Huub Vlogsvideo
Is it SAFE to live Off-Grid in Colombia?
October 22, 2023 · 16 min · 12K views · Cocorná, Colombia
What this video covers
No sailing, navigation, or boat-related content appears in this video. Huub travels overland from Bogotá to the small town of Cocorna, Colombia, then hikes 2.5 kilometers up a steep mountain trail to visit Lara and Diego, a Belgian couple who left Europe four years ago to build an off-grid finca in the Colombian Andes.Watch The property features an octagonal bamboo house built from guadua — a thick, durable local bamboo species — with a roof of split guadua panels, a wood staircase cut from a Goyao tree on-site, and an outdoor kitchen under forest canopy.5:32 Delivering more than 600 large bamboo poles required trucks, cars, horses, and human carriers.10:33 The couple grows tomatoes, bananas, yucca, avocado, mango, and guayabo, keeps chickens, and collects eggs daily.13:08 They also run yoga and dance retreats and rent a smaller on-site hut as an Airbnb.8:03 On safety, Lara describes the Cocorna area as relatively safe while acknowledging that some Colombian regions and capital-city neighborhoods are not.13:54 Huub notes food costs — a full bandeja paisa meal for under $10, a coffee for under 40 cents — and describes Colombians as friendly.2:03 Lara's candid advice: secure housing before having children, as she spent her first month of pregnancy in a tent.12:29
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