Perreira to Popayan and the coffee farms

From the party captial, Medellin we moved onto Perreira with a reccomendation for a coffee farm to stay on. We were haggling for a good price on the bus and ended up getting a good deal but I think we must have signed up unknowingly for a scenic route! Our journey which was supposed to take about 5 hours ended up taking 8. Granted the scenery was beautiful, there´s hardly a flat piece of land anywhere in this region, as Tadgh reckoned the only flat land are the soccer pitches.

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So after winding our way round the hairpin bends for 8 hours we were going to scream if we saw another rolling hill, or mountain! The journey was uneventful, other that another police check (usual frisking etc) and hearing a few gunshots in the distance in one of the towns.

Coffee beans drying after dehusking

We arrived in the bus station and sought the help of a lady at the infomation desk. Usually they`re now the best in the bus stations but this lady was amazing, she was making loads of phone calls to try and locate the vague address we had for the farm. Then we were confronted by two more English speaking people who wanted to help us and wondered if we were okay/lost etc!ALthough it wasn`t the nicest town, we were getting great vibes about the people and the stories of Colombian hospitality were definitely proven right....they are a very friendly bunch of people.

We took a hotel in the town that night and gave up on the farm since it was two much hassle and the weather was not all that great.Instead we decided to go to the coffee park in Armenia the next day for a little bit of education. However by the time we figured our way there we didn`t have too much time although still managed to see the whole thing. Its basically a day out for the family as they have lots of funfair rides etc. Other than that they grow loads of different variaties of coffee and we got a little tour from one of the guys working on the plants about the whole coffee making process, which was really interesting. The park itself is beautiful, loads of exotic plants and a great view from the cable car running through the park. We also saw a humming bird ...and it was amazing to see how fast they really do flap their wings...hence our photos were really crap...basically just a blur!

Finished coffee beans from the roaster

Back to Perreira that night and although we agreed the people we so nice, the food again was awful. We didn`t venture very far from the hotel since we`d no map, as the lonely planet don`t bother to mention the town, so we had to restrict ourselves to the eateries in teh nearby square.

Okay, here I go about the food again...but this had to be the worst! I went for the traditional dish of Bandeja Paisa....vomit! It came out, in a big black dish, rice, mexican type beans in a sauce, a big lump of crispy pork fat, half an avocado, a fried egg and a big chorizo sausage! Naturally I didn`t do it justice, I still can`t figure out how they like this stuff!

Park cafe estate house

Next day we continued on to Popayan, with a quick bus change in Cali.

Picking coffee beans