Posadas San Rafael

Overview

Description

Posadas San Rafael is 100 meters from the main entrance of Tayrona Park, located in the buffer zone of Tayrona National Park and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Nature Park. We are also very near the Rio Piedras, in a place that stands out for its natural beauty and abundant wildlife.

The lodge is a member of the Ecotourism Inns of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, a project that is a joint initiative of the local community and the Presidential Program against Illicit Crops. It aims to help families return to legal means of income through tourism, taking advantage of the enormous potential of the buffer zones of the Tayrona and Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Parks.

The people living around the inns come from different parts of the country and most are families whose parents or grandparents settled this beautiful region. The community is full of working people and strong-willed mothers who have withstood the tests of life and violence in order to bring up their children well. It is also full of happy, humble children, filled with the tenderness and innocence that characterizes rural life, who are willing to give a curious look and a smile to every new visitor.

The people earn their living from the cultivation of some fruits and vegetables such as cilantro, cabbage, tomatoes, peppers and tubers like cassava and taro; they also produce honey and raise chickens and pigs.

Hospitality abounds in our inns and we welcome visitors warmly, regardless of their origin. We prepare foods including fish, plantains, cassava, a type of cream cheese called "suero costeño," and even beans with a typical colombian "paisa" recipe paisa.

Rooms

6

Making a Difference

Percentage of local employees: 100%

We have a program of integrated solid waste management, using biodegradable detergents and implementing programs to save water and energy.

Our inn is part of a community ecotourism project that is owned and operated by local farmer associations that chose ecotourism as a development alternative to replace the practice of growing illicit crops and other illegal activities. Each of our associations has been improving through self-management and training and this has become an advancement opportunity for the localities where these actions are developed.

Getting There

Nearest international airport: Santa Marta (SMR)

Travel time to nearest airport: 1.5 hours

Additional Information

Date This Information Was Provided

January 2013.

Photos courtesy of Posadas San Rafael, Colombia, for SustainableTrip.org.