Zona Cafetera part 1 - Manizales

Becca

hammocked

Our first stop in Zona Cafetera (Coffee Country) was in Manizales, the closest city to Medellin. Coffee Country is exactly as it sounds: Colombian countryside with a sprinkling of quaint towns (and some bigger cities), from which the nearly half of the the countrys coffee is grown. Manizales itself was nothing amazing - we stayed in a pretty shady hotel right by the bus station but it was fine because we got in late and only stayed one night. In the AM we awoke at the crack of dawn to go on a tour of Parque Nacional Los Nevados, which is famous for the fabulous views of the Colombian Andes. For some reason there were zero tourists around (or atleast none interested in going to the park), because the tour consisted of just the two of us, a tour guide, his amigo, and the bus driver. The bus winded its way up and up Nevado Del Ruiz, which is the largest and highest volcano in the chain. It dropped off us in the park at a point called Refugio, and from there we hiked up the volcano with our guide leading the way - at first, I couldn´t understand why he was walking super slow but within a few minutes I was gasping for breath and realized why. Not only was it just a steep incline, but because of the altitude it was difficult to breath. We did not go all the way to the top, but we did get high enough to reach snow, and when the clouds cleared sporadicially we caught some awesome views as well. After we got back down to the bus we downed some tinto (black coffee) and headed out of the park to a local restaurant for lunch, and then onward to some natural hot springs. At first glance, we were both a little dissapointed because the hot springs looked like a joke compared to the luxurious ones in Costa Rica - it was just 3 simple pools of slightly different temperatures. But, after being absolutely freezing all morning (seriously, it felt like NY before we left in January in the park) it felt absolutely amazing to get into the hot water, and in that way I appreciated these hot springs much more than in CR. It was cool becuase not only was the air cold, but it started to rain lightly, so the contrast of the cold and the hot was great. Afterward I felt slightly rejuvenated...I suppose the waters do have therapeutic powers afterall.

practicing salsa

When we got back from the tour, we grabbed our bags and hopped on a bus to Pereria. We stayed in a nondescript hotel for the night, walked around the city briefly and got dinner, and then in the morning took a cab to our next destination: Finca Villa Maria. We heard about this estate through our hostel in Medellin - it is a huge farm that has coffee, banana, and plantain crops, hidden away down a long bumpy dirt road, off the road that leads from Pereira to Marsella. I´ll let the photos speak for themself....this place was beautiful, so peaceful and such a unique place to stay for the night. We were the only guests here, so we got excellent attention from the husband and wife team that run the place. The wife cooked all our meals for us and everything was declicious - fresh squezzed juices, fish, pasta....and of course coffee. The day we arrived we lazed around the huge porch, reading and relaxing then the husband gave us a tour of the coffee facility in the afternoon. Unfortunately, it is not the right season for coffee right now so we didn´t get to see the machines in action...but it was interesting nonetheless. The next day we took 2 of the farms horses and rode up the mountain through the neverending sea of coffee and banana plants to the very tip top of the mountain. It was fun and liberating to ride by ourselves....though on the way down the horses sensed we were close to the house and both took off galloping full speed down the mountain. I was shreiking and laughing at the same time...it felt like flying. Luckily neither of us flew off the horses and made it back in one piece. To finish off our lovely 2 days here we lay out by the pool for a few hours, which was the perfect way to end our stay if you ask me :)

purty flowers in finca

Asaf

So we're back at full speed travelling from every day or two using bus.  It's like Costa Rica all over again except this time we are in a much bigger country so the distances are greater.  Thankfully, I've mastered the art of sleeping on a bus so they don't feel too long.  While we were in Costa Rica our flight from Panama City acted as a deadline to kept us motivated to move from one town to the next in order to see it all.  The reason we are moving so fast now is because we are suppose to meet my parents in Lima in late March.  That gives us about three weeks to finish our time here in Colombia, cross the border into Ecuador, hit the sites there and finally cross into Peru...and even then Lima is almost half way down the country.  I'm not sure how we are going to manage but we'll figure something out and definately have a lot of fun in the meantime...even if it means speeding through everything.  That's definately the biggest negative, the constant travelling.  It was also really nice to be able to overstay a visit when we really enjoyed it somewhere.  But there's definately good things about moving around too, mainly it saves us money.  Also, it's a really unique feeling to be in two completely different environments from one day to the next.   Anyway, expect to see lots of entries popping up in close intervals in the near future...no more of that week and half stuff.  Lastly, I just wanted to add my two cents to these locations.  The excursion into the park we did today was definately not one of my favorites.  We did most of the site seeing from the bus and like Becca said, once we started hiking on foot the air was so shallow it was difficult to walk for very long.  I guess because we didn't actually do the work ourselves it didn't feel like an authentic hike like the ones we have done before.  It wasn't all bad though becuase this area of the park was completely alien to me.  High up in the mountains near a Volcano is like another world; at first there is just a very few types of plants and animals that can survive before you reach a height where eventually the soil is too acidic to support any life.  As for the coffee farm, there are two adjectives, in spanish that describe it perfectly 'ricisimo y tranquilo.'  We were in a state of total relaxation and everything we did and saw there was rich and interesting.  The coffee process from earth to your cup is definately more elaborate than I realized.  The coffee plant looks like a small shrub and the beans grow inside the flowers of it.  From there the flower is cut and the bean is extracted and washed (strangely at this point looks almost like a shelled peanut).  Next it has to be dried before another coating is extracted.  At this point the raw bean is ready to be sold but it's not nearly ready to be drank nor does it smell anything like coffee.  The last steps are it being toasted and finally ground and now it finally smells joyous and is ready to be roasted.  Preferably, at Juan Valdez Coffee shops (the Starbucks of Colombia) which serve the best cups in the whole country...aside from the Finca we stayed at of course ;).  See everyone again soon.

straight relaxed

one with the bamboo

coffee buddha

Hiking up Nevado del Ruiz

alien terrain

Parque Los Nevados

Finca Villa Maria

passing bamboo on horse trail