A warm welcome from Juan Valdez at the Pereira airport.

Omar, our Local Expert, was named for Omar Sharif because his mother liked the actor.

Samuel, our guide, is dual citizen and passionate about Colombian history and politics.

While hiking the Cocora Valley, we met a real Coffee picker transporting coffee beans. Note shoes

While hiking, someone exclaimed, "Just like Sound of Music, but with palm trees!

Tom was selected to donate a new palm tree to replace a dying one in the preserve.

Coffee and Salento

February 17 in Colombia ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

We flew from Bogota to Pereira and rode the bus into the coffee region. I previously thought that coffee was Columbia’s primary export but coffee turns out to be .#6. Petroleum is #1, followed by coal, gold, bananas, and gems. If our tour guide and the local expert are any example, Colombians drink coffee through out the day. A coffee farm is called a hacienda.

The hacienda feed the workers 3 meals a day and charges them a fee for each meal. Our lunch was a hearty worker’s meal and very good.

Today’s hike in a preserve showcased beautiful tropical flowers and some exotic birds. Lunch was the local specialty of trout with a garlic sauce for me and trout with a cheese and shrimp sauce for Tom. We dine very well here. Glad we hike to balance out our intake!Read more