This is a feature from Issue 10 of Charitable Traveller. Click to read more from this issue.
Blessed with fertile and ever-changing landscapes, Colombia is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, but it’s most famous for its coffee.
The country’s official coffee region, or Eje Cafetero, sits west of the capital Bogota and south of the city of Medellin, and produces over half of the country’s sought-after beans. Part of Eje Cafetero is Valle Del Cocora, a green Eden that has recently achieved fame for inspiring the backdrop for the Disney film Encanto. Sitting at about 2,400 metres above sea level, Cocora lies in a stretch o Andean Cloud Forest. Fortunately for me when I visited, the clouds had lifted sufficiently to allow me to appreciate the breath-taking scenery. The land is dominated by huge quindío wax palm trees, the tallest species of palm trees in the world.
The following day we drove into Santa Rosa de Cabal for a food tour of the old market. I bought a borojo drink from Don Francisco, who was tending his stall at the ripe age of 63. Though this brown native fruit doesn’t look particularly appealing, its flesh is sweet and tart and the drink is named ‘love juice’ for it’s purported aphrodisiac qualities!
Daniel Felipe, the head chef at Hacienda Santa Clara, where I was staying, charged me with collecting the ingredients for sancocho en leña, a traditional soup of corn, root vegetables and meat to be cooked on an open fire in the grounds of the hotel. A vital part of the culture of the region, the making of sancocho usually involves the whole family.
While waiting for our meal to simmer, I followed Pascual, the hacienda’s resident Great Dane, to a small stream just below the hotel. In this idyllic spot, surrounded by large bamboo trees called guadua, I listened to the many birds singing.
In the afternoon we drove to Finca del Café. Set up by husband and wife team José and Maria, seven years ago, the finca is a hotel and the seven hectares it sits in are a coffee farm. This blend of coffee and tourism means José and Maria are ess vulnerable to fluctuating coffee prices and gives visitors like me the chance to see the process of main coffee from bean to cup.
We picked the fruit, which Maria roasted in their small kitchen and then allowed us to grind. Finally José made the freshest cup of coffee I’ve ever had and the perfect conclusion to my Colombian coffee break.
Mark Bibby Jackson is the founder of Travel Begins at 40, a website for people over 40 who want to travel responsibly and imaginatively.
This is a feature from Issue 10 of Charitable Traveller. Click to read more from this issue.
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