Best Souvenirs to Buy in Colombia

Artisanal products and souvenirs you have to bring home from Colombia @DownshiftingPRO

Colombia is a country full of artists, whether they work with fabric, wool, leather, arrow cane or beads, there is so much to take home. Here’s a list of the Best Souvenirs to Buy in Colombia @colombia_travel

Ultimate Guide to Fruits and Juices of Colombia – with 32 Stunning Pictures

Ultimate Guide to Fruits and Juices in Colombia @DownshiftingPRO

If there is one thing that my mother misses and my dad pined for, it was the fresh fruits and juices of Colombia.  Whether a sweet guanábana or a bittersweet lulo, there are so many juices to savour. In this tropical country, there is a huge abundance of fruits from which one garners tropical juices be they made with water or milk. 

Making juices with milk instead of water may seem like a foreign concept to most but adding dairy creates a richer flavour which may surprise your palette. Drinking your vitamins is not uncommon in a vegan or vegetarian diet and Colombia has adopted “smoothie” variations for years. My aunts are now making juice with almond milk to avoid lactose. This worked just as well if not better!

Fruits and juices in Colombia. DownshiftingPRO

The variety of fruits juices in Colombia is due to the biodiversity of the climate. There are three mountain ranges crisscrossing the country with cool mountain top and hot, humid valleys. This variance in temperature creates the perfect environment to grow fruits. Experience farming techniques lend itself to successful cultivation of mangos, curubas, moras, bananos and cherimoyas.

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The Stunning Botanical Gardens in Bogotá Colombia

Botanical Garden in Bogota DownshiftingPRO Margarita Ibbott 1
Guide to the Botanical Gardens in Bogota Colombia - @DownshiftingPRO
Botanical Garden of Bogota

I was expecting beautiful tropical flowers and exotic trees – it was the Botanical Gardens in Bogota afterall. I was surprised to see flowers I would more likely find in North America. The large pumpkins in February were the best surprise because of the joyful expression on my aunt’s face when she saw them. For my mother, it was the roses. To see roses in February is never expected. There are many treasures in the Botanical Gardens in Bogota (Jardin Botanico de Bogota Jose Celestino Mutis) the least of which are the brand new pavilions which were still closed off to the public but should be inaugurated later on this spring.


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First Wonder of Colombia – The Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá

The Wonder of Colombia Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá @DownshiftingPRO 1
The Wonder of Colombia Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá @DownshiftingPRO 1

How can you explain what a cathedral nesting in one of the largest salt mines in the world looks like? It is large. Huge, in fact. It was originally opened in 1953 and then closed in 1990. Another iteration of the cathedral was opened in 1995 after the extraction of 250 thousand tons of salt rock. This mine is the largest deposit of rock salt in the world and it is spectacular. With an estimated 600,000 visitors a year, The Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá is considered the first of the Seven Wonders of Colombia.

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