Ginebra and wood-fired sancocho

Ginebra is about 50 kilometers from Cali: head north on the Panamericana and take the turnoff to Ginebra. It's a Sunday plan: leave in the morning, have hen sancocho made over a wood fire for lunch and go down to the river in the afternoon. The road up toward the village of Costa Rica is lined with fondas and country eateries.

Some restaurants have history: El Sauce opened in 1954, and Los Guaduales has won the Sancocho Star several times, a contest run by the Food Star food movement in Ginebra where the public votes. In October 2026 a bowl of sancocho cost COP 44,900 on average. Besides sancocho there's arroz atollado, tamal valluno, hojaldras, plantain tostadas and manjar blanco.

Ginebra is the hometown of musician Benigno 'Mono' Núñez. Since 1975, the Festival Mono Núñez of Colombian Andean music has been held every year in his name, and it was declared National Cultural Heritage in 2003. We found no reports of damage in Ginebra from the August 2026 earthquake.

What to see

• The sancocho restaurants with wood-fired stoves along the road.
• The road toward the village of Costa Rica, with country fondas.
• The town square dedicated to Mono Núñez.
• The natural pools in the area's rivers.

Getting there

• By car from Cali, north on the Panamericana and then the turnoff to Ginebra; about an hour.
• By intercity bus from Cali's bus terminal (Terminal de Transportes) heading to Ginebra.

Tips

• On Sundays, get there for lunch before 1:00 p.m.; after that the restaurants fill up.
• Order the sancocho with its piece of hen, rice, avocado and plantain, and save room for the manjar blanco.
• If you want to go to the Mono Núñez festival, book lodging early: the town fills up those days.
• If you're going to swim in the river after lunch, bring a change of clothes and ask which pools are safest.