The Reserva Natural de Luriza in Usiacurí is home to tropical dry forest, considered one of the region’s most representative. In Atlántico, this natural setting goes hand in hand with cultural discoveries: Usiacurí is also known for its wells, a poet’s museum and crafts, while other places give the destination further character.
Dry Forest and Wells in Usiacurí
The Reserva Natural de Luriza lies within an area of tropical dry forest. The landscape is a defining natural feature of Usiacurí and offers a different way to experience the region than its museums, crafts or festival traditions. If you plan your trip around your interests, you can see nature and culture as distinct, equally tangible aspects of the Departamento del Atlántico.
In Usiacurí, 311-meter-long walkways connect the public square area with four wells of mineral-medicinal water. In 2023, the four restored wells were introduced as a new tourist attraction. Alongside the forest landscape, the townscape thus features a designed public space and the wells. If you would like to visit this part of town, check current access arrangements in advance.
Crafts and Cultural Discoveries
The Museo Julio Flórez is located in the house where the Colombian poet lived and died. The museum’s name thus leads to a specific place connected to the poet’s life. Craft items made from Iraca palm are also produced in Usiacurí. Nature, literary history and crafts offer distinct points of interest to consider when planning your trip.
In 2023, six service modules on Plaza Julio Flórez enabled a group of women artisans to display and sell their products. This describes an opportunity to showcase and sell their work that was reported for that year. It adds a glimpse of the public side of crafts to the items made from Iraca palm.
In Tubará, the Centro Cultural Rebeca Coll displays objects and remains of the Mokaná people. Visitors interested in cultural artifacts will find a different subject here than at Usiacurí’s poet’s museum: the focus is on material remains of the Mokaná. In Galapa, artisans make Marimonda, Torito and Burra masks, which are carried in the carnival parades each year. The masks connect crafts with a recurring festival tradition.
A visitor activity in Salinas del Rey also offered an insight into a craft in 2023: participants could try carving totumo gourds for a day under instruction. This tradition is associated with the Mokaná. The activity was part of that particular occasion; it does not indicate an ongoing offering.
Festivals and Regional Cuisine
The 2025 edition of the Festival de la Butifarra in Soledad celebrated butifarra soledeña as part of the city’s gastronomic heritage. This places a particular dish in the spotlight as a cultural reference point. The year refers to that edition of the festival and does not establish a date for a future event.
At the 2026 edition of the Festival del Pastel de Pital de Megua, 65 women cooks came together. They made pasteles with rice and corn flour, filled with meat and wrapped in bijao leaves. The specific preparation makes this festival a different culinary example from the celebration of butifarra in Soledad: here, the ingredients, filling and leaf wrapping are in focus.
Beyond these individual places, bollos and traditional sweets are among the foods associated with Atlántico. They add another regional culinary reference to the local festival examples.
Water Sports on the Coast
Sailing sports and kitesurfing are practiced at Puerto Velero beach; Salinas del Rey is also a kitesurfing destination. If kitesurfing is of particular interest to you, both locations may be relevant. Sailing sports are specifically mentioned for Puerto Velero. Check local conditions before making concrete activity plans.
Atlántico as a Travel Destination
In Colombia’s Departamento del Atlántico, Ruta 23 invites you to travel around the region and discover its diverse expressions of Caribbean life. This provides a broad framework for the different discoveries, from the dry forest and wells in Usiacurí to crafts and cultural sites, festivals and water sports.
When choosing accommodation, it may help to first weigh the themes you want your trip to focus on: nature, culture, regional cuisine or water sports. This lets you tailor the rest of your plans to your interests without reducing the different places and experiences to a single focus.
Discover more destinations: Barranquilla, Puerto Colombia, Tubará, Santa Lucia, Juan De Acosta, Veracruz, Arroyo De Piedra, Soledad, Hacienda El Marques.
For the broader travel overview: Colombia.
