Well the hotel I am staying at in Armenia advertised WIFI access, however they only provide “local” connectivity, so I won’t be able to publish my next blog until I get to the Bogota airport, where they hopefully provide free WIFI access to passengers who are waiting for flights. They did at the Caracas airport. If not, it will have to wait until I reach the Lima airport (5 hour wait between flights), and if they don’t provide WIFI access, it will have to wait until I reach my hotel in Chiclayo late Tuesday night.
Today was a great day however. The hotel has marble floors throughout, so sound carries everywhere. Yvette, remember the hotel in Puna that had a window giving out onto the hallway? This one has the same thing in all their rooms, except that my window looks out into the hallway, so I hear absolutely everything that’s going on. I was therefore up and dressed fairly early. I went to talk to the receptionist and explained that I could not connect to the Internet. I guess they don’t have many guests who bring their own computers; this isn’t a Ritzy hotel and I’m not located in the city Centre. She did not realize that unless we use their computer, we can’t connect ! I explained that I needed to book a flight on-line with Avianca for Monday afternoon from Armenia to Bogota. She offered to do it for me on their work computer. Took about 10 minutes to get it done, so I’m glad I didn’t try to do it myself. They ask for some kind of two digit code linked to the credit card being used. Must be something unique about South America because they needed the same thing when I booked the flight from Bogota to Lima, but the travel agent did the transaction, and I did not see which code he inputted. If I can find someone who speaks English, I’ll get them to explain what this code is all about (01 to 20 something). Anyway, my flight is booked, I received my electronic ticket almost immediately, and the front desk clerk printed it out for me.
It was time for breakfast by then and two other people had just ordered, so I did the same. You actually order at the front desk and they bring you your breakfast either to your room, or to the tiny dining room on the ground floor. The front desk receptionist doubles as the short order cook, server, and cleaner upper ! I told her I was quite impressed with her multi-tasking. She laughed. My Spanish will definitely be improving during the South American portion of my trip ! I have to use it every day since most people only speak Spanish, or very few English phrases.
After breakfast I was ready to make my way to the Parque Nacional de Café. Took a taxi from the hotel to the bus station, but when I told the taxi driver where I was going today, he said he had a cheaper way for me to get there. He dropped me off at a local bus site, where mini busses go to the park every Sunday. I guess they must have multiple buses lined up to go there, because I got out of the taxi, onto a bus, and away we went. Got to the park within less than ½ an hour. There were lines and lines of buses parked along the road, and I wondered how I would be able to decipher which one to take to return to Armenia. Oh well, I’ll worry about it at the end of the day when it’s time to go back.
The entrance fee to the park was only 18,000 Colombian Pesos, about $10 for a full day at the park with access to the telesilla/chair-lift (go down the mountain and return) the teleférico/cable car (go and return) and the mini-train circuit. It also included access to the Museo de Café, Show de Café (dancing and singing but sorry NO PHOTOS allowed !), a presentation on the secrets of nature, and finally el Sentero de Café (the coffee route). The park includes a section with kiddy and adult rides, but that’s not what I had come to see, so although I saw these areas during the train ride and my walk through, I did not go on any of these rides.
I took the chair lift down so I could see the Folkloric Coffee Show. I just missed the 11:15 show, so had to wait in line for the 12:00 show. It was well worth the wait; similar in some ways to the Mexican Folkloric shows I’ve seen, but this one followed the history of coffee production mixed with Colombian music and dancing. The last show was modern Caribbean sounds with Carnival type costumes. I was quite impressed with the talent. This last one also included some acrobats using silk ropes hanging from the rafters, depicting iguanas, birds and butterflies.
From there, I made my way down the rest of the mountain onto the hanging bridge and to the main square where I caught the mini-train to the small archeological museum and to grab a bite to eat. I walked back to take the cable car back up the mountain in order to walk back down on the coffee route. This was really spectacular, not just the views, but the entire set up of a traditional coffee plantation all along the serpentine path down the mountain, past a recreation of an Indian cemetery, muleteer bridge, a coffee farmhouse, with hens, roosters and chicks running everywhere, but also some in enclosures if the chicks were too small to be let out. Spotted a few birds up in the trees; some I was able to film, others were more difficult due to their fast flight, or skittishness. I came to a reproduction of a coffee plantation house where a guide said he could provide me the tour either in Spanish, English or French. I said that it did not matter to me which he used, so he said he would practice his English with me. Very broken English, even if they were lines he had memorized, but such a nice gentleman. After I finished touring the house, he insisted on dressing me as “Juana Valdez” and took a picture of me in front of the hacienda.
Even spotted some parakeets in the trees ... because I could hear them TALKING. Took me a while to find where they were sitting since they blended in so well into the trees.
The last of the trail showed how they picked the beans, washed and sorted them, dried them and packed them up to send to processing plants.
I took the chair lift back up the mountain to the coffee museum, where they explained how the beans were again sorted in order to grade them, roast them, grind them when required, package them and ship them around the world. And of course they made a point of saying the “Juan Valdez Colombian Coffee” is the best in the world.
It had started to rain while I was in the museum, so the last part of the day had to be a rest stop to savour a great cup of coffee of course ! It was 4:30 by then and I was quite tired. Although the park is open until 6 pm, I decided to call it a day and skip the climb up to the Torre Mirador (Look-out Tower). It was quite a climb to get to the top and it was still spitting rain so I made my way out of the park and out to the street to try to locate the right bus.
First bus I spot as I walk out the gate is one from the “Armenia” line, and it has a sign in the window indicating that it’s going to Armenia ! Now isn’t that just grand. Crossed the street, hopped on the bus, and within two minutes we were off. Got off at the main terminal and hopped into a taxi for the ride back to the hotel.
Did I mention that everywhere I go, people keep asking me for directions! I don’t know what it is about the way I look, or the way I walk as if I know where I’m going, but it’s really funny to see their reaction when I answer “Dispensame, mi Espanol es esta muy limitado, pero si hablas lentamento tratare de ayudarle.” (Excuse me, my Spanish is very limited, but if you speak slowly I will try to help you.) And then I laugh, and they laugh, but they usually do ask me for directions anyway. What a hoot !
Everyone I’ve met with or spoken to through my travels in Colombia have been extremely nice. I have never felt in danger in any way. The USA and Canada really need to update their warnings about travelling in Colombia. Unless you really go into dangerous isolated areas where drug growers and dealers are known to be, there is absolutely no danger. And the big cities are like any other big cities around the world; pick-pockets will be there if you aren’t careful. No scarier in Colombia or Venezuela than anywhere else.
Viva Colombia y sus habitantes !
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