Our History

The story of La Gloria Reserva starts with Gloria Rodriguez de Luque, also known as “La Doctora” and mother of the current owner. During the 70’s she had a dream of acquiring a lot outside of Bogotá where she could raise cows and make cheese. Having received a small inheritance from her family she managed to buy a piece of land close to La Calera where her dream started with two cows. This area in the department of Cundinamarca is unique since it produces a vast amount of water and is located high up in the mountains, making it a part of the Andean subparamo forest.
Recently widowed and with four children, La Doctora began to work the land and expand her project. Over time she managed to have 25 cows from which she produced exquisite cheeses that would become renowned in Bogotá.

A few years later, Gloria decided to sell this plot of land and bought the one right next to it, called Tres Esquinas (Three Corners), where our current reserve is located. Unfortunately, the earth here had been destroyed by years of chemicals used to grow potatoes. This added to the raising of cows for over 30 years would leave a mark difficult to reverse years later. The campesinos who were Glorias neighbors had strong perspectives on the role that women should play in society and made her work at Tres Esquinas particularly difficult and complicated. However, with extreme perseverance and determination to live and work in a completely rural area while bringing up her children Gloria managed to maintain her cow and cheese business for 30 consecutive years. Her tenacity and dutifulness made the campesinos respect her and even come to accept her as part of the community.

Gloria unexpectedly fell in love again and travelled to the United, leaving for a time the place in the hands of people who did not share the same vision for the place. Out of her four children, only her second son, Juan Fernando, shared her interests and love for nature. Having been a part of the arduous years of hard work and determination, he decided to take over the project, not only out of love for his mother but also out of love for nature and the place where he had created memories as a child. The dream of cheeses and cows expanded into a dream of giving back to Mother Earth.
This is how in 2019 La Gloria Reserva was born as a business project thought out beyond traditional ecotourism ideals and taking on the name of its founder.

Today, the reserve is focused on bringing back to life the earth within the plot after many years of extreme usage. Although it still greatly depends on its creator to grow, the reserve is looking towards being completely independent as an auto sustainable entity – a plan that was implemented from day one. Some of the elements that are a part of this model are the replanting of trees in the forest, the organic garden that supplements the Reserve’s kitchen, and the reusing of rain water. Having already reached 70% of total self-sufficiency, the work of more than 30 people who work here daily is visible. Native animals, like bears, are returning to their natural habitat thanks to the reforestation project that is being carried out. This is truly only the beginning of our dream here at La Gloria Reserva. We are creating a unique model that can be implemented by any nature lover and we can’t wait for you to be a part of this adventure!