The R&R Big Adventure

Carlos The Coffee Plant

Today was a lovely chilled day. We started with a round trip on the cable car that connects Pereira with some of the hilltop communities, discussing the merits or otherwise of some of the pools in people’s villas, or relative balcony space in the different apartment blocks, as we gently passed over some of the new developments of the city.

We then picked up our hire car for the day and headed off to a coffee farm to discover more about the coffee making process. For anyone who has been on a tour of a vineyard, I thought this might be similar – nod along intently as the person giving the tour rolls off numerous statistics about numbers of hectares, tones of grapes, or the complexity of the oak fermentation process – and then promptly forget it all by the time the wine tasting has finished. However, not only did we have a charming tour guide (a Colombian English teacher, supplementing his income with occasional English-speaking coffee farm tours) but someone who understood English sarcasm as well. Aside from R and me being the only people on the only tour this afternoon, Chocolat, the 18 month Dachshund-cross puppy, followed us everywhere we went. Bliss.

Donning poncho and hat, we got to learn about the whole process from start to finish: we planted a coffee sapling – who we christened Carlos – toured the farm, picked and peeled beans, and finished the afternoon with a leisurely coffee (scientifically prepared by our guide, Anderson) and slice of homemade carrot cake, whilst discussing the past and present of Colombia. We enjoyed all of this coupled with the most amazing vista of the surrounding countryside.

Our belated anniversary dinner tonight was delicious. Boeuf bourguignon, Colombian style, and huge tempura prawns. Our waiter took great pride in explaining at length the accompanying Argentinian Malbec we were having; if only he knew it was currently on special for £7 at Tesco.

We arrived back at our hotel tonight to find several of the Little Darlings cartwheeling (and screaming simultaneously, quite a double act) down the carpet in the hotel reception. I found out it was Colombian half term this week. The staff must absolutely hate it. Our next hotel stop tomorrow in Medellin isn’t family friendly. Such a shame.