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. ; )

A Wonderful Weekend

To the left: Meat.

Okay, it's chorizo, which they make in Santa Rosa, a town we visited on Saturday. Warren ate one of those thing!

Ahhh... hello again. I've neglected to blog for a few days, but during the week it was because we were very boring people leading very boring lives (I laid in bed and watched Friends on Thursday afternoon), and Friday and Saturday were very busy days. So, I'm sorry if you've been worried about my health (or Warren's health). We're quite well. It took a few days for us to completely recover, but we both are healthy and happy now.

Like I said, we were very boring during the week. We returned to school on Thursday, but only for a few hours, and Fridays are short days, so we really didn't spend very much time at LPV at all this past week. We have to make up a week of our afternoon classes our last week here, but that's perfectly fine with us.

Friday afternoon was our "get better" goal because we had made plans a week before to visit one of our student's farms. The student's name is Ricky, and he came to Springfield last year for Camp Bear International. Ricky was actually one of the "problem" children last year (although he was really a good kid most of the time), but he has been one of the most helpful and welcoming students at Pino Verde. His parents are amazing. Last weekend Ricky and his mother, Adriana, took Warren to UniCentro (the mall), and this weekend they took us all over the area. (left: Manu, a student we met in Missouri. She went with us to the Panela trapiche and to the termales. She is eating panela before it hardens.)

On Friday we took the bus to Ricky's apartment and had lunch with his family. They made us a fabulous lunch, and my food was most definitely vegan. I hadn't had anything except potatoes and rice for a few days (everyone was worried about my stomach), so it was wonderful to eat fresh vegetables and pasta. Warren had a huge plate of fish covered in a rich creamy sauce, and we had bread, wine, and salad! For dessert, they even gave me CHOCOLATE Silk soy milk! I was in heaven!!!

After lunch they drove us to the farm. Ricky's family (left) produces panela, which is a form of sugar. It tastes like molasses. We were able to see the entire process, from the sugar cane growing in the fields, to the donkeys that carry it to the trapiche, to the processing plant, to the packaging room. To process it, they put the sugar cane in a machine called the trapiche, which squeezes the sugary-edible part out and leaves behind the cane. The cane is then used to heat large vats of boiling raw sugar cane. They boil it multiple times, in different vats. This removes bacteria, and then the sugar liquid thickens. As it thickens it turns to a gold color. The workers then scoop it out onto large metal sheets and work it like they are making peanut brittle. Eventually it becomes thick enough for them to mold it, and then it is packaged and sent around the world. It is supposed to make little boys and girls grow up strong and tall. (Like milk... but it's sugar.) The finished product has absolutely no additives--it is only boiled and hardened sugar cane. They use it in drinks and in traditional dishes here. Kids also eat it straight, but it's like eating dark brown sugar. I actually really like it, but it is so sweet and rich that it is hard to eat a lot of it.

After we saw the processing plant we visited the pig farm, and then we spent time at the "finca" (the country house), snacking and relaxing and watching it rain. No one actually lives at the finca anymore because in 1999 an earthquake basically destroyed it. The house is still standing, but it has been deserted. Ricky thinks that witches live in it. Maybe they do, but we had fun sitting on the porch and relaxing.

On Saturday we had our morning classes. Saturdays are really tiring because we have over 48 kids in the course of 4 hours, and we are supposed to play games in English the entire time. In the first group we have like 8 seven-year-old boys, and only two of them really understand English. It is exhausting to try to get them to listen and participate.

Ricky's mother offered to take us home after our classes, and on the way we stopped at UniCentro. It's a very nice mall (with the first McDonald's in Pereira... oh so exciting), but we didn't have very much money with us so we spent our time window shopping. I did, however, buy a Spanish-English dictionary. Also, Ricky's mom sat with me and showed me a book called "This is Colombia." The book was in Spanish, but it had gorgeous photographs. She probably sat with me for 20 minutes explaining the pictures (in Spanish). She is much too nice to us.

After UniCentro we went back home, but we didn't stay there for long! Ricky's family picked us up yesterday evening and took us to Termales de Santa Rosa. The Termales are hot springs, and they are up in the mountains! We drove high above Pereira, to Santa Rosa. It's a much smaller town, and it is the gateway to the termales. It is also famous for its chorizo.

We drove high up into the mountains, past little vacation homes and hotels, through lovely forests, and along a mountain stream. It sort of reminded me of a jungle-like Switzerland! I would have taken a lot of pictures, but it was night, and it was difficult to see anything. Luckily, there was a full moon, so we could partially see the scenery around us. As we drove, Ricky started telling us ghost stories. It was almost scary... almost. Eventually, the road ended, and we had to take a gravel road up the rest of the way. It took a long time, but we finally reached "the end of the mountain" as Ricky described it. (Left: inside of the hotel at the termales.)

The Termales were perfect. Because it was night, I had trouble getting good pictures, but these sort of show what it looked like. The hot springs are on top of a volcano, but because they are so high in the mountains the air is cold. In addition, a mountain stream tumbles down the mountain and ends in a waterfall near the edge of the hot springs. The picture to the left shows the cold waterfall. Another waterfall, pictured below, was incredibly hot. It is the source of the hot springs, and the water falls from a wall of hardened lava! People go under both waterfalls and get really cold or really hot, and then they jump into the hot spring pools. The pools are varying temperatures, but they basically feel like hot bath water or a jacuzzi. The water is very clean, and because it has a lot of minerals it is also supposed to be medicinal. Since we were at a hotel, servers would come by and take orders for snacks and drinks, and then they would serve it to us while we sat in the water. It was excellent. We spent the evening swimming between the two waterfalls and relaxing in the pools. I sipped mango juice and Warren ate an ice cream sandwich, all in the comfort of our little hot spring. We also played with the kids that had invited us. Ricky, Manuela, and Manu's little brother Juan Jose are a lot of fun, and since they speak English we really depend on them.

After the Termales we went to Santa Rosa for a very late dinner. Our hosts wanted Warren to taste the homemade chorizo because it is supposed to be the best chorizo in Colombia. The restaurant was open-air, and the chorizo was hanging out to dry. It was very Colombian! Warren liked his chorizo, but we both had agua panela, and it was fantastic! It's hot water with panela dissolved into it, so it's basically like drinking molasses-flavored water. Yummy! : )

Today (Sunday) was family day at school. I had been looking forward to it, but after a 2 hour long mass in Spanish, I lost a lot of my enthusiasm. We were a bit out of place, as we don't have family at Pino Verde, so Warren and I found some of the single teachers and hung out with them. They were tired, and I don't think they wanted to be at school working on their day off, so we all ate lunch in a classroom, hidden away from parents and students. Since 3 of us were native English speakers, we ended up having a lot of conversation in English. It was very welcome after two days of trying to communicate with our Spanish-speaking hosts. (Ricky's family is wonderful, but the language barrier can be frustrating.) After a few hours, we wandered out into the crowd. Family day included wine, so many of the teachers and parents were really happy.

We were given a ride home by a lovely couple whose daughter is one of our students. Her mother went to Texas A & M, and she had perfect English, and her father knew a little English. We had a great conversation, but Diego (her father), is convinced that the world is going to end in 10 years because of global warming, so the conversation was a bit unsettling.

FINALLY: I NEED TO MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT. I mentioned in my first entry that I had accepted a position at a school in Seoul, South Korea for the fall. After a lot of thought, I've turned that position down. Basically I realized that South Korea isn't right for me at this time in my life. I'm not exactly sure where I'll be in the fall, but I'm really happy with my decision.

Warren and I miss everyone, but we love it here! I hope you are all well!