Backpacking South America

Our first stop in Colombia was the heart of La Zona Cafetera – the coffee region. Now, it seems coffee can actually be grown in many parts of Colombia, but this just happens to be the most concentrated area.

We pulled into Salento, Colombia – a quaint, quiet town near coffee farms and the Cocora valley. Our first day, we walked around town, tried our first Jesus Martin coffee (delicious!) and at about 11 am, got our act together and caught a Willy’s jeep up the Cocora Valley to do a bit of hiking through the jungle.

The Cocora Valley is famous for its Wax Palm trees, which grow really, really high and stick out above everything. After hiking for about 2 hours, we reached our lunch stop at a home up in the jungle – after a quick egg salad sandwich and snapping a few photographs of the resident hummingbirds, it was on our way up to a Mirador.

After a bit of effort (and lots of sweating), we reached the top. At first, it was a bit disappointing, all we could see was across the valley and a big rock. Impressive, but not as grand as it had been built up to be.

So on we went, down the hill to catch our jeep back to Salento. As we rounded a few corners, we found what we came for – spectacular views over the valley with needle thin Wax Palms protruding out of the green pastures.

It was amazing to see these palms stand out along the ridgelines. They are so tall and thin, one would think they would tip right over. Also, you could see a storm brewing off in the distance, which only enhanced the views.  It was a spectacular walk out of the jungle.

Getting our Coffee Fix

Our next day began with a tour of the local, boutique coffee roasting factory. We went through the entire process and got our hands on some freshly roasted beans (yummy). The whole process is very manual. First, they sort the beans by their size by placing them on a tray and shaking them out. Then, they inspect and remove any bad beans by hand. Once they collect 7 kilos of good beans, they throw them into the roaster for 15-18 minutes, cool them off and let them sit for a bit and then bag them up. Each step requires incredible attention to detail, but the result is a delicious cup of coffee.

After getting all hopped up by munching on coffee beans and drinking some delicious coffee, we took a small break before heading off to the coffee farm at the Plantation House. The owner, Tim, of the Plantation House, through a random set of events, found himself with the opportunity to purchase a coffee farm in disrepair. He has spent a few years rehabbing the place and is starting to turn out some excellent coffee.

From the Plantation House, we walked down to the property and got an exceptional tour of the grounds (no pun intended) and explanation of the entire process. Tim is trying to do something a bit different from the rest of the coffee growers around him – he is keeping his varieties of coffee separate, so that you end up with distinct coffee. Most Colombian coffee is a blend of many varieties of Arabica coffee. So, by keeping the varieties separate, there can be variation of flavors, much like that of keeping wine varieties separate and blending judiciously.

Regardless, it was a splendid tour and we were delighted to have a number of good cups of coffee. While Colombia is one of the top producing countries for coffee, most of the good stuff is exported. So we’ve been hard pressed to find that good cup of coffee, fortunately, good coffee was everywhere in Salento.