Falling in love with Colombia
It could have been the cold, it could have been the altitude, but after our 6 hour flight from Rio to Bogota all we wanted to do was sleep. At 2600 m with a chill in the air we were regretting sending all our warm clothing home. A few days in the capital and we celebrated Chris' 26th birthday with a cake and dinner out :) Wandering the old city and visiting the gold museum we were ready for warmer weather!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Palace of Justice - destroyed in November 1985 by the guerrilla movement M-19.
Bolivar square
Gold museum - artifacts from graves in the lost city
Taking a 7 hour bus along a windy road we arrived in Armenia - the heart of Colombian coffee district :) Banana palms, mango trees and sunshine, this is more like it! The polite and friendly locals have already won us over.
Banana Palms
These hats would even make Juan Valdez blush
Getting our coffee picking training
Ready to pick Coffee
A sweaty day in the field
Only pick the red and yellow ones!
The ancient method of "de-husking" the coffee beans
One bin will fetch 8000 pesos (approx $5) and you could work a 12 hour day
and collect about eight full bins. No wonder there is a coffee pickers strike.
Drying
Dried and ready for export, the beans are roasted when they arrive at their destination.
mmmm cafe
Looks like Scandinavia has Canada beat for coffee consumption
Moving day (this is only a slight exaggeration)
I love peacocks :)
Departing Armenia we came to Salento, a sleepy town with beautiful scenery. A nice break from the bustle of a city.
The only way to get anywhere these "willies" are usually loaded up to the roof racks with locals and produce. We found ourselves standing on the tailgate holding the roof racks on a couple of occasions.
Looking over the town of Salento
Locals
Amazing view from our hostel
Hummingbirds everywhere
A hike into the Cocora valley crossing some rickety bridges
Amanita mushrooms
Giant wax palms swaying in the breeze
Loving coffee country
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