Adiós, Colombia! Thanks for all the hills!

(Sept 22, 2012)

 After leaving the whirlwind of activity in Medellín, Peter and I moved south into the coffee growing countryside of the Cafetera region. It was just our luck that our couchsurfing host turned out to be Diego, who invited us to spend time with him on his family’s banana farm. There is no better way to experience the typical life in this region than by living on a farm in the countryside. On each of the three days we were there, we would wake up to freshly squeezed mandarin orange juice picked and squeezed that morning from trees on the farm and fresh eggs from the hen house.

Hen house-hunting for eggs in the morning

Diego was a wonderful host and a very dedicated and interested guy – he had so many new business venture plans that it was hard to keep up! Fond of reusing locally found materials, he was working on fashioning a hydroponics organic vegetable garden rig from local bamboo. To the vibrant and overflowing garden that surrounded the driveway and farm house he had added beautiful ponds to hold Tilapia schools with the intention of breeding and selling them at local and regional markets. It was truly inspiring the many interests Diego had ranging from entrepreneurial ventures, to painting (he was working on a collection for a tour in the United States while we were there), and travel. It seemed that everything he came upon that interested him, he would delve deeper into so that he could understand more and participate. It was great to see how the life and success of a farm progresses from new ideas regarding how to capitalize on the products and needs of local, regional, and even international, markets.

Banana processing plant

On our first morning on the farm we headed towards the city of Armenia to sell ‘seconds bananas’ at the market. For those of whom are interested in a general explanation of banana cultivation, here goes: On Diego’s farm, bananas are grown from trees arranged in threes in terms of generation. Almost always will there be a grandpa tree, a papa tree, and a baby tree. Usually, only one member of the generation will be growing bananas at any one time (either the grandpa or the papa), with the grandpa tree being cut as it ages to allow room for the papa tree to start producing. Each tree will produce only one stalk of fruit at a time, though this stalk can hold anywhere from 50-100 bananas. The stalks are covered in blue plastic to protect the maturing fruit from hungry birds. These bags are labeled according to how far along in the growth process they are. Bananas stalks are cut when the bananas have reached their anticipated full size but are still green. The stalks are cut into bunches, washed to remove the sticky film that coats them, sorted in terms of ‘firsts bananas’ (the largest and most perfect bunches), ‘seconds bananas’ (the smaller and dented bunches), and ‘thirds bananas’ (the runts of the litter). The ‘firsts bananas’ are loaded on the truck and taken to local and regional markets, while the ‘seconds’  will be sold later at the local markets for bargain rates. And there you have it! The banana process!

After we spent an hour or so watching Diego move from vendor to vendor to sell his fruit, we headed to Armenia for a quick tour. Armenia seemed to be a nice town with a tragic past: in 1999 an earthquake reaked havoc on the city’s old colonial buildings, which have since been rebuilt in newer styles. We headed back to the farm for lunch and then ventured out to the popular Colombian vacation mountain town, Quimbaya to have a beer at Diego’s local haunt. As we sat overlooking the park, we watched as souped-up jeeps with mega sound systems and made-up women did laps around the central plaza. Quimbaya, we have learned, is a popular destination for wealthy families in the area, many of which, Diego suspects, come from the cocaine growing region to the South. Don’t worry – we made no friends nor enemies while we were there!

Wax Palms in Cocora Forest

The following day we headed out in the early afternoon with Diego’s new girlfriend, Melena, to visit the beautiful mountain villages that dotted the surrounding hillsides. Our first stop in tranquil Salento brought us up to a beautiful mirador overlooking the impressive valley and hills below. We then hopped into the car and drove down, down, down into the valley towards the forest of Cocora to see the wonderfully odd and magical wax palms that towered above us on thin and bare trunks. We continued on through the countryside towards the town of Filandia, the home of an amazing concentration of retirees (in Spanish, senior citizens are called ‘los ancianos’ = the ancient ones). Here we climbed a massive tower from which we watched the sun set over the rolling hills to the East and snow-capped volcano to the West.

Sunset from Filandia

We said goodbye to Diego on Thursday and arrived in the picturesque town of Popayán later that evening. Unable to find a couchsurfer to stay with, we are staying in a beautiful old house just outside of the town centre called La Casa Familiar Turística.  We’ve been so busy over the past few weeks that we are now enjoying this time to lounge in our pajamas, catching up on photo updating, journal writing, and blog posting! We plan on hanging out in Popayán for two more nights so that Peter and I can get started on our university and scholarship application essays. We aim to cross the Colombia-Ecuador border on Monday afternoon so that we can arrive at the house of our new couchsurfing hosts, Axel and Andrea, in Quito later that night!

We have loved our time in Colombia – the beautiful scenery, our wonderful friends, and death –defying adventure activities – and now look forward to continuing the trend in Ecuador! 

Thanks for following along with us! (And don’t forget to comment! We love hearing your feedback and responses to our adventure!)