Traveling in the Coffee Region of Colombia, Part 2.

Okay, so let's say you've seen Plaza de Bolivar in Pereira, taken the bus to Salento and the Termales, and now you are looking for something else to do. Great!

Since this is the coffee region, I think exploring something coffee-related is fairly crucial to seeing the area. Most people searching for coffee inspiration head to Parque del Cafe, which is a giant theme park devoted to coffee. I must admit, I'm a bad coffee-region resident, because I have never gone. Another popular place is Panaca, which is basically a giant farm. I haven't been there, either. Here's why.

Although people rave about Parque del Cafe and I do intend to go there before we leave, it's still a theme park. That means it's a commercial business, and the money isn't being pumped directly into the pockets of local farmers. It's also very expensive. Plus, since it has roller coasters, ski lifts over the coffee fields, and various other rides, it's a bit inauthentic. I don't doubt that it is fun, it just wasn't the version of Colombia I wanted to share with my family. As for Panaca, well, my guidebook describes it as a place where people from the "city" (i.e. Bogota) go to see what life is like on a farm. Hello, I'm from the Midwest. I know what a farm looks, feels, and smells like. Skip!

So... what did we do instead?

3. Hike through a hillside of coffee!



I researched this part of our trip for a long time, and although we ended up spending a lot of time walking through fields in the rain and we learned way more about coffee than I personally needed to know, it was definitely a beautiful, interesting, and authentic afternoon, which is what I wanted. We went to Hacienda Guayabal, which is near Chinchina. Chinchina is considered the heart of the coffee region, which is considered the heart of the Colombia by many people, so basically, we were knee-deep in the heart of Colombia. Almost literally, as it was a pretty muddy experience! The Hacienda offers tours (call ahead) in Spanish and English. (25,000 pesos for Spanish, 30,000 for English.) The tour takes you through numerous hillsides of coffee and the guide instructs you on every aspect of the coffee making process. Don't be afraid to ask questions, because our guide seemed to be bubbling with information.

At the end of the tour, they gave us a cup of coffee and then a really cool dessert. We also got certificates that said we were now coffee experts!




The next day we had to go to school (what???), but LPV is sort of like a mini adventure all by itself! My brother and his girlfriend had a great time...


And that brings us to number 4: Spend time with the locals.
My family mostly spent time with our friends and our students, but I think that's a pretty safe sample of Colombian people in the coffee region. I mean, I have 16 students alone who are happy to tell you anything you might ever want to know about Colombia. So my family could get to know them better, and so we could hike around in the mud "experiencing" the ecosystems in Colombia (science unit), I took my family and my class on a hike through the school's sendero, or forest path.


5. Experience the flora.

On Wednesday, my family and the entire LPV primary went on a field trip to the Universidad Tecnologica de Pereira (UTP)'s Jardin Botanico... Botanical Gardens. There are a lot of other ways to experience the botanical abundance of Colombia and this region, and I'm not sure this is the first one I would recommend, although it made a decent field trip. It was definitely pretty, but I personally enjoyed Medellin's Botanical Gardens more, and any hike around this region will basically be just as beautiful. The La Florida region (catch a chiva from the center of Pereira) is supposed to be incredible, for example. Even so, it was a fun trip.

6. Go to Juan Valdez Cafe. (McDonald's is optional, but encouraged.)


Juan Valdez is the symbol of Colombia's coffee growers, and Juan Valdez Cafe is truly a fun place to hang out. Great coffee, cute sweatshirts, and wireless internet. It's a must for experiencing the coffee region. Pereira's largest and nicest Juan Valdez is on Circunvalar, which is like our Zona Rosa, and is conveniently located up the street from our new McDonald's. What what.

7. Go to a working farm.


I took my family to a friend's trapiche, which is where they grow sugar cane and process it so it becomes panela, which is then used for desserts and drinks in Colombia. (For more information and to see my post from our visit there last summer, see this post.) I love this place because it's as green as can be... everything is sustainable. The workers live off the farm (and live on the farm), the horses eat the discarded leaves from the sugar cane, the woody substance from the cane provides fuel for the fire, and absolutely nothing is added to the cane. It's just cooked over and over and the molded into panela blocks. Cool!


8. Spend time eating pineapple in Cerritos, or at least see the mansions.
Cerritos is a little town super close to LPV, and many of my students live there. It's known for two things: money and pineapple. For real. A number of huge subdivisions filled with fancy houses have popped up in the past decade. The biggest industry for all the non-nouveau riche is pineapple. Cerritos is supposed to have the best pineapple in Colombia, and it produces more pineapple than any other region of the country. I can attest that it is truly delicious, and worth a stop if you are ever in the area. Cerritos also has some very nice hacienda hotels, and if you are looking for a nice, luxurious place to spend the night, this would be a good area to look. After our trip to the trapiche, the owners of the trapiche took us to one of the local haciendas for dessert, and then drove us to their home in Cerritos for a warm cup of panela.

Well, that's all for my recommendations today. I'm in the middle of finals at school, but I'll try to post again soon.

Traveling in the Coffee Region of Colombia

Dear Readers and Fellow Bloggers, before you write me off as the worst blogger on the PLANET because I NEVER update, let me just mention that I have posted 15 different posts since Saturday on my other blog. (www.hoyengradoquinto.blogspot.com--no comments, please!) So there. I actually do blog. Just not for you.*

Anyway, without further ado, here is perhaps the most important post I have ever written: What to do in the Coffee Region of Colombia! Where should you go? What should you see? Where should you stay?

When my family was here (3 weeks ago now, how did that happen??) we did a lot of fun things. They were really only in Pereira for 6 days, and I had to work 3 of those days, so I had to make the most of the time we had together. We missed some really crucial things in the region, but I think I showed them the best that the Eje Cafetera has to offer, anyway. I researched for weeks before their arrival, and I feel confidant in my suggestions below.

Eje Cafetera means "Coffee Triangle." Although coffee is really grown throughout Colombia, the region where I live is considered the primary coffee growing region. My little city, Pereira, is actually the industrial and financial capital of this region, and its largest city. The three departments that make up this region are Risaralda, Quindio, and Caldas. I live in Risaralda. The other major cities are Armenia and Manizales. Cartago is a reasonably large city that is a few kilometers away from Pereira, and Dosquebradas sits across the large Viaducto (our bridge) from Pereira. Because of this, the metro area surrounding Pereira is actually quite large. But enough about that...

If you ever come to the coffee region, you'll probably want to stay in Pereira. It has the largest bus terminal with connections to the surrounding region and the rest of Colombia, the largest airport in the region, a decent night life, reasonably good shopping, two McDonald's, a Domino's Pizza, and, possibly the most important aspect, a giant NAKED statue of Simon Bolivar. (This is actually one of the few things that we skipped when my family was here!) In addition, Pereira has the most moderate weather (Manizales is quite a bit colder) and fewer earthquakes (Armenia is known for its earthquakes), and it has a lot of varied accommodation options. If you are looking for hotel recommendations, I think Hotel Anvamar and Hotel de Pereira are the best and the safest. They are also the most expensive. There are also a few hostels, haciendas, and more moderately priced hotels in the center. Most destinations in the region (Santa Rosa de Cabal, Manizales, Salento, etc.) are reachable by bus in less than an hour. (Manizales is just a bit further.)

So... what should you do?

1. Go to Salento.

Salento is by far one of the best destinations in the coffee region. The little village is quaint, cute, safe, and fun. This is where Colombians go when they visit the coffee region or if they want to get away for a day. It's around 45 minutes away from Pereira, but if you want to stay overnight I would recommend the Plantation House. Their website has a lot of great information, and they have very reasonable prices. I contacted them with another question, and they were VERY helpful. Anyway. Salento is a great base for exploring the Valle de Cocora (more later), and it has lots of cute little restaurants and artisan's shops. One of my favorite places is a little cafe near the end of the main street. It doesn't open until 4, and I don't remember the name, but it's easy to find. Great juice teas, and make sure to use the bathroom... it's awesome.

2. Take a jeep to the Valle de Cocora and eat trout and/or patacon with agridulce sauce.

The Jeep Willys are really easy to find in Salento--they sit on one side of the main square. As soon as they have enough passengers, the drivers depart for the Valle de Cocora. It usually takes around an hour to get there. Once you arrive, eat lunch. It's fantastic. Warren loves the trout, I love the patacon. It's worth the ride, no matter what.

After eating, you can hike or ride horses through the Valle de Cocora, or you can just take pictures and head back to Salento. The trail head is marked (ask around if you need help), and horses are available on the road outside the restaurants, as are Jeeps to take you back to Salento.

One important tip: If you go to Salento on the bus from Pereira and don't plan to spend the night, make sure you make a reservation to go back to Pereira at whatever time you want to leave because the buses fill up quickly. You'll need to be at the bus around 20-30 minutes before it leaves, too, or you won't get a seat!

3. Go to the Termales de Santa Rosa.
Termales is Spanish for hot springs, and Colombia has a fair share of them, especially in this region. Although many are good, I would recommend Termales de Santa Rosa, not for the food or anything, but for the authenticity of it. It was the first place to set up shop, and it is actually cheaper than San Vicente, which is its main rival. To get there, you can take a bus to Santa Rosa de Cabal and then take another bus to the Termales de Santa Rosa. When we went, our second bus was a chiva, which was a great experience.


When the chiva dropped us off, it actually dropped us off at a more commercial "termales." We hiked up the hill 1 km to get to the "real" Termales de Santa Rosa, and I think it was worth it (despite the tour groups... try not to go on a three day weekend, or on a weekend at all). The entrance fee is 24,000 pesos, but you can also spend the night at the hotel, which grants you access to some private pools. I haven't done it, but I imagine it would be very enjoyable.


The hot springs don't offer a lot of activities, just hanging out, getting facials, "hiking" up to a waterfall, massages, you know, basically torture. It's a great way to spend an afternoon or evening. I've posted some pictures to give you an idea of what it looks like... please note that Termales de Santa Rosa has both cold and hot waterfalls, which can be fun to run between!






That's it for today... but tomorrow I'll be posting about coffee fincas, Juan Valdez, the Jardin Botanico in Pereira, Exito, Parque del Cafe, a trapiche, and a few other things... so make sure to check back tomorrow!

*Also, my fifth graders comment WAY more than you people do. Just saying. ; )

Cali, Curry, and (the perils of living in) Colombia*

*The title of this blog post is a nod to Kristin over at Coffee, Calculations, and Colombia, who recommended only the best of Cali and who we definitely appreciated!

This weekend, Warren and I headed to Cali along with our friends Marcela and Lindsey. After a quick bus ride down into the valley where Cali is located (quick being just over 3 hours) on Saturday morning, we were in Cali--the third largest city in Colombia. Cali is famous for salsa dancing and hot weather... and although I didn't get to experience the salsa dancing, the hot weather I can definitely vouch for!

With a lot of help from Kristin, we had a great list of things to do, and as soon as we dropped our bags (at Pelican Larry Hostel--friendly staff, loud partying backpacker crowd) we headed out for lunch.

Let me just say--Cali was worth it for the food. For lunch we had sushi, vegetable tempura, and summer rolls at Fusion Wok in the Granada neighborhood. Excellent! We enjoyed our food so much, we forgot to take pictures of it--but the restaurant itself was gorgeous and we had a great meal.

After lunch we met up with Kristin, who happily showed us around the historic parts of town. After touring a beautiful old church, we began walking towards an artisan's market... and here's where the story gets a bit upsetting.

After discovering the stairs to nowhere (above), a motorcycle pulled up next to our friend and tried to steal her cell phone. When our friend resisted, the man said to give him the cell phone because his partner had a gun. Our friend looked up and saw a gun pointed at her. Then the first man fell off his motorcycle, dropping the cell phone he had taken. Our friend grabbed the cell phone, and the man sped off. We did not notice what was happening until they had gone, but our friend was very upset. A man who lived across the street had seen the end of the exchange and offered to let us come inside while he called a taxi. While we waited for the taxi, the guys on motorcycles came back, but left when they couldn't find us. We soon hopped into a taxi and headed towards the artisan's market, shaken.

We're all fine. We were in a normally safe neighborhood. It was simply a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but it still tainted our weekend considerably.

At the Artisan's Market, we all tried to gain our composure, calm down, and find cheap jewelry. We almost succeeded in the first two, and we definitely found some cute headbands.

Marcela at the Artisan's Market

After the upsetting afternoon, we headed to Chipichape Shopping Center, which has a Zara, and as we all know, Zara makes everything a little bit better.

After shopping, we ran to Exito for some cheap wine and snacks, which we happily took back to our hostel and enjoyed completely. We then headed to Platillos Voladores (Flying Saucers, because the food is "out of this world", according to the menu), which is a Thai themed restaurant that Kristin had recommended. It was excellent. I had a delicious plate of Thai Green Curry with Tofu, and it was by far the best meal I've ever had in Colombia. It was a good way for all of us to calm down and begin to enjoy our weekend again.

After dinner, we went to Parque del Perros and happily drank beer in the park, which is what the Colombians were doing, too! It was great and we had a lot of fun, especially at the expense of poor Lindsey, who a bird unfortunately pooped on!

The next day, we headed to Cali's zoo, which is absolutely gorgeous. We spent a very lazy morning walking around and goofing off. It was very relaxing and definitely a highlight of our trip. After a quick lunch, we headed to the terminal and caught a bus home. All things considered, it was a great weekend... but.

I have never dealt with any kind of violence or crime in Colombia in all the time I've traveled and lived here. Perhaps it was inevitable that something would happen at some point, but I like to think of Colombia as being generally safe as long as I'm careful. I also like to tout the glories of Colombia to all my readers in the hopes that you'll make it here eventually, so I almost didn't post anything about the "incident". In the end though, I think it is important to know that crime does still exist in Colombia, and while it's generally very, very safe, it's always best to be smart and to stay with a group.

Also, I just want to emphasize one last point: please don't think Cali is a bad place--we had a great weekend, ate great food, and had a lot of fun. I highly recommend it if you ever visit Colombia. It's important to let bad experiences remain bad and to remember the good--especially when you've just been to a zoo full of Titi monkeys.

Guest Post by Warren

Hello! Warren is going to blog today, so be excited. I thought you would appreciate his perspective instead of my random banter. -Melody

It rained a little extra today to make up for yesterday's sweltering rain-starved heat. We woke to grey skies and unusually crisp air for P---, and D-ita told me that she was cold and she expected a lot of rain today. Never doubt a local, especially when she's the one who feeds you every morning and each night. When we arrived at the liceo, Melody and I first went to Lucho, who teaches 11th grade (the highest grade at LPV) English, as he had requested we interview his students with original questions to approximate those they will have to take before entering university. Lucho is the most candid teacher I know at the school--he apparently spent the early part of his life in New York, and so his English is spot on and full of idioms with an ever-so-slight accent of his Latino upbringing. He had his students come one-by-one to our simultaneous interviews. The kids were quite sharp for the most part; the spectrum of their English ranged from decent to extraordinary. During our gentle interrogations the rain finally came down in a brief torrent that lasted, at most, twenty minutes. By the time the interviews were over, the sun was glinting brightly off the moistened vegetation and a moat of murky water had filled around the Plazuela del Saman ("Little Plaza of the Salamander"--a shady alcove where a brick sidewalk rings underneath the leafiest tree you've possibly ever seen).

We probably should have prepared more for the 5th grade English assessment tests that we are to administer to those unsuspecting 11 year-olds, but it requires a lot of patient, extended reading and practicing on our parts. The tests HAVE to be administered in a specified manner, and honestly, it's mundane and tiring, and so we've been putting it off in favor of preparing lessons for Wednesday and Thursday and Saturday and et al. We'll get around to it in due time. Besides, our fifteen minute snacktime around 10 am turned into an hour-and-fifteen-minute-long affair when Lucho got ahold of us and we talked about everything from the price of cars in Colombia (horrendously expensive, by the way), to our opinions on the last three American presidencies (it's true, most foreigners love Obama), to how Colombian parents pay for their children to attend LPV (drug lords are still out there doing what they do best, and one student's father was apparently extradited to the US last year). Do NOT take this to mean that anyone who has money in Colombia is in the drug business; it is quite uncommon. Lucho confirms that prostitution, even among members of the upper classes, if far more widespread.

Chicken burritos for me for lunch, pinto bean burritos for Melody, and I also had some fresh, lightly salted tortilla chips that were perfectly deep-fried, and which Melody began stealing from my plate. I gave her dirty looks as payback. We talked to a couple of girls whose names I cannot recall, and of course Justin showed up and talked to us in that sweet, teacher's pet, fifth grade way of his. I can't help but like the kid: his English is impressive, he loves learning, and he has the Spanish version of my middle name as his first.

Today's after school "Let's Talk" was for the eleven students (eight of whom showed up) in the 9th to 11th grade section. We spoke about appropriate and inappropriate topics of conversation (e.g. occupation and salary, respectively), had them read Spanish with gringo accents to help them better learn American English pronunciation, and had a talk about the advantages and disadvantages of learning English. Beforehand, Melody had confided her nervousness in teaching potentially unreceptive know-it-all high schoolers, but I felt like they might be one of our best groups. Indeed, I thought the activities went smoothly and well, and that the kids were willing to interact with a couple of newbies at this teaching thing. (Well, maybe I should just speak for myself here.)

Stellita was at the dining room table on her mini laptop when Melody and I returned "home" at 5:30. She showed us pictures of Cartagena she had taken last year and also called a woman she knew in Bogota about us (M and W) going there in the near future. The odds are in our favor, as the woman there will look for a hotel for us that is cheap, safe, and comfortable. Stellita left for her finca and we had dinner of bean soup, rice with tomato, fried yuca, Melody with a broccoli/cauliflower mix and I had a steak. D-ita is a good cook, but seriously, I really can't have such heaping portions. I'm gonna be a fat guy soon.

Tomorrow there is a pronunciation workshop for the TEACHERS at 7 am that Melody is leading. Wish her luck. I certainly will. This means we have to wake at 5 am, hop on the bus at 6:10, spend a full day at LPV, and then lead the 6th-8th grade "Let's Talk" from 3:15 to 4:30. Sleep is getting harder to come by these days. My spirits are high, and my Juan Valdez pure Colombian coffee intake will undoubtedly need to be higher. Thanks for reading, and good night. -Warren