Manizales - one tip of the coffee triangle

Marc's addiction led us here.  Months of appalling quality product also meant he was really craving a good hit.  Since I do not partake in such things, I left the research up to him.  He found the growers, the dealers and the suppliers and set off to meet them all.

This meant we were headed deep into the heart of Colombia, into a place the locals call The Coffee Triangle.  We did have plans to visit each of the three towns which make up said triangle, but it was all a little more expensive than expected so we only made it to one tip of the triangle, and a little way down a side.

Manizales was stunning, situated in a lovely valley, it was lush and green.  We made our way to our hotel, Ecohotel la Juanita, which was a little out of town but so lovely and secluded.  We soon realised we were the only people staying there so had our pick of rooms.  Unfortunately it was quite dark by the time we arrived so we couldn't fully appreciate the view.  The next morning though we realised how stunning the place really was.

View from our hotel

Morde!

Local wildlife - Barranquero birds

Living above the clouds

On our first full day in Manizales we were told to visit Recinto del Pensamiento, a nature park just outside of the town.  It was an amazing park with hummingbirds, a butterfly enclosure, japanese garden, and an orchid forest type thing.  We started our tour with our non-English speaking guide (less informative) but luckily one of the other visitors was able to translate for us (super informative).

Recinto del Pensamiento

Hummingbird cuteness

One Japanese bridge does not a Japanese garden make...

Two bridges on the other hand has got to be authentic.

The next day we decided to visit some of the coffee fincas.  The hotel organised a private tour for us with a lovely English speaking guide.  We headed off to the town of Chinchina to Happy Coffee, a wholesale coffee exporter.  Here they showed us the coffee selection process including the tasting room where they roasted small batches of coffee.  It was amazing to see the vast quantity of coffee that was processed through the place.

Grades of coffee 

Coffee tasting 

Marc having a sniff

The wall of coffee

Our next stop was to a lovely little finca up in the hills.  We were met by Cesar whose family had owned the property for 5 generations.  He took us through the whole coffee process, from growing the plants, picking the beans, grading the beans, preparing the beans for roasting and finally, roasting the beans.

Coffee roaster made from recycled materials

Our next stop was Hacienda Guayabal where we had booked a nights accommodation.  Hacienda Guayabal was a cute little hostel run by a old Columbian Couple. On arrival we were quietly shocked as they were hosting a large party of retirees who were in the middle of a very intense round of bingo. Louder than any RSL these old Señors and Señoras were dancing, drinking and scarily enough, swimming. We were shown the available rooms and chose one with a private bathroom. This was located next to the party and we imagined a horrible night sleep.  Luckily, once we were settled, the party moved on giving us a  some quiet serenity.  The property had some lovely walks, one of which was to a look out where you could see the whole finca.

Looking back down to our Hacienda (the white house slightly hidden by the trees).

That night during one of the many downpours we lost all power and were forced to have a romantic candle lit dinner.  The worst.  But we struggled through and made it to morning.

The next day we were taken on a tour of the coffee plantation.  Here they also walked us through the whole process BUT they also let us pick the beans from the trees!  My nimble Asian hands would have made perfect cheap labour for the farm.

This is what fresh coffee beans look like

Marc struggling with his big man hands to pick coffee

My nimble Asian fingers, which are used to sewing Nike shoes, breezed through the picking.

Carrying my load back to the hacienda

Super cute chickens with fluffy heads!

The coffee triangle was beautiful and we both wish we could have spent more time there but the Caribbean coast called so we thought it was about time we started to make our way to Cartagena (with a short stop over in Medellin).