Pacific Botanical Garden & Mecana Ecohotel — Hotel in Bahía Solano (Mutis)

I had a wonderful guided tour at Jardin Botanico del Pacifico in mid-March. I did a 2-hour tour (just myself and the guide), which was excellently organized and provided a unique experience. I wish I had time to do the full day (6- or 9-hour) tour. I highly recommend visiting the botanic garden if you are in the Bahia Solano area and have even just about 4-hour free time with an okay weather.

I set up the tour on the same day morning on WhatsApp. I could just go at 3pm due to a scuba diving activity but they were very flexible with setting up the tour time. I arrived at Playa Mecana by boat, dropped off after the dives. Playa Mecana is a gorgeous, quite isolated beach. The lady at reception, Luisa, welcomed me with hospitality, she was super kind and helpful. I arrived just in a swimming trunk which was obviously not proper for the tour, but she brought me long sleeved clothes and mosquito repellent, let me take a shower, and offered me coffee. She had perfect English. Antonio, the guide, was the best wildlife guide I ever met. Although he spoke only Spanish and I just know few Spanish words, I understood almost everything using some basic words and sign language only. Antonio was particularly knowledgeable and very enthusiastic about showing any details of the surrounding nature. I appreciated that he was careful with each step on the trail, being careful not to disturb the conservation area along the trail. It is good to have some patience when walking with him, but it pays back as spotting animals often requires time and silence. The 2-hour tour started with a mangrove forest trail, continued with and forest restoration area with secondary rainforest habitat and then we walked about 30-45 min in a primary rainforest as well which had a truly amazing flora including huge trees like the Ceiba and Carrá. We spotted several animals including spider monkeys, sloths (an adult with its baby), various birds, lizards, insects, and a frog. I think the tour actually lasted about 2.5 hours. At the end I got a 10-min boat ride to Bahia Solano. The boat ride was a bit expensive relative to the tour, but kinda understood as I was alone, and it was already around sunset.

I haven’t been to Utria National Park but based on what I heard Jardin might be a deeper and more immersive experience in terms of forests and wildlife as you can access more forest areas (even primary forests) than in Utria during the tour.

Thank you Luisa and Antonio for this...

What a special and magical place! This was a trip of a lifetime, out of reality, and into paradise. Luisa and her family are dedicating their lives to saving the fragile ecosystem through this botanical garden in order to save the flora and fauna, maybe of which are rare and endemic to the area. Luisa and her team are very special and kind people who made us feel so welcome and at home. The beds were comfortable, the food was fantastic…and guess what? They made us vegan food for the entirety of our stay. Luisa went above and beyond to make different vegan dishes with vegan proteins and flavours and we ate so well! This is very important for me as it is rare in Colombia to be able to travel to somewhere so remote and be able to eat well and be nourished as a vegan. Luisa had prepared many different vegan products for us, so if you are plant-based and wish to visit or stay here, make sure you let Luisa know, and you can be sure that you will be very well looked after! Aside from that, the whale watching was magical and done in a very respectful and sustainable way so as not to disturb the animals. We had a biologist with us on the boat who taught us all about the whales and their lives. We also went on a jungle trip with a local guide, and we saw many wonderful creatures and plants, including monkeys, a sloth, frogs, birds, and more. Our guide was such a kind and knowledgeable person, who went at the pace of our group (a group of varying ages and physical abilities). He radiated good energy and had an eagle eye to spot animals camouflaged in the foliage. Luisa’s team also brought us out one night into the sea to swim in the luminescent plankton. It was magical. All our activities were arranged through the hotel. I want to thank you, Luisa, for your dedication to bettering the world. I can’t wait to come back again and bring my family and friends. As a last advice for anyone coming to stay- bring a raincoat, as there might be rain, and maybe if you would like to donate some items to the local community for their children, like clothes or toys, you could ask Luisa first about what to bring and how to do it in an ethical way. The local people here are very isolated from the rest of the country and so I imagine that small things like clothes, books, etc would be very useful for them, but please consult Luisa first. Thank...

What a special and magical place!|This was a trip of a lifetime, out of reality, and into paradise. Luisa and her family are dedicating their lives to saving the fragile ecosystem through this botanical garden in order to save the flora and fauna, many of which are rare and endemic to the area. Luisa and her team are very special and kind people who made us feel so welcome and at home. The beds were comfortable, the food was fantastic…and guess what? They made us vegan food for the entirety of our stay. Luisa went above and beyond to make different vegan dishes with vegan proteins and flavours and we ate so well! This is very important for me as it is rare in Colombia to be able to travel to somewhere so remote and be able to eat well and be nourished as a vegan. Luisa had prepared many different vegan products for us, so if you are plant-based and wish to visit or stay here, make sure you let Luisa know, and you can be sure that you will be very well looked after!|Aside from that, the whale watching was magical and done in a very respectful and sustainable way so as not to disturb the animals. We had a biologist with us on the boat who taught us all about the whales and their lives.|We also went on a jungle trip with a local guide, and we saw many wonderful creatures and plants, including monkeys, a sloth, frogs, birds, and more. Our guide was such a kind and knowledgeable person, who went at the pace of our group (a group of varying ages and physical abilities). He radiated good energy and had an eagle eye to spot animals camouflaged in the foliage.|Luisa’s team also brought us out one night into the sea to swim in the luminescent plankton. It was magical.|All our activities were arranged through the hotel.|I want to thank you, Luisa, for your dedication to bettering the world. I can’t wait to come back again and bring my family and friends.|As a last advice for anyone coming to stay- bring a raincoat, as there might be rain, and maybe if you would like to donate some items to the local community for their children, like clothes or toys, you could ask Luisa first about what to bring and how to do it in an ethical way. The local people here are very isolated from the rest of the country and so I imagine that small things like clothes, books, etc would be very useful for them, but please consult Luisa first.|Thank...