a private vehicle for Santa Marta in Cartagena, my idea is to start from Cartagena, Mucura, Santa Marta, La Cienaga Grande de Magdalena, Parque Tayrona. Back to Catagena, Here would you have any guide tips for this part? It is true that the car trip would please me better than the bus.
thank you for your response and for this wonderful blog. best regards, Pierre
Hello Pierre,
Here are the details of our trips on the Caribbean coast:
Santa Marta: We did everything on our own (inexpensive taxis), especially the Tayrona Park with the bus. Know that in Santa Marta you will find a multitude of agencies that organize the day at the Park (bus + guide).
Route Santa Marta - Cartagena: I preferred to do it by private driver because the road goes through Barranquilla which is a "dangerous" city. I had read that even by bus, there were risks of robberies… We were told that many Venezuelan migrants have taken up residence in Barranquilla and that insecurity has settled there. Our driver told us that he himself avoids going. For the private driver, Colombia Infinita got it for us.
Finally for Cienaga Grande, as it is a protected reserve in a national park, you have to go with a park guide. No agency in Santa Marta will offer you this excursion because it is very, very little visited by tourists. We went through Aventure Colombia (Aurélie Justine LETORT) aurelie@aventurecolombia.com. It was a bit pricey but I have absolutely no regrets as it was surely the most authentic and endearing place of my trip.
For the Cartagena Mucura trip: You can organize it yourself (see indications on the article https://sacavoyage.fr/mucura-4-jours-au-paradis-j22-a-25/
or ask Colombia Infinita to take care of it.
For the guides, we did not take any on the Caribbean part. Cartagena, Santa Marta, Minca… everything can be easily visited without a guide.
Hello I find your site very interesting, pleasant and well constructed. I would like to communicate with you by telephone for a few moments. Regards.
Thank you so much ! I will contact you tomorrow by email.
Hello
We leave early January in Colombia for 18 days and we finalize our transport.
Could you give us the rates for the chauffeured services you used, because we are looking at roughly the same route and are still hesitating between bus and driver.
Thank you
Nolwenn
Hello Nolwenn,
I cannot tell you precisely how much we paid for the transport because it was a global package which included the drivers, the visits to Bogota, Medellin, el Penol… and the crossing to Mucura.
It was the local agency COLOMBIA INFINITA that combined all this for us: pierreverger@colombiainfinita.com
I advise you to contact them to ask them for a quote just for transport with driver.
Have a nice trip !
Thank you for your answer.
Hello,
For information, in September 2018 I called Colombia Infinita (after having contacted several local agencies) which was founded by 2 French people based in Bogota, and I was delighted.
Our 15-day stay was fantastic thanks to the professionalism of this agency: we traveled through Colombia (3 regions) enjoying this extraordinary country in all serenity both in terms of the activities carried out (with French-speaking guides most of the time), as well as logistics (internal transport and hotels).
Colombia Infinita (www.colombiainfinita.com/en) has saved us a lot of time and energy in order to allow us to concentrate on discovering this country.
I highly recommend ... especially since the leaders are very nice and caring
Hello Emmanuel,
Very happy that your stay went well with Colombia Infinita. I confirm that they were perfect and that they deserve to be recommended!