Thanks for your trip report.

We are also interested in Hacienda Bambusa but the all inclusive price is really unbelievably expensive. How did you arrange your transportation and birding guide? So, you can order food for lunch and pay separately if you get the breakfast/dinner/accommodation package? Can you please share more details? Thanks so much.

Hi LaContessa, glad to hear you're considering Hacienda Bambusa!
Yes, you can order food for lunch and pay separately if you get the breakfast/dinner accommodation package. I made sure of all of this via email before we went - because it somehow wasn't clear to me from the website info or whatever I had (perhaps I was just so stunned by the price differential). While we were there I wondered if merely just bed and breakfast wasn't also a possibility though it wasn't advertised. I say this because I thought I heard some other guests say that's what they were doing. Of course, having said that - driving back into Armenia for dinner on a country rode would be pretty demanding . . . but I would try to negotiate for whatever suits you best. I doubt that they are often fully booked, and I really don't see how they can keep successfully supporting that all inclusive price structure/program.

We arranged transportation through the hacienda. I did that for lack of knowing better alternatives. As you can see from the trip report, we came to the Hacienda from Otun Quimbaya - closer to Pereira in the middle of nowhere. If you go to the Hacienda, where would you be coming from? That will surely make a difference in how difficult it is/isn't to arrange transportation. Looking back, I'm sure we could have saved ourselves some bucks by having transport arranged by Otun rather than the hacienda. (We had come to Otun from Pereira in a four wheel drive truck they arranged for cheap.) I see that we paid 330 Colombian pesos to go the 2 3/4 hour drive from Otun Quimbaya to the Hacienda. Seemed like a lot. Hacienda manager drove us to Armenia airport when we left and charged us. Also charged $60 (yes, US) to do laundry on site.

I'm not sure I'd bother with a bird guide. We arranged the bird guide with Pablo the hacienda manager and paid what we thought was a quite reasonable price for a few hours, but didn't end up seeing all that much (in the rain foresty area near the hacienda) - perhaps because the weather wasn't good. But in any case we saw and enjoyed much more just walking the country roads in the area (well, it is easier to spot things in open areas.) In fact you can see lots of birds just from your porch! It's a really lovely place to relax, take walks, look for birds, hang at pool, lull over breakfast . . .

Are you also visiting Salento? Such good hiking etc to be done around there.

Thanks so much for the details. I emailed Bambusa asking about a la carte lunch, transportation and birdwatching but haven't yet heard back. Wow--$60 US dollars for laundry? That is very expensive. When we were in New Zealand, we stayed in an eco-cottage that was charging $25 per load which we thought expensive but Hacienda Bambusa is even higher! Perhaps they want to discourage folks from doing laundry?