El Ocaso Coffee Farm

11/11/23

Morning view

Not bad either, such a view while showering

We start the day again with a delicious breakfast and of course the best view ever.

Today we plan to visit the El Ocaso coffee farm.

We book tickets online for 40,000 pesos per person. We can get there by taxi for 60,000 pesos or again by jeeps in town. We decide again on the second option and only pay 14,000 pesos for the return journey. 😀

It's a good thing we decided to take the footpath into town, as on the way a colorful blue bird suddenly sat on a tree trunk in front of us.

It is an Amazon bird of the barranquero or crowned barranquillo. Beautiful!!!

Through Salento, with a short stop at the bakery, we come to the main square from where the jeeps start.

Once again we head over bumpy roads to the El Ocaso coffee farm.

Our guide is called Antoni and tells us a lot about coffee.

Part of the tour is that we have to pick coffee in the coffee plantation, for which everyone gets a basket.

Only red fruits are allowed to be plowed and our yield is rather low.

(I didn't even know we had to work here)

A coffee picker earns around 25 cents per kilo and produces around 70kg per day. It's hard work in the sun, with mosquitoes etc.

Then we plant another coffee bean, which will then perhaps produce beans in 3-4 years.

The actual process leading up to coffee is basically the same as with cocoa. Coffee also goes through a fermentation and drying process.

Finally there is coffee, which tastes quite sour by our standards. In Colombia you only drink second choice coffee because the first choice is exported and is too expensive for Colombians.

This is the Columbian Coffee Man, who doesn't really exist. It's an invention like Santa Claus and besides, the man in the photo is Cuban, as Antoni tells us.

We go back to Salento, where we meet the Berliners (at least something similar) for 11.11. eat in the main square.

We stroll through the streets of Salento where there is a lot going on today

and then go back (uphill of course) to the hotel. We booked the jacuzzi and massages there today to round off the wonderful stay at the KAWA Mountain Resort.

There is also a small sauna with a view.

After so much wellness, we treat ourselves to a delicious meal (absolutely delicious) and pack our backpacks for tomorrow.