A trip to the worlds third biggest coffee producer wouldn't be complete without exploring the region where the coffee comes from. Eje Cafetero, the Coffee Triangle, is Colombia's largest coffee producing region and with its rolling green hills and small fincas (farms) is a gorgeous change from the cities. I took the eight hour bus trip from Bogota to Armenia, but chose to skip the ugly city, instead busing a further 40 minutes to Salento, a cute little colonial town in the mountains. Salento has a population of about 7,000 and is the perfect place to chill.
My hostel La Serrana was on a beautiful block of land a 20 minute walk from town. It felt like a cross between a school camp and a rural retreat. Dinner was, if you put your name down, at 7pm every night and upon the bell being rung, people came out of nowhere and descended on the dining room for a feast. There was also free yoga twice a day. The hostel was a great place to meet people and it seemed like half of Melbourne was there.
While in Salento visiting a coffee farm was a must and La Serrana recommended two coffee farms to tour and a group of us chose Sacha Mama, a small family run organic farm a two hour walk from the hostel. We paid 20,000 pesos for a four hour tour, lunch and a lot of coffee.
Usually when people say a place is two hours away at my pace it can mean an hour. This was not the case and two hours after setting out from La Serrana we found the finca. It was in the most beautiful location, with hummingbirds and toucans in the trees and with Pedro, the two litre a day coffee drinking owner, as our enthusiastic host.
The farm wasn't a classic coffee farm with a plantation. Instead there was a wild forest full of fruit and coffee trees. Pedro took us for a wander around the block, telling us about the different flora and talking us through the coffee growing process. After a delicious vegetarian lunch we then went to another block of land up the road from their house and this is where we saw the final part of the coffee making process which included roasting the beans and bagging up our own coffee! From tree to bag to cup, it was a pretty cool experience.
Usually when people say a place is two hours away at my pace it can mean an hour. This was not the case and two hours after setting out from La Serrana we found the finca. It was in the most beautiful location, with hummingbirds and toucans in the trees and with Pedro, the two litre a day coffee drinking owner, as our enthusiastic host.
The farm wasn't a classic coffee farm with a plantation. Instead there was a wild forest full of fruit and coffee trees. Pedro took us for a wander around the block, telling us about the different flora and talking us through the coffee growing process. After a delicious vegetarian lunch we then went to another block of land up the road from their house and this is where we saw the final part of the coffee making process which included roasting the beans and bagging up our own coffee! From tree to bag to cup, it was a pretty cool experience.
The Valle del Cocora is another must do while in Salento. The valley is in the Los Nevados National Park and is home to the Quindio wax palm, the national tree and symbol of Colombia. We spent the morning wandering around the valley amoungst cows and horses. We did get lost at one stage and stubbled across a very hungover and dehydrated guy from Ireland who had been hiking since 6am and was also lost. Thankfully we were coming from where he wanted to go and vice versa. I assume he made it back ok...
I had met two girls in Argentina who had stayed at La Serrana while they were in Colombia. They told me I had to do two things while in Salento - go horseriding and eat at Brunch, a café in town. The horse ride was a lot of fun, the horses were gorgeous and we got to go as fast as we wanted (yay!). Brunch however, famous for its peanut butter brownie, was a very overrated gringo café...
I could have spent another few days in Salento, doing absolutely nothing. But the weekend was nearing and Cali, salsa capital of South America, beckoned.
I could have spent another few days in Salento, doing absolutely nothing. But the weekend was nearing and Cali, salsa capital of South America, beckoned.