 | Taking the kids on a trip? The Llanos Orientales are a destination to impress also the youngest members of the family with its wildlife, music, farm animals, cowboys and other cool stuff! Here are our top tips, tours and experiences when planning a family trip to the East Colombian countryside and travelling the Llanos Orientales with the entire flock! |
First of all, Colombia is a fantastic vacation destination for families with young children. It is family friendly: any restaurant, hotel, public space and sight is kids friendly. Colombians love children and family is valued as the greatest good. There is lots of amazing food for little ones (and adults): rice pudding, arequipe (like caramel cream), buttery arepas, obleas (waffles), hot chocolate (Colombia produces cacao after all!), lots of fruit juices and other amazing things kids crave. They will meet lots of play mates and make new friends, too, and can run free and play and no one will roll their eyes. Kids really are popular.
Traveling Colombia with kids is just as safe as traveling any other Latin American country. Having said this, be sure to check the safety suggestions for each area and region and - obviously - avoid high risk areas, activities and very remote jungle or mountain treks. Speaking for Casanare, the rural region where we operate, it is safe to travel with kids. To date we have received families with children as young as 2 and from all across the world.
Below we look at how the Llanos, more specifically Yopal and Casanare, are pretty amazing for families with young children.
Traveling Colombia with kids is just as safe as traveling any other Latin American country. Having said this, be sure to check the safety suggestions for each area and region and - obviously - avoid high risk areas, activities and very remote jungle or mountain treks. Speaking for Casanare, the rural region where we operate, it is safe to travel with kids. To date we have received families with children as young as 2 and from all across the world.
Below we look at how the Llanos, more specifically Yopal and Casanare, are pretty amazing for families with young children.
Admiring the vast Eastern plains and spotting caimans and capybaras from atop a tractor - how cool is that? Photo: R. McColl
Safari & Wildlife Tours
Seeing hundreds of capybaras, white-tailed deer, caimans, colourful birds and with some luck also anteaters, anacondas, armadillos and a puma are amazing options for a family nature vacation. Throw in fishing piranhas for lunch, traversing the prairies by tractor or on the back of a jeep, and lunching by the capybara lagoon and you'll have the perfect day (or several days) out.
Farm Life
Let the kids run free, collect chicken eggs, help milk the cow, cuddle cats, dogs and horses, pick fruit and make their own hot chocolate from scratch (from cocoa beans). The Llanos are a rural area where a lot of the farms are still operating self-sufficient with guesthouses dishing up their own farm produce. What better way to learn where food comes from than to experience it and harvest it firsthand. There are even some farms specifically dedicated to the didactic experience of lassoing and branding cattle (family friendly and without animal cruelty), of milking cows and dancing joropo (local dance).
Pool Time
When it's as hot and sunny as here in Los Llanos, a refreshing plunge may just be what makes everyone happy. Whether it's in one of the hotel pools (most hotels and guesthouses have pools) or in one of the stunning natural pools of the rivers and waterfalls along Casanare's Andean range. A massage by a waterfall, diving into chlorine free crystal clear waters and pristine natural pools is a great option - bonus: it's not as salty as the Sea!
Music & Dance
A musical and cultural show and some dancing might be fun not only for the little participants of the trip. There can be as much Música Llanera and Joropo dancing be sprinkled into your tours and stay as you like or make it a tour on its own by visiting a local Joropo school and watch kids from as young as 4 (!) move their feet. Cantos de Vaquería from los Llanos, songs to call, round up or milk the cattle, are even a National Cultural Heritage!
When to visit? | What kids will need |
| January to April to see anteaters, anacondas and generally a lot of wildlife concentrated around the scarce sources of water (dry season). Now the rivers, natural pools and waterfalls are clear and less torrential and invite for swims. June to August for cool tractor rides across the flooded savannas to the birds' roosting trees and seeing hundreds of chicks in the nests with the caimans lurking in the water below (breeding species: roseate spoonbills, cocoi herons, blue herons, cattle egrets, night herons, boat-billed herons) - wet season September to December are pleasant months with the weather getting drier and nature still lush and green and partly flooded. Temperatures are pleasant, too. |
Don'ts with young kids
Got questions? Check out the answers. Read a parent's report on taking his 3-year old on a trip with us to get first-hand insights. |
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