Colombia, country with the second largest biodiversity in the world
Nature, our passion
Karin and Johan
Nature, our passion
Our story starts in 2001. In that year we travelled through South America for 6 months. During this dream voyage it became clear that we really felt at home in this remarkable continent. We left knowing that there was still much to discover. Therefore we returned in 2003 for another 6 months. Meanwhile, those memorable experiences are already far behind us.
Upon returning home it became obvious that we couldn't get Latin America out of our minds and Johan quit his dayjob in Belgium. He ended up in the tourist sector and found his dream job as a tour guide in Peru and Bolivia. Mexico and Guatemala soon followed, with an occasional journey to Argentina. The next ten years he stayed for at least six months a year in Latin America.
13 Years, and several trips to Colombia, we ended up in 2012 in the idyllic village of Barichara (Santander department). Barichara is discribed as one of the most, if not the most, beautiful villages of Colombia. It therefore became a national monument in 1978. About five kilometres out of Barichara, in the 'vereda' Lubigara, we've bought a farmhouse on two and a half hectares of land and transformed it to a paradise. Thanks to the dry and mild climate at an altitude of about 1300 metres you can linger outdoors until late in the evening the whole year round (average temperature of 25 degrees Celsius). Moreover the quality of life is high in this region, there is no pollution, few cars, it is safe and quiet and the beautiful countryside is overwhelming.
For the construction of the two additional rooms and the 'caney' we used local, natural materials. The rooms were build in so called 'bahareque' and the 'caney' in 'Tapia Pisada'. These are two ancient architectural styles. In 'bahareque' a framework of wood and bamboo is filled with small rocks. The remaining holes are padded with mud. Once dry a finishing layer is applied in two stages. First a rough one followed by a fine mixture of soil, lime, finely ground dried horse manure and water. After a drying period of one month three coats of paint are applied. Due to the time consuming aspect this style isn't used that often anymore. But it's all worth it because the final structure is earthquake resistant.
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