Landing in Armenia, Colombia all you see is green. Far from Bogota, there is no concrete, just an endless vista of green mountains, hills, fields and trees. This is coffee country.
Thankfully, we are immediately picked up at the airport by our english speaking guide Christian and our driver Gloria who take us on a one hour ride through the Colombian countryside to Hacienda Buenavista, our home for the next few days. If you ever come to this region you should have a driver because the roads can get pretty awful and directions are very complicated. I am certain that without Christian and Gloria we’d have had a 100% chance of getting severely lost.
The Hacienda Buenavista (http://haciendabuenavista.com.co) is a very small, five room boutique hotel run by two Europeans, Lynn and Floris. It’s like staying in your rich friend’s villa. An indescribably good view, clean modern rooms (with a great bed) and superb food. I could write a bunch more about this place – because we really liked it and it’s incredibly accommodating proprietors, but another blogger already did, so I’ll save the extra words and just provide the link (https://www.shermanstravel.com/advice/checking-in-a-hacienda-classing-up-colombias-coffee-country/). One thing to understand is that it’s pretty isolated. As explained by Christian, it’s the kind of place that “if you’ve never been to it, you’ll never find it”.
The next morning Christian and Gloria take us to Hacienda San Alberto (http://www.cafesanalberto.com/en/), on of the premier coffee farms in Colombia. Christian is 22 years old, has a college degree in botany and learned English by watching movies. He loves classic American music and plays it in the car as Gloria makes the one hour drive on unmarked roads. Shuffling through his catalog of Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Lionel Ritchie, Bruce Springsteen and others like George Thorogood and Run DMC, he asks some great questions. What does this song Billie Jean mean? What is “Bad to the Bone”? “Tutti Frutti”, what is that? Is Lionel Ritchie still alive? Do you understand any of the words to Run DMC’s “It’s Tricky”? What is “All Shook Up”? Christian is a great kid with a fabulous sense of humor. He lives with and supports his mother, sister, wife and five month old son and has a great attitude. If you ever desire to visit this part of Colombia, you need to contact him! (christiancamilolasso1@gmail.com; +57 314 615 88 50)
Hacienda San Alberto is a beautiful coffee farm located 6,000 feet above sea level and provides a great coffee education. After touring the farm and facility and learning about Colombia’s various coffee producing regions, growth stages of coffee plants, and coffee bean processing, we go through an extensive smell and tasing exercise which I fail miserably. Guess I will continue getting my coffee at Starbucks (which we learned uses inferior, over-roasted robusto beans rather than the lightly roasted, high quality arabica beans grown in Colombia – who knew?). Shawn, on the other hand, proved to be an expert at aroma and taste!
Over the next several days Christian takes us to see:
– the Valle de Cocora which contains the Wax Palms. These are the national trees of Colombia and happen to be the tallest palms in the world. (Actually, per Christian the botanist, the Wax Palm is not really a tree but a palm. I’m still not at all sure what the difference is, but now you know too.)
– The Center of Flora and Fauna National Park in Otun, Quimbaya. Here we went for a four hour hike in the Colombian jungle looking for Red Howler Monkeys. I guess they saw us first because we never saw them. Upon entering the trail head our local national park guide (who was also a bit of a “close talker” – see Seinfeld) chuckled and said “Weelcome to the Juungle. Ha you know – Guns and Roses”? 😂 I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the first time he’s made that joke.
Lots of great flora and fauna in there, but even more bugs. One large, mean bug attached itself to Shawn’s lululemons and proceeded to bite her repeatedly through the pants. When she finally knocked it off, it landed on my back – so she smacked me. It was that kind of a tour. We left with a much greater appreciation of the jungle, and a lot of welts.
– Horseback riding near the city of Periera. This was pretty cool. We got to feel like caballeros in the beautiful Colombian countryside.
– Shawn also made friends at our next hotel in Periera.
After our visit to rural Colombia, we were on our way to Medellin (they pronounce it “med-e-jeen”). For whatever reason, we had not booked any tours or secured a guide for our trip to the city. Christian, who had been a fabulous and fun guide, explained that he was also an expert in Medellin. So we asked if we could retain his services for our trip. He said sure, but would have to take an 11 hour bus ride that would get him in at 4am. We offered to fly him there. He was ecstatic – because he had never been on a plane. In fact, almost no one he knew had ever been on a plane.
After booking his flight, he was almost in tears and said, “how does it feel to make someone’s dreams come true. I have to call my grandmother, then my mother, then all my friends.” It was pretty fun to accompany him on his first flight. Shawn told the flight attendant that it was his first flight and asked if he could meet the pilots. I’m pretty sure this will be his new profile pic.
He was a bit scared as the plane took off. Gripping the arm rests, we thought he might pass out. But as soon as we landed, he was instagramming everyone he knew. Was probably as big a treat for us as it was for him! Also great to meet someone that helps put our extremely fortunate lives in perspective.