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zona cafetera
Written by sophie et jeremy   
Sunday, 31 March 2019

Colombians are proud of their coffee, which they think is the best in the world. The area where it is produced, recognized as world heritage, is in between the central and western cordilleras. The landscapes are very pretty, with green hills, and as background the high summits of los Nevados volcanoes. No wonder there are many tourists in this area!

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Coffee grows on the slopes of the hills, so the water doesn’t stay in the soil, and coffee plants are planted together with bananas, pineapples, avocado and sugar cane. They say the altitude and hydrometry here are perfect for the Arabica, the only specie cultivated here, and exported as a luxury product.

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We visit a family-run finca, where they produce organic coffee on small quantity, later sold to a cooperative. The visit in the middle of the coffee and banana plants is very pleasant and instructive. Our guide is passionate about his work and explain us how to plant, harvest and select the best seeds, and later dry and roast them... at the end we get to taste it, and leave with some bags of fresh coffee.

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In this area, in between two plantations, we discover nice old colonial villages. Peasants gather on the central square, with music and, of course, coffee, dressed with a poncho and some kind of cow-boy hat. We also can see colorful old 4WD, mainly Willys jeeps, overloaded, crisscrossing the countryside.

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Here, live many colorful bird species (Colombia is the country with the most bird species). We can see some of them (lured with some fruits). Even a small squirrel came close to us.

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After that pastoral moment, we head to Medellin, second biggest city of Colombia, and former worst renowned city.

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