Exploring Cartagena: Guillermo Piñeres Botanical Garden

We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.

One of the main sites we visited in Colombia was the Guillermo Piñeres Botanical Garden.

Our parents, Karlos, and I woke up early one morning and took a taxi to the Guillermo Piñeres Botanical Garden. The drive was about 40 minutes, first through the bustling streets of Cartagena, and then a short way along the highway in the countryside.

I don’t remember what the entrance fee was, but it didn’t cost much. The place wasn’t busy as there were only a few other small groups. I actually liked how quiet it was because it meant we could hear the birds and the monkeys!

The gardens offer guided walking tours, so we got our own tour guide. He only spoke Spanish, but we were able to understand him well enough along the 2 km of paths. Other than explaining interest plants, he also pointed out the animals that we definitely wouldn’t have spotted ourselves.

The Guillermo Piñeres Botanical Garden was founded in 1974 and was opened to the public in 1978. According to the garden website, the wife of the late Guillermo Piñeres inherited the Matute Estate and decided as an idea from President José Vicente to create a garden in the area surrounding the church. We saw the old stone church on the grounds, as well as an old, creepy, abandoned and overgrown elementary school.

We arrived quite early in the morning, probably before 9:30am. Part of this was to beat the heat, but also because most animals are active during the early and later parts of the day. When we arrived, we could hear the howler monkeys from the entrance! Our guide took us directly to the tree where they were all hanging out and yelling. After an hour, though, the monkeys stopped calling and were silent. I’m glad we got the chance to hear them!

The Guillermo Piñeres Botanical Garden houses over 300 plant species, some local, some from other regions of the world. Many of the magnificent specimens are very old, including this one with its enormous roots. I don’t remember if Most of the large plants by the path are labeled with their Latin, Spanish, and English names. The garden itself is organized into different sections, including the Arboretum with a selection of trees; the Orchard with Caribbean fruiting trees; the Palmetum with its palms; the Drug and Fragrance Garden with its perfumed, medicinal and psychoactive plants; the Xerophytic Garden; the Ornamental Garden; and the Native Forest.

The Drug and Fragrance Garden even had a coca tree. Our mom said that the botanical garden in Berlin used to have a coca tree, but visitors kept eating its leaves and it would quickly die off. This one looked young but healthy and full of foliage!

And such beautiful blossoms!

There was a large cage with a few parrots halfway through the gardens. The door was open but the birds didn’t leave. They were really funny to watch!

This little green parrot liked to ride around on the macaw’s tail.

The grounds include a small restaurant, but we just stopped for a drink and a brief rest. Although the gardens are mostly shaded, the air is still and the heat can get oppressive!

Iguanas!

Even though the garden is home to about 45 species of birds, it is hard to spot birds in the garden, and even harder to photograph them! I believe these were vultures that were just hanging out near the path.

Maybe the highlight of the visit was spotting this trail of leafcutter ants! The Ontario Science Centre used to have a colony and we loved to watch them when we were kids. We were no less mesmerized as adults!

And a poison dart frog! This was just hopping happily near the path, and it was soooo tiny!

If you plan to visit Cartagena, spend a morning at the Guillermo Piñeres Botanical Garden to escape the crowds and get a taste of nature. We spent a few hours in walking through the gardens before taking our taxi back to Cartagena.