Cascadas de Colombia

Well, I’m sad to say this will be my last post about Colombia. I’m heading down the Amazon out of Colombia toward Peru. But I won’t say Adios to Colombia, only Hasta Luego!

I have really enjoyed my time in Colombia -- for so many reasons. First and foremost, the people are very friendly and so welcoming to visitors. And the country itself has so many places of natural beauty, from the Caribbean Sea, to the mountains, to rivers to jungles. . .

And I have been so lucky to enjoy so many of these amazing places. As I think back on the past few months, some of my favorite memories have been of waterfalls. Not, grandiose ones like Iguazu in Argentina (http://bothsidesnowblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/poor-niagara.html), but the small ones you find while walking through the jungle. I’ll never stop enjoying going for a hike and unexpectedly swimming under a waterfall, so I thought I’d share a few of those memories.  While photos aren’t the same, I hope you enjoy some of the hidden gems of Colombia!

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Last Men Standing

Five-thousand years ago, two primitive cultures lived in the southern part of Colombia. Both used the nearby river as their primary mode of transport and met in the river valley to trade, worship, and bury their dead. The only remains of these cultures can be found near the modern-day small town of San Agustin, Colombia.

These ancient people had no written language and completely disappeared before the Europeans arrived in South America. However, they are not completely forgotten. They left behind more than 500 life-sized statues of people, masked monsters, and animals like eagles, jaguars, and frogs.

These sculptures are made of local volcanic rock and were left around the river valley, mostly to guard tombs.

The largest of these is over 20 feet high!

Today, over 130 of these statues are on display in an Archeological Park outside of San Agustin.

Is it just me, or do these two look like they’re playing baseball?

And is this guy the umpire?

Okay, maybe it’s just that the Cubs are playing back in Chicago and I’m missing them a bit??

Regardless, it’s a bit eerie to wander through the forests and over the hills looking at these faces that have been looking out over the valley for over 5000 years!

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Black Gold

Colombia is known worldwide for two major exports: one legal, one illegal; one black, one white; and neither that I had ever tried. After spending a few days in the coffee region of Colombia, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to tour a small coffee farm. . .

Coffee is the “black gold” of Colombia –it is the crop that has been (and continues to be) the country’s largest legal export (1.6 billion dollars annually). Colombia currently produces 12% of the world’s coffee (second only to Brazil). Colombian coffee is imported the world over but primarily in the USA, Germany, Japan, France, and Italy.

A brief history of coffee: coffee was first used as a beverage in Ethiopia in the 1400's. Supposedly, the farmers noticed that after goats ate the beans from a certain plants they had much more energy. They started experimenting with the beans to see what caused it. The beans weren't too tasty, but after much experimentation, a tasty (this is a matter of opinion) beverage was born. From Ethiopia, coffee exploded in popularity worldwide!

Coffee was introduced to Colombia in the 1800’s and the coffee region in central Colombia has the perfect climate for growing coffee -- Colombia now grows over 100 varieties of coffee.

For some varieties, the beans are ripe when red, for others they aren’t ripe until they turn a certain shade of green. Regardless, in small farms, the beans are all still picked by hand.

I learned a lot about the coffee production process on this tour. Although the vast majority of coffee beans are handled commercially, it’s great to see how a cup of coffee is produced at a local level – from start to finish  on the coffee farm.

After picking the ripe beans, the first step is shelling:  using a hand-cranked machine.

Next, the beans need to be dried using the heat of the sun. This process can take anywhere from a week to a month depending on the temperatures.

Roasting: this is a very important step. The beans must be constantly stirred while over an open flame, to ensure that they don’t burn. For over an hour, someone must stir the beans. . .until they are perfectly roasted. This step has more to do with the flavor than any other.

Finally, the roasted beans are ground to make the product most people buy at the store or put in their coffee machines:

Prior to this trip, I had never tried coffee. I’ve had chocolates with coffee flavors and coffee liquors. The smell just isn’t appealing to me. It's such a shame since it’s such a social thing – not just in the US but in so many countries. I just have never had a desire to give it a try. That said, here I am, in the land of Juan Valdez and his mule. . .when offered a cup of fresh ground as part of the tour. . .what could I do? I had to try it. I’ve always said I’ll try anything once.

So, here’s me having my first ever sip of coffee:

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Got Milk?

While staying in the coffee district of Colombia, I had the opportunity to stay on a dairy farm, La Serrana, in the rolling hills of Salento, Colombia.

The farm has 10 cows and 2 bulls. While I was there, 7 of the cows had recently had babies and were still nursing. (One even gave birth while I was there -- interestingly, women aren´t allowed to be present at a birth as they believe the mother gets "jealous" and the birth doesn´t go well!) The farm offers guests the opportunity to help to milk these 7 cows each morning. I noticed that not many guests were anxious to hop out of bed at 5am, but I had to give it a try!

Horacio has worked on the farm for 10 years and usually milks the 7 cows alone between 5am and 7am (when the milk truck comes to collect the milk for the day to take to market. However, when an eager guest asks to help, he very patiently gives a demonstration and waits as the newbie takes an hour to get the milk he can get in 10 minutes. It’s humbling!

The morning starts with a lesson. However, watching a professional do something without giving it a second thought, while I’m still trying to wake up isn’t easy:

Next, I give it a try myself.

Getting milk was easier than I thought. But so much more difficult to get milk efficiently. Horacio is able to use two hands at the same time and get so much milk every time. I bumble through with one hand and barely get a stream. After about 45 minutes (when he had finished 3 cows and I was still working on my first), notice the difference in our buckets!

Regardless, with 10 years of experience, like Horacio, I’m sure I’d be a pro. Who knows? Maybe I’ll give it a try. There’s something really relaxing about being awake before sunrise and watching the sun come up while communing with nature!

By 7am we had finished (me: one cow, him: 6) and readied the milk for sale.

Horacio carried our efforts to the road and we loaded up the truck! More work than I ever remember doing before 7am!

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