Armenia, Columbia

Armenia is in the coffee axis of Columbia. Remember, Columbia is lush and green, wonderful for growing cocaine and marijuana. Locals were not thrilled at the prospect of planting coffee in the late 90’s, because they knew it would take a good five years to bear fruit. Now though, the coffee is appreciated, not only for its quality, but for the marketing genius of Juan Valdez, the Betty Crocker of Columbian coffee.

: Framed in infamy in our Columbian hotel room – I’ll bet no one has ever seen this advertisement in the US! I mean, there’s coffee and then there’s coffee…

: Before we were allowed to pick coffee, we had to learn how to make our own coffee baskets out of bamboo.

: Fortunately, our local expert started us off with about 75% of the basket.

: Success! We didn’t screw it up too badly. The secret is keeping the bamboo wet and flexible.

: Tromping through the coffee jungle, basket at the ready.

: Picking coffee beans – the red ones, not the green ones. All the picking is done manually in Columbia.

: Random joy – a wild ginger plant!

: Leaf cutter ants are jungle overachievers. Their razor sharp mandible (teeth) cut through leaves in seconds. They can carry between 10 to 50 times their body weight. Imagine a human carrying a car, or maybe a semi-truck! The trick is to photograph them before they chomp on your shoelaces.

: Once the coffee has been picked, processing must begin quickly to prevent spoilage. Beans are spread out on huge surfaces to dry in the sun, raked and turned hourly, then covered at night to prevent moisture. Depending on the weather, this process might take several weeks.

: Freshly ground and roasted coffee for tasting :)

: Columbian coffee is surprisingly mild. Columbians drink it BLACK. No milk, no sugar, just coffee.

: At a local plaza – this little guy had a horseback ride way beyond the mechanized ones American kids get for a quarter.

: “Dar papaya” literally “to give papaya”, is a Colombian saying meaning “don’t put yourself in a position where people can easily take advantage of you”. In other words, watch your wallet, your passport and your cell phone.

: We hiked through the mist in the lovely Cocora Valley, where wax palms grow up to 200 feet tall – the tallest type of palm tree in the world. Dr. Seussical.