Columbia

World's greatest coffee-country!

Colombia is endlessly green, the weather is fantastic and the people really love coffee. Definitely would love to do another trip.

Lucky me, I had the chance to travel with different suppliers.

The first part started with a flight from the capital of Bogota towards Medellin. From Medellin we drove by car into the coffee producing area of Antioquia. We visited a huge processing plant, which was brand new and was only in the testing phase at that time. The newest technology machines from Brazil were imported to select defects even more efficiently. We visited a farm from the surrounding area that delivers its coffee exactly to this processing plant. Their coffees are picked up daily with trucks and brought to the mill (processing plant). The first coffee cherries had already been harvested but the harvest was still going on.

Back in Medellin we ended the 1st trip just in time to start the 2nd one. We arrived at Hacienda La Claudina about two hours later. We have been importing this coffee for several years and I was very happy to see the farm personally for once.

The farm is located in Bolivar. The owner and the farm manager live there with their families. The plantation is very up to date and always looking for innovative ways to prepare coffee and for exceptional varieties like Geisha, Tabi or Maragogype. During my visit, the harvest season was in full swing and I was able to participate in this process. With help of a mula (a breed mix of donkey and horse, specially bread for hard work), we rode upwards for 30 minutes. The coffee slopes are very steep and it was a bit scary to rely on the animal itself, but these are, unlike me, used to the steep mountains. Between the trees, being a blonde woman, was a real rarity and the pickers were happy that a European woman took the trouble to appreciate their work. After sliding down the slope we visited the wet mill and the lab.

The third part of the journey started with a domestic flight southwards - to Cali. We drove several ours just to see some coffee trees. On this chapter I got the chance to see a huge part of the country and meet some people. In this region my blonde hairs were much more highlighted. A lot of people touched my hair or called me “Gringa” ☺

After a few more days on the countryside I went home again.