This is a Colombia that runs on real people rather than postcards: a sustainable lodge on the Caribbean coast near Santa Marta, and then, inland in Antioquia, a woman who grows ceremonial cacao tree to bar on her own land and will walk you through the fields herself. It threads together the places we actually visited, a lodge you eat and sleep in, a cacao farm you tour with the grower, and the Colombian makers whose work you can take home.
Nothing here is invented. Every stop is a real listing or story on Hold the Throne. Come for the coast, stay for the cacao, and meet the people changing what Colombian growers get paid.
The itinerary at a glance
- Day 1 Land on the Caribbean coast
- Day 2 A second coastal base
- Day 3 Into Antioquia, to the cacao
- Day 4 Why this cacao matters
- Day 5 Take Colombia home
Land on the Caribbean coast
Begin near Santa Marta, where the Sierra Nevada meets the sea, at a lodge that feeds you from its own kitchen.
YAY Sustainable Restaurant Lodge
A sustainable restaurant-lodge at Guachaca in Magdalena, on the Caribbean coast near Santa Marta. You stay and eat in one place, which sets the tone for the trip: slow, local, low impact.
Dinner at the lodge
The lodge is built around its restaurant, so your first meal is right where you are staying, coastal and locally sourced.
A second coastal base
Move along the Santa Marta coast to a second sustainable stay before heading inland.
Finca Cuipo
A sustainable finca near Santa Marta in Magdalena, an alternative or second base on the coast before the journey inland to cacao country.
Into Antioquia, to the cacao
Travel inland to Antioquia, where one woman grows ceremonial cacao tree to bar on her own land.
Walk the cacao fields at Origen with Danielle
Danielle runs Origen in Antioquia, growing ceremonial cacao tree to bar with no pesticides, biodegradable packaging and no marketing budget. We walked her cacao fields and sat at the kiosk on her land to learn what ceremonial cacao actually means.
Learn her 30-second cacao ritual
No incense, no circle, no facilitator. Danielle drinks ceremonial cacao every morning and shares her real ritual: thirty seconds of intention while it froths, a check in with your body, a calm energy boost that replaces coffee.
Why this cacao matters
Understand the economics behind the cup before you buy.
How Colombian growers finally get paid
For years Colombian cacao farmers were paid a dollar a kilo by just two big buyers. Danielle explains how prices were suppressed, why a Starlink connection and better fermentation are changing things, and why she pays small grower associations directly.
Take Colombia home
End with the makers whose work you can actually buy and carry back.
Buy Origen ceremonial cacao
Danielle's Origen ceremonial cacao, grown tree to bar on her land, is the thing to take home, whether you make it a morning ritual or just a very good cup.
Primitiva sustainable clothing
Primitiva is a Colombian sustainable clothing maker on Hold the Throne, the wearable half of taking Colombia home alongside the cacao.