July 2019 Quindío is south of Risaralda, where my base here in the Eje Cafetero is located.  It has most of the major tourist hotspots of the Triangle -- the Parque del Café outside Montenegro, Panaca outside Quimbaya, Salento/Valle de Cocora to name the biggies.  It's a transitional zone from Coffee Country to the very different landscape and life of Valle del Cauca, the department of which Cali is the capital.  People here divide [...]

July 2019 If you're a city in the second most biodiverse country in the world after Brazil, having a botanical garden is kind of a duuh moment.  You just gotta do it.  Fortunately nature in its luxuriousness here makes putting one together a cinch.  You fence off a piece of native forest, stick some cuttings in the ground and BINGO!  You've got yourself a botanical garden. The one in Pereira is part of the [...]

July 2019 Santa Rosa de Cabal -- hereafter simply Santa Rosa -- is a stone's throw away from Pereira as the crow flies but there's considerable upthrust involved.  You have to go over the top of the mountain chain that encircles Pereira to get there.  Such opportunities for expansive vistas of the Coffee Triangle's sumptuous countryside do not go unappreciated by Yours Truly, so when a friend with a motorcycle offered to take me [...]

July 2019 If you were given the task of picking the most famous tourist spot of the Coffee Triangle, the choice would likely fall on Salento and the Valle de Cocora.  I've read information on the Internet that claims it's one of the top tourist spots (for Colombians) in the entire country.  Obviously you can get loads of info on the web and pictures of the wax palms in the Valle de Cocora are [...]

July 2019 Manizales is the capital of Caldas Department, to the north of Risaralda of which my current hangout, Pereira, is the capital.  It's only about an hour by bus or car and the road between Pereira and Manizales takes you right through the mountains.  The scenery is amazing and kept my face glued to the window as the bus wound its way toward our destination.  I regretted the inability to stop and take [...]

July 2019 Marsella is only about an hour northwest of Pereira but it's a world away in atmosphere.  The trip takes you through the heart of Coffee Country and you end up in a charming town that seems from a bygone era, although all the comings and goings of modern life are amply evident, as well.  Before coming to the Coffee Triangle I had come across some YouTube videos of Marsella -- the municipality [...]