Adventures with Petrus and Ollie

How quickly things change! Literally as soon as I finished typing the draft of my last post, I was invited to join others in the hostel bar for pool and drinking games. Somehow the drinking games never materialized, but I spent the night talking quite a bit with Petrus from England. I had also played poker with his friend Ollie the night before. Petrus and Ollie's next stop planned in Colombia was Salento, in the Zona Cafetera, where I also wanted to go. Before long, we had made a deal to trade my Spanish skills for their manly protection, and we would leave the next day for Salento after my Pablo Escobar tour. Happy with the plans, the rest of the night was spent playing pool with a beautiful Brazilian man, then debating Dutch politics with someone from Holland. Here they our in our hostel in Salento.

As it turned out, not everything can go perfectly- I awoke to find out that my Pablo tour had been cancelled. I caught up on some reading and emails, then Petrus, Ollie and I decided to set off for Salento. We made the rookie error of going to the wrong Transport Terminal in Medellin (there are two, one with buses departing for points south and the other for points north). We went north when we should have gone south, so after about an hour setback we were on the bus for Salento. We passed most of it alterately sleeping, listening to music, and discussing books and movies (that is, Petrus and I discussed these things). Somewhere around 8 PM, though, we realized our driver was having some problems with shifting gears on a hill, and eventually our bus shuddered to a dead halt. After a few false starts, everyone from our bus was transferred to a smaller colectivo, which was headed towards Armenia, the town past Salento- our destination. What to do? First our plan was to just spend the night in Armenia, then take a bus to Salento in the morning. However, upon learning of our plight, the entire bus of Colombians took it upon themselves to help us sort things out. The bus driver flagged down other smaller colectivos in Circasia to find out whether the last minibus to Salento had passed through. When they learned that it was still coming, our driver detoured to let us out at the right place and gave us instructions on what to do. And when I say he gave us instructions, I mean he gave me instructions, as I was the only one with reasonably fluent Spanish. So, we spent about 15 minutes watching a boy play-fight with his dog, then we were picked up by the Salento minibus. After about 45 minute ride, during much of which we had to stand because it was full, we arrived in Salento, only to trek around to three different hostels before finding one with available beds. We grabbed some street food (delicious hamburgers) then it was time for bed.

In the morning we decided to go on a coffee tour. Having been told by our hostel owner that the tours were in English, a group of us (Ollie, Petrus and myself plus two New Zealanders, Fiona and Allan), set out on horseback for the finca de cafe (coffee farm). Some of you might remember my Arabian ponies of death story from the time we tried to go on a midnight horseback ride to the pyramids in Egypt. If not, we'll just sum it up by saying it was a terrifying experience and so I haven't ridden a horse since then. I was extremely nervous, but ready to try again. Thank goodness I was mounted next to Ollie, who was calm and looking forward to the ride- it made me feel much better, as did the continual surveillance by our excellent guide, Jose.

After about 40 minutes, we made it to the coffee farm, where, as it turned out, tours were NOT in English. Guess who was the only Spanish-English speaker, and thus translator? Yay for practicing languages! The coffee tour was super fun and informative. A brief summary about the process of growing coffee:

Plants spend the first three months in tiny seedbeds. After this, they spend another 8 months in slightly larger beds. For the next two years, then, they are transplanted to the ground but still do not produce. Finally, after that total of three years, they begin producing, but the best year to harvest beans is the 5th year of bean production. At that point, the plant is cut down to the ground and left to regrow, so that it's quality stays high.

While beans are being produced, they are picked every 14 days in order to A) get the maximum harvest and B) prevent a certain worm from attacking the beans. Some farms spray pesticides to prevent the worm, but ours was completely organic and did not use that. OUr farm was so organic that their fertilizer is straight-up pig manure, from pigs that they keep on the farm as well.

We got to spend about 5 minutes harvesting beans, but we apparently wouldn't be hired, because between us we picked maybe 1-2 kilos (enough to eventually make about 12 cups of coffee). We were told that, during high season (April and May), there are 20 workers who each pick between 100-250 kilos EACH. During the rest of the year, they have 3 workers who each collect between 40-50 kilos/day. From each kilo picked, though, only about 10% actually remains at the end of the process to be made into coffee. Why is that? Because around the coffee bean is actually this thick husk and mucus that need to be removed. In the old days, it was done with a hand crank machine, but now this part has a machine for the work. Next, the beans dry for 7-20 days, depending on the sun. Next, they are separated according to quality. First quality beans (98% of the farm´s production is this good) are separted, taken to Armenia to have the inner skin removed, then shipped abroad- whatever country they go to will then toast and sell them. First quality beans (in left hand) are pretty much sold only abroad, where companies like Weis groceries will mix them with less quality beans to improve the taste, and sell it as ¨Colombian blend¨. Second quality beans (right hand) are kept for consumption within Colombia...not quite fair, is it?

After all this, we were able to sample some coffee. Let me tell you, I am accustomed to drinking mine with milk and sugar. This cup was mostly black, though I added some sugar, and it was delicious- smooth, not at all bitter, and definitely had caffeine (my hands were shaking at lunch two hours later!). Definitely bringing some of this home...

After a galloping ride back to the hostel, I showered and our group from the coffee tour all went to Restaurante Lucy for another comida tipica (y deliciosa!). Fiona and Alan went souvenir shopping, while Petrus, Ollie, and I got some ice cream while I waited for my bus. Saying goodbye to those great guys, I boarded for Pereira and immediately met another American. His name was Brian, he was a teacher in Boston, and was volunteering in a Salento school for the summer. We spent the ride to Pereira talking. In Pereira, I found out I couldn't go directly to Cartagena, so I booked a ride to Medellin. On that bus, I met Luis, a Colombian student studying water engineering, and we talked pretty much the whole way to Medellin. In Medellin, I got a taxi to the other transport terminal, and at 10:30 PM was finally on the way to Cartagena! I arrived here about an hour ago and will be staying at the Makako Chill Out Hostel for the next 3-4 nights. Peter might be here, Tess will be in on Sunday, and in the meantime I can't wait to do the Gabriel Garcia Marquez tour! Time to go shower and begin exploring the city!