Rio Claro Jungle River Private Tour from Medellín

Posted By : jasonwG3149VW
If you have never been on a hike, then this trip might be okay for you. But if you have, then you will probably feel like just as much of a schmuck as I did for paying this ridiculous sum of money for what is essentially a hike in a forest. "Jungle River Tour"! Sounds great, doesn't it? And it costs a lot of money - so, if you're an idiot like me, then you'll think that's proof that you're about to go on an Alan Quartermain style adventure into a dark and forbidding wilderness.

No. Not at all. After sitting in a van for two hours, you pull into the parking lot of what is basically a wilderness park. You get out and you follow your "guide" down a trail. I put "guide" in parenthesis because you don't really need a guide here. This is a well-traveled path that you'll see dozens of people walking on - none of who paid anything to be there other than the admission for the park. There are some people Zip-Lining and some people doing some Spelunking. They're having a good time. Us? We're just walking on a path. The caves we walk into aren't caves. They are indentions.

On the way back, we were stuck in traffic and it took about three hours to get home. Five hours in a van. About one hour walking on a trail in a forest. And I spent over $200 on it. I told the guy who ran the operation that this not come anywhere near being a "Jungle River Tour", and said that I believed it wasn't unreasonable to ask for half my money back. Because it wasn't just about the mediocrity of the trip. I feel that I lost an entire day of my trip to Colombia. The whole day was taken by this. But the guy told me that he wasn't going to be giving me anything back.

I did enjoy one bit of swimming that I was able to do. But - showing how far this is from deserving the title "Jungle River Tour" - there was a lifeguard at this river. And he made sure that nobody did anything out of the ordinary.

Other than that, the only good thing thing that came from this was that I now have something to which I can refer whenever I'm jokingly warning myself or others about being careful how they spend their money during travel. "Just make sure it's not a jungle river tour!" "No jungle river tours!"


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Posted On : 2023-03-29 16:18:05

Posted By : Godede
Beautiful! Nice drive and the river was wonderful. Our guide was knowledgeable and fun and the transportation was clean and comfortable.
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Posted On : 2021-08-24 10:13:18

Posted By : mtngirlsara
We had an amazing day with Medellin Travels exploring the Rio Claro jungle area. We were picked up in a clean van at our hotel. The driver, Chappi, was great at navigating the mountain roads quickly but safely. Our guide, George (who is from Medellin), spoke excellent English, studied Colombian history at university, and captivated us during the roughly 3 hour drive with a full explanation of Colombia’s past and present. The stories were so interesting that the time passed very quickly. This area of the jungle was controlled by the cartels until recently, but is now safe to visit. The jungle is expansive and dense, and the drive through the mountains is stunning. When you get to the park, you can hike along the banks of the river as far as you would like - the trail gets rougher the further you go, but that was part of the fun. We stopped to swim along the way. The canyon has steep walls covered in vines, and the floor of the river is marble, so when the water is clear (no rains) it is green. They have 3 activities you can choose from aside from hiking and swimming - rafting, cave exploring, and ziplining. We did the ziplining, which was super fun. The caves would be amazing to do but it is a 3-hour trek through the limestone cave system, and we didn’t have enough time because we trekked and swam for a while. It was an unforgettable experience in Colombia. We did this with 3 kids - ages 11-15, and they were two steps behind the guide, completely engaged, the whole time. They LOVED it. I highly recommend escaping the city and exploring the jungle, and you must go with Medellin Travels.
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Posted On : 2019-12-31 11:07:12

Posted By : Carlos M
So I decided to take the Rio Claro Jungle tour because I wanted something adventurous and exciting this time and of course! Alex delivered as usual, He is so much fun, courteous, articulate and knowledgeable, Alex, Lina are supercool!! tour was simply spot on! since this is my 3rd time in Colombia and Just can't get enough! Thanks again Alex had a blast !!
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Posted On : 2019-06-26 22:54:12

Posted By : savannahjp
My wife and I were on our second trip to Medellin earlier this month and, having done 3 wonderful tours with Alex and Medellin Travels last year, we decided to contact Alex and get his recommendations on a couple new tours to do for our trip this year. We ended up doing the Express Coffee Plantation Tour (approx 3 hours) and the Rio Claro Jungle/River tour (approx 11 hours). Both tours, while very different from each other, were excellent and very memorable. The coffee tour takes you to a local (maybe half hour ride) coffee plantation. The actual coffee tour at this location is given by an extremely colorful, entertaining and enthusiastic man who owns and runs the plantation. We learned so much about how coffee is grown and made, and at the end got to sit and have a fresh cup from beans picked on the plantation. Very educational tour and would be great also for families with kids as its fun to learn how things are grown and made, and also because the owner/tour guide is extremely entertaining!
The Jungle tour starts with a 3 hour drive out of Medellin and through the Colombia countryside to the Rio Claro River. It is a nice hike from the trailhead along the river to the beach where you are able to take a swim and use a rope to cross to the other side of the river, which was fun an exhilirating! Alex was extremely knowledeable in describing all the local flora and fauna during the hike, and its made all the more enjoyable because it is very easy to tell how proud Alex is of Colombia's natural resources and how much he likes being out there with you during this tour. We really felt like it was a hike and a swim with some friends rather than being taken in by a "tour guide". We learned so much about Colombia's natural resources during this trip and we saw all sorts of birds and colorful butterflies. Once the river portion of the tour is over, its back in the comfortable van for the drive back to Medellin, which, very happily, is broken up by a stop for a late lunch/early dinner at a roadside restaurant with an amazing view into the valley below. The food here, which is all cooked over a wood burning stove was excellent, and extremely inexpensive. This tour is all day so plan to bring bottled water and snacks with you (though there are a couple stops along the way to the river so you could always get water at the stops). Also bring a bathing suit and towel for the river swim! Oh and sunscreen and bug repellent are good ideas also. during our trip we didnt really have any bugs to speak of, but best to be on the safe side. Again, we love Alex and Medellin travels. They are 5 for 5 over the past two years in giving us great, fun tours, that we feel are priced very fairly for the value that you get. If you have a few days in Medellin, build your trip around a couple of these tours. You will not be disappointed..
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Posted On : 2019-03-21 07:01:19

Posted By : Rory L
Alex is an amazing tour guide. This was my second tour with him and he really becomes more of a friend than a guide. Our trip exploring the Río Claro was amazing. Alex knew all the right spots to get once in a lifetime photographs. He is a wealth of knowledge and a fun person to spend the day with. I would recommend him for any tour you are interested in in and around Medellin.
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Posted On : 2018-06-11 15:14:59