Westwards

In the coffee fields of the Zona Cafetera

The coffee tour on Hacienda Venecia includes a lecture in the plantation. For more Colombia photos, click: January/February 2012   January/February 2008

„Yellow beans are not good, and these ones are too small“ advises Ruven. The Dutch girls compare their selection of coffee beans. It is not that easy to decide which coffee beans are good enough to get into the export batch. For comparison Ruven shows us a box full of beautiful green coffee beans and another one with the inferior beans: too small, too brown or too deformed.

The Export Quality Colombian coffee is the priciest regular Washed Arabica Coffee on the market – except for the superior Speciality Coffees. By contrast, the black, yellow and deformed beans in the other box is what you get if you order a 'tinto': A sweet brown liquid that tastes slightly like coffee.“They have to drink it with lots of sugar to cover the unpleasant aromas,” Ruven shrugs. Then he brings out a training box for coffee tasters. Small bottles contain the aromas one will find in coffee: vanilla, maple syrup, chocolate, lemon... The small group of coffee tourists sniff at the bottles, until someone shouts: “Yuck, this one is disgusting!” It turns out the training box also contains aromas like smoke or mould you want to avoid in your coffee.

After the “theory class” we get a guided tour around the plantation and the cleaning and drying facilities. And then a cup of coffee – export quality, of course.

 

Hacienda Venecia is situated near Manizales, Colombia, and can be contacted for coffee tours and/or accommodation via: http://www.haciendavenecia.com

Weekend treats of Bogotá

(for more Colombia pictures, click here: January 2012   January / February 2008)

About a dozen volunteers in yellow-and-grey uniforms marked “Bogotá” are holding the gate against a crowd of several hundred demanding to be let in. But the Colombian holidaymakers are cheerful: The have brought their children, water bottles, snacks and votive candles. All the latter can also be purchased along the steep path up Mt. Monserrat once the gate is opened for a brief period to let in the next batch of people. “...completely full...,” we hear a loudspeaker murmur, and indeed, after half an hour walking in merry atmosphere the stream of Sunday pilgrims comes to a standstill. There are juice stalls and chicken roasters, but no way up. About 400 m above Bogotá we have stunning views over the city, but there's an uphill queue of thousands between us and the summit with its pilgrim church.

A few hours later, the Bogotá Gold Museum doesn't quite have to close its doors, but there's a steady stream of visitors both international and domestic as entry is free on Sundays.

Three floors of exhibitions explain the techniques of gold-smithery, the style of all the pre-Columbian tribes of Colombia and the myths and symbols associated with the artefacts. Only the most beautiful and interesting pieces of a collection of 50,000 are exhibited. So many ancient gold artefacts does the museum possess that one installation consists of a room densely hung with “second rate” gold amulets, jewellery, breast plates and ornaments that any European museum could be proud of.

We have travelled on to Medellin in the meanwhile and are now in the Zona Cafetera, Colombia's main coffee growing area.