On our AfroColombia journey, we immerse ourselves in the living pulse of the Black Pacific, beginning in Cali, the salsa capital of the world and home to the annual Petronio Álvarez Festival, one of the most biggest celebrations of Afro-Colombian identity and artistry, not without its own complications. This vibrant festival, named after the legendary marimba musician from the Pacific Coast, Petronio Álvarez Quintero, AfroColombian composer and musician born in Buenaventura, Colombia, in 1914, best known for his iconic song “Mi Buenaventura.”

The festival gathers thousands each year to honor the rhythms, foods, languages, and ancestral expressions of Colombia’s Black communities. Together, we experience the music, the movement, and the ancestral pride while engaging directly with AfroColombian artists, activists, and entrepreneurs who narrate their own histories and challenge dominant narratives of the nation.

From Cali, we travel to the Pacific Coast, tracing the spirit of Petronio back to its source. In Buenaventura—Colombia’s largest port city and a center of Black life, resistance, and invention—we learn about community organizing efforts that confront social and economic exclusion while preserving deep-rooted cultural and spiritual traditions. We spend time along the rivers and coastlines, taking in the breathtaking sight of whales and their calves during the migration season, an awe-inspiring reminder of life’s cyclical rhythms and the interconnectedness of all beings.

AfroColombia is not a vacation. It is a meditation through living history. This experience is educational in nature, rooted in listening and reflection, and centers the past and present realities of Afrodescendants in Colombia. We move with grace and gratitude, recognizing that this journey is a privilege—an opportunity to bear witness to both struggle and triumph, to the beauty and resilience that define Colombia’s Black Pacific.

There are direct and one-stop flights from major cities in the U.S. to Calí (CLO). We recommend flying in a full day before or taking a flight in the evening the day prior to the start of the tour. Our first activity to kick-off our time together is our welcome dinner on August 12th.  Independent days are for the participant to spend however they wish.

Participants are required to attend monthly meetings, we will have at least three, to become familiar with cultural norms, etiquette, and expectations while in on the ground, ensuring respectful, informed, and considerate engagement throughout the experience. Engagement with educational courses and readings are also part of the trip experience. Mutual aid is required where we will respond to the local needs of a community grassroots organization.

We want serious participants only who will make the commitment to attend the trip, participate in prep and experience the trip in all its fullness. We want participants who are mindful of the space they take up, considerate of others and themselves and want to be in equitable community with others. 

Our trips are intentionally designed as immersive educational experiences for thoughtful travelers who are genuinely interested in engaging with local Black communities in a spirit of respect, openness, and grace. We travel to regions where conditions reflect historiographies of inequity, displacement, state brutality and abandonment and ongoing manufactured economic scarcity, and we ask that participants approach these realities with sensitivity and awareness.

AfroLatinx Travel curates groups that value curiosity, flexibility, and collective synergy. For this reason, we seek participants who contribute to a positive and cooperative group dynamic—those willing to adapt, listen, and share in an experience that is as much about learning as it is about connection.

Our itineraries are dynamic and responsive to local rhythms, opportunities, and community needs. While a general outline is provided, more detailed information is shared as the trip date approaches. If this level of fluidity makes you uneasy, this experience may not be the right fit—and that’s completely okay. We prioritize travelers who are comfortable embracing the unknown, trusting the process, and engaging with intention.

All participants are required to sign a liability waiver upon sign-up. Trip insurance is recommended on your own and up to your own discretion.

Check back for updates as more details become available as we get closer to our tour. As with all of our trips, we curate the most comprehensive, dynamic and up-to-date events and content as possible. Let the trip be as it is moved to be.

Please note:

This trip is on a first come, first served basis. Your spot is reserved with your deposit which is immediately non-refundable. Initial deposit is followed by installment payments or you have the option to pay in full. Your installment payments become non-refundable five days after payment.  Any and all trip drop-outs will not be reimbursed nor re-scheduled. Any trip missed because of missed flights, expired passports or other error on the participants' part will not be refunded nor re-scheduled. Participant assumes this agreement when deposit is submitted.

We understand things come up and we also would like participants to understand that we also have a commitment to also fulfill and trip drop-outs make this harder. 

Itinerary may be subject to change before or during the trip to best accommodate the needs of the group. A deposit of $450 is due upon sign-up, the balance is to be paid in monthly installments, with final payment a month before the trip. Credit card payments incur a 3% fee. All guests must provide proof of travel insurance before the trip, or upon arrival to participate in group activities. Guest passports must not expire before March 2027. All guests must complete and submit a liability agreement before embarking on the trip.

Included: dinner

Arrival & welcome dinner.

6:30pm departure: We will have our welcome dinner a few blocks away, walking distance from our hotel at a traditional Pacific AfroColombian eatery with a Viche-tasting component with the founder of Viche Canao, a Black woman-owned brand who brought her father's lifelong labor to Colombia's viche market.

Petronio is August 10th-17th. You can opt to attend after dinner.

Included: breakfast, lunch

Departure at 9:30am for morning dance class at 10am. Wear comfortable clothing that you can sweat in for the dance class and comfortable shoes for the walking tour.

10am: Dance class

12pm: Tour of Cali's past and present through the lens of Black and Afrodescendant people.

Group Lunch at 4:00pm at Valle Pacifico, Black owned, woman-owned restaurant series, one of our favorites!

Moderate activity, bring all that you need for sun protection, comfortable shoes and snacks as we have a large gap from breakfast to lunch.

Included: breakfast

Independent day, you can spend the day as you wish. The Petronio festival opens that night.

Suggestions:

-Museum of Salsa

-Jairo Varela Museum

-La Linterna Poster Store

-Makerule Pacific Coast Ice Cream Store

-Tortelli Restaurant

-Waunana Restaurant

-Donde Luz Restaurant

-Plazuela Municipal El Peñon, has multiple restaurants and happy hour 3-7pm

-Ioenta Restaurant

-Patty Pasteles Restaurant

-La Case del Patty Restaurant

Join us for our morning activity and spend the day as you wish.

Included: Breakfast & lunch

Departure 6:30am

We head out early from Cali through the winding mountains to Buenaventura. The drive from Cali to Buenaventura takes approximately 2.5 to 3.5 hours, cutting through Colombia’s lush western Andes. The winding mountain roads descend into thick tropical forest, offering stunning views. We will have a traditional breakfast along the way.

Buenaventura itself, Colombia’s largest Pacific port, despite decades of state abandonment and economic marginalization, the people remain deeply rooted in ancestral traditions, and spiritual, reciprocal ties to the rainforest, rivers, and ocean. We will drop our big suitcases off in Buenaventura then head to the dock to travel one hour by boat to a small seaside village, on the Pacific Coast.

We arrive to Juanchaco where we drop off our belongings at our accommodations and head to see the whales. We take the small boat to have lunch on La Barra beach and head back to our accommodations.

Dinner is independent

Moderate-high activity

Included: breakfast and dinner 

Departure 9:00am

We spend the day basking in the unending beauty of the Pacific. We visit the beach coastline, waterfalls, cascades, and natural pools. We return back to mainland Buenaventura for lunch near the dock and an independent afternoon. We meet again for our group dinner, departure at 7:30pm.

Included: breakfast and  lunch

More about San Cipriano

Departure at 7:30am. Have your belongings packed and ready for check out.

We depart Buenaventura by bus to Córdoba/Zaragoza (45 mins) where we load onto brujitas for a 30-minute ride into the reserve.

We spend the day hiking in San Cipriano, deep in Colombia’s rainforest near Buenaventura (about 2–2.5 hours from Cali), San Cipriano is a remote nature reserve accessible only by “brujitas”—makeshift wooden rail carts powered by motorcycles that glide along abandoned train tracks through tunnels, suspension bridges, and dense jungles. We traverse a challenging hike, enjoying waterfalls, streams and natural pools along the way and ending with tubing on the river. We have lunch in the community before we head back to Calí for our last night and farewell dinner.

Village infrastructure is basic: limited resources, limited shops, no ATMs, and minimal facilities—so bring cash, water, snacks, sunscreen, bug spray, water shoes, clothing you can get wet and muddy as we will be hiking and traversing through water simultaneously.

See you next time!