Reforesting in community

The region

Antioquia is situated in the North West of Columbia. Medellin, the capital city (also called “The Eternal Spring City “due to its average annual temperature of 25 degrees) is the second biggest city after Bogota. Unfortunately, Medellin is also well known for its drug trafficking period but is still one of the most popular cities in the country. The inhabitants (the “Païsas”) are good business people who also love partying and are very warm and welcoming. Antioquia is well-known for its biodiversity thanks to its climate and the numerous rivers crossing the area. It is also well-known for its villages and for “el Penol de Guatape”. Moreover, it is a central region which provides easy access to the coffee growing area as well as to the Caribbean coast.  

The hosts

Sergio, Betty and their children, after spending some time in Choco (a region nearby) where they used to live in community and work on replanting trees in forests, later decided to come back to Antioquia and buy deforested lands dedicated to farming and continuous sowing of seeds.  A few dozen other families have joined them into this activity. Together, for the past 10 years they have created a little paradise along the river Arenal.  

Nowadays, we can count no less than 15 families associated together in this natural reserve of 30  hectares. Others joined forces to learn to live together in a community and to protect the environment. They organise themselves, each one providing his/her own knowledge to create a community whose purpose is regeneration of all sorts. They are in turn teachers for their own children, musicians, architects, market gardeners, birds observers and distil good fruit for special occasions.   

Soliderrance will lead you to find a new passion while sharing in the daily activities of community life. It is a paradise in the heart of the mountains with no access for cars. You will have to walk about 30 minutes before you can reach this area where you will be welcomed by the singing of birds.  

Your cabins are very intimate with adequate sleeping and mediation arrangements. While you reconnect with the living world, you will also be invited to deconstruct yourself and reconstruct yourself at the same time. You can avail of sensory walks in the countryside, ancestral rituals, massages and yoga sessions. The community will welcome you and open their doors to their community and education system and explain the process they use to achieve a sustainable way of life. They will also teach you a few techniques in permaculture.  

On a personal level, I never felt quite the same after I visited these families.