ZONA CAFETERA - QUINDIO

C O L O M B I A    QUINDIO 

ZONA CAFETERA - COOFFE ZONE

With just the brew of altitude and precipitation the terraced slopes of the zona cafetera yield nearly half of Colombia`s coffee crop.

IT IS COLOMBIA`S COOFFE GROWING HEARTLAND

The "arrieros" are the symbol of the paisa colonization. In the 19 century with the "recua mulas" Mule Train,practice the paisa people was first at all an offspring of the mining of the region. Later on it grew beside the coffee exports.

When starting the the railroad construction, the muletters busniss seemed to warn a crisis to come. But the construction lasted forty years and was coneceted by the mules. Therefore this businness was made highly competitve in Santander, Cundinamarca, Antioquia y Cauca.

Q U I N D I O

We began our trip in Quindio we stayed in a Hotel Finca Cafetera ( Coffee Country house ) near Montenegro

This acomodation was very confortable and near the main road , so it was very easy to use the local public transportation and move very fast and between the towns .

In all the towns of the area the Willys are one of the mean of transport and you can find models dating from 1940 in perfect conditions and some with original pieces that made them a classical jewel.

TRANSPORTION SYSTEM

Jeeps are one of the local transportation, people travel inside while the animals ,the food and the merchandise are carried on top. The CHIVAS are the public passengers transportation between the little tows.


P A R Q U E  D E L  C A F E

Imitating a NorthAmerican theme park , the goverment build the Parque Nacional del Cafe.. It provides an interesting and hassle-free introduction to the history, culture and science of coffee.

S A L E N T O   Y

V A L L E      D E      C O C O R A

Our next visit was to Salento town and Parque Cocora. We took a bus in the Armenia bus station and we arrived in one hour.

Salento is the oldest town in Quindio and perhaps the smallest. It was founded in 1850. This is the view from the Alto de la Cruz, at the end of the Real street.

The main streets and square remember the "pueblito paisa". The Real street boasts plenty of fine houses , many of which are now restaurants , shops and hotels.

In the Square we found typical paisa Bar and Coffe places

With a wide collection of old music ( Cuban boleros, Tangos , Racheras), and a good beer and aguardientes (local alcohol drink) we had a memorable evening.



The typical game within the men in all the towns is the pool and the bar place.

It was the rainyng season so we could not see the sky clear, therefore was impossible to have a spot of the snow capped tops of the volcanos on the horizon.. instead we saw the nice green mountain.

ACAIME RESERVE WITH WAX PALM

Valle de Cocora Streching from Salento is this Valley. We took a bus and in half hour we arrived. Cocora is the best place to see the forest of Wax Palm "Palma de Cera". The wax palm is the tallest species in the world up to 60mt and is the only palm that grows beyond 2500meter above sea level

This Palm has been declared a national tree This Plam was in extintion because in the time of the "arrierias" mule trains , it was cut down and used to fix the mudy roads, and facilitate the crossing of the mules who carried the merchandise from Honda in the Magdalena river.


The Natural Acaime Reserve is a area cover with cloudforest that can be visited by horse or walking. Because of the raining time , we visited only the Trout farm, located behind the Quindio River, which imports the eggs from Canada.