The Global Meaningful Travel Map

Cartagena: Zenú Indigenous Heritage Tour

Experience the rich Zenú culture through weaving workshops and the Gold Museum, supporting Indigenous heritage while connecting with local artisans.

OUR EXPERIENCES
Check out this video, created through a partnership between Tourism Cares, Tauck Ritzau Innovative Philanthropy and Collective Impulse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSDShhAdn1k

Get deep into Zenú culture and learn directly from them about their heritage, history, and most recognized Zenú handcrafts in a weaving workshop and a visit to Cartagena's Gold Museum. At the Zenú Gold Museum, you will see amazing gold ornaments crafted by ancient Zenú Indigenous peoples. The Zenú Indigenous guide will give you a deep insight and further information about the pieces and the iconography that reflects the Zenú’s worldview. After the visit, you will head to the 20 de Julio neighborhood, a peripheral area in Cartagena, where the Ninha workshop takes place. When you arrive, you will meet resilient Indigenous women who lead this weaving project and workshop as a way to support their families and keep alive their endangered Indigenous heritage. You will learn how to weave with Caña Flecha, the primary raw material used to make their woven crafts and a symbols of the famous Sombrero Vueltiao.

ABOUT US
Impulse Travel - We create, operate and promote tours that allow travelers to discover the country from an authentic and local perspective through connecting with people. We are a team of creators, connectors and storytellers on a continuous journey of discovery. Our company develops around people: travelers, locals and the team that brings them closer. We believe that travel has the power to transform lives - our experiences facilitate meaningful interactions between travelers and locals, fostering empathy. Travelers are inspired, locals are empowered, and their projects find financial support, which is key to going forward.

OUR IMPACT
How this tour creates an impact? Like many Indigenous cultures, the Zenú were driven out of their original territory a long time ago. Life in the city created many challenges for them, the biggest one being the preservation of their culture surrounded by a completely different environment. For Indigenous communities, their culture often offers them refuge from the outside world, but maintaining appreciation for traditions and customs, especially among the younger generations, can be difficult. By sharing their culture with travelers, they keep the Zenú culture alive and can pass appreciation for their roots on to the next generation. Impulse Travel partnered with Tourism Cares on a Meaningful Travel Summit with Colombia in November, 2021 and operated as our DMC for the program, bringing our attendees to a handful of local experiences represented on this Map. They were also recipients of a grant from Tourism Cares and Tauck Ritzau Innovative Philanthropy. ProColombia partnered with Tourism Cares on a Meaningful Travel Map in advance of the Tourism Cares with Colombia Meaningful Travel Summit in November, 2021. The pins on the Colombia Map represent community tourism experiences around the country, offered by receptive operators who design their tours for local impact, economic benefit for communities, and to reflect the richness of the experiences you can have traveling throughout Colombia. Their work, and the organizations they support, diffuse the economic benefits of tourism and support sustainable tourism growth in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The Turismo Comunitario Map can be found on the ProColombia website: https://colombia.travel/en/tourism-cares

DETAILS
Please note: these community tourism experiences are offered by in-country operators. We marked the Map with the approximate location of the community experience.

To learn more, visit: https://colombia.travel/en/tourism-cares/zenu-indigenous-heritage-tour or email: info@impulsetravel.co

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